Photograph of USGS employees, Ethan Newman, Katherine Curran, and Lily Delmarsh, driving a boat on Grand Lake.
The Three Lakes System of Colorado includes Grand Lake, Shadow Mountain Reservoir, and Granby Reservoir. This system is located within the headwaters of the Upper Colorado River Basin and is near the west entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park. The town of Grand Lake is a popular recreational location within Colorado, and the Three Lakes System provides year-round activities including swimming, boating, fishing, snowmobiling, and hiking on nearby trails. This project website focuses primarily on the drainage basin of the Three Lakes System and the Colorado River downstream to Windy Gap Reservoir.
Background
The Colorado River and other headwater tributaries are natural inputs to the Three Lakes Systems. The Three Lakes System is a component of the Colorado-Big Thompson (C-BT) project which is jointly operated by Northern Water and the Bureau of Reclamation. The C-BT project delivers approximately 260,000 acre-feet of water annually from the Colorado River on the western side of the Continental Divide to the Front Range on the eastern side of the divide via the Alva B. Adams Tunnel and serves more than 1,000,000 people for municipal water uses and approximately 615,000 acres for agricultural water uses (Bureau of Reclamation, 2023; Northern Water, 2023a).
Streamgage networks can monitor real-time streamflow conditions in the Colorado River and headwater tributaries. These data are used by Northern Water and the Bureau of Reclamation to operate the C-BT project.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Water quality has been monitored within the Upper Colorado and Three Lakes System for more than 50 years (USGS, 2023; Northern Water, 2023c). Water-quality monitoring efforts include collecting discrete water samples and operating real-time, water-quality instrumentation. These data are