The Upper Gunnison River Watershed, located in the Rocky Mountains 150 miles southwest of Denver, Colorado, drains approximately 3,965 square miles. Forest and rangeland comprise 89 percent of land within the watershed, but the traditional western ranching economy is increasingly supplemented through a tourism economy centered around Crested Butte Mountain Resort and the Curecanti National Recreation area. Recreational development and population growth in recent years have the potential to affect both the quantity and quality of water.
In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established a water-quality monitoring program in the upper Gunnison River Basin in Colorado as part of a local water-quality effort and as part of the Upper Colorado River Basin National Water-Quality Assessment (UCOL NAWQA) Program.
The monitoring program was established to characterize existing water quality and to assess effects of increasing urbanization/recreation on water quality and aquatic life. As a result of this effort and the water-quality concerns identified in the basin, local entities have expressed a need for a compilation and analysis of existing water-resources data and studies, as well as the coordination of further water-resources monitoring in the upper Gunnison River Basin.
- The population in Gunnison County has increased by approximately 200 percent between 1970 and 1990.
- Urban growth in the area and the associated recreational uses could result in reduced well capacities and contamination of the ground water and surface water.
- Metal mining upstream from Crested Butte and Lake City also could affect stream quality and stream biota.
To make informed land-use decisions, local entities need up-to-date information on the historical and current (1999) status of water quantity, water quality, stream biota, and land use in the upper Gunnison River Basin.
To provide this up-to-date information, a retrospective analysis is needed to establish a historical perspective on the quality of the water resources, to assess the strengths and weaknesses of available information, and to evaluate the implications for water-quality management and future water-quality sampling networks and data analysis.
OBJECTIVES:
- To characterize existing water-resources and stream-biota data for the upper Gunnison River Basin.
- To analyze historical data and assess the broad-scale geographic and seasonal distribution of current (1999) water-quality and stream-biota conditions of the upper Gunnison River Basin.
- To summarize the current knowledge of the environmental setting and identify, describe, and explain, where possible, the primary natural and human factors that affect observed water-quality conditions.
- To develop a water-quality and stream-biota data base.
- To redesign a water-quality sampling scheme to address water-quality and water-resource management concerns, based on the retrospective analysis.
- To implement a monitoring program to describe current water-quality and stream-biota conditions in the upper Gunnison River Basin.
Below are other science projects associated with the Colorado Water-Quality Data Repository.
Upper Yampa Watershed Water-Quality Data
Eagle River Water-Quality Data
Piceance Basin Water-Quality Data
Southwest Study Area Water-Quality Data
Roaring Fork Watershed Water-Quality Data
Arkansas River Water-Quality Data
Blue River Water-Quality Data
- Overview
The Upper Gunnison River Watershed, located in the Rocky Mountains 150 miles southwest of Denver, Colorado, drains approximately 3,965 square miles. Forest and rangeland comprise 89 percent of land within the watershed, but the traditional western ranching economy is increasingly supplemented through a tourism economy centered around Crested Butte Mountain Resort and the Curecanti National Recreation area. Recreational development and population growth in recent years have the potential to affect both the quantity and quality of water.
In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established a water-quality monitoring program in the upper Gunnison River Basin in Colorado as part of a local water-quality effort and as part of the Upper Colorado River Basin National Water-Quality Assessment (UCOL NAWQA) Program.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Upper Gunnison River Basin The monitoring program was established to characterize existing water quality and to assess effects of increasing urbanization/recreation on water quality and aquatic life. As a result of this effort and the water-quality concerns identified in the basin, local entities have expressed a need for a compilation and analysis of existing water-resources data and studies, as well as the coordination of further water-resources monitoring in the upper Gunnison River Basin.
- The population in Gunnison County has increased by approximately 200 percent between 1970 and 1990.
- Urban growth in the area and the associated recreational uses could result in reduced well capacities and contamination of the ground water and surface water.
- Metal mining upstream from Crested Butte and Lake City also could affect stream quality and stream biota.
To make informed land-use decisions, local entities need up-to-date information on the historical and current (1999) status of water quantity, water quality, stream biota, and land use in the upper Gunnison River Basin.
To provide this up-to-date information, a retrospective analysis is needed to establish a historical perspective on the quality of the water resources, to assess the strengths and weaknesses of available information, and to evaluate the implications for water-quality management and future water-quality sampling networks and data analysis.
OBJECTIVES:
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Small waterfall in the Gunnison River Canyon.Credit: Lisa Zolly, USGS - To characterize existing water-resources and stream-biota data for the upper Gunnison River Basin.
- To analyze historical data and assess the broad-scale geographic and seasonal distribution of current (1999) water-quality and stream-biota conditions of the upper Gunnison River Basin.
- To summarize the current knowledge of the environmental setting and identify, describe, and explain, where possible, the primary natural and human factors that affect observed water-quality conditions.
- To develop a water-quality and stream-biota data base.
- To redesign a water-quality sampling scheme to address water-quality and water-resource management concerns, based on the retrospective analysis.
- To implement a monitoring program to describe current water-quality and stream-biota conditions in the upper Gunnison River Basin.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with the Colorado Water-Quality Data Repository.
Upper Yampa Watershed Water-Quality Data
The Upper Yampa River Watershed (UYRW) drains approximately 1,798 square miles west of the Continental Divide in northwestern Colorado. The Upper Yampa River Watershed includes the Yampa River Basin upstream from Elkhead Creek and the Elkhead Creek Basin and primarily is in Routt County. The city of Steamboat Springs and the towns of Hayden, Oak Creek, and Yampa are in the watershed. The Yampa...Eagle River Water-Quality Data
The Eagle River drains approximately 970 square miles (sq mi) west of the Continental Divide in central Colorado before flowing into the Colorado River. The Eagle River watershed (ERW) is located primarily within Eagle County and includes the towns of Vail, Minturn, Avon, Edwards, Eagle, and Gypsum. The eastern boundary of the Eagle River watershed is drained by Gore Creek, located at Vail Pass...Piceance Basin Water-Quality Data
As large-scale energy development continues in the Piceance Basin, there is potential for changes in surface-water and groundwater resources. In the southern Piceance Basin, a water task force consisting of numerous local governments, municipalities, and energy companies collectively identified the need for a common data repository. In the northern Piceance Basin, similar efforts were underway in...Southwest Study Area Water-Quality Data
In southwest Colorado, drought, wildfires, mining activities, agriculture, and population growth have altered the landscape from its natural condition. These changes have potentially degraded the water-quality of streams, rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater by introducing or increasing levels of metals, nutrients, synthetic organic chemicals, and sediment. Recognizing the need to understand how...Roaring Fork Watershed Water-Quality Data
The Roaring Fork Watershed, located in the Rocky Mountains 150 miles west of Denver, Colorado, has seen rapid development and population growth in recent years. The USGS, in cooperation with Pitkin County, Colorado Water Conservation District, Ruedi Water and Power Authority, and other local entities, conducted a comprehensive surface- and ground-water resource assessment in the Roaring Fork River...Arkansas River Water-Quality Data
The Arkansas River Basin drains an area of 24,904 square miles of southeastern Colorado. Like other basins on the Front Range, the Arkansas Basin has experienced growth and is expected to have significant increases in growth in the future. Demands on the limited water resources also will increase as changes in water storage, water releases, and/or transfer of waters within or outside of the basin...Blue River Water-Quality Data
The Blue River drains approximately 680 square miles west of the Continental Divide in central Colorado before flowing northward into the Colorado River near Kremmling, Colorado. The Blue River watershed (BRW) is almost entirely located in Summit County and includes the towns of Breckenridge, Dillon, Frisco, Montezuma, and Silverthorne. Dillon Reservoir and Green Mountain Reservoir are major water... - Publications
- Partners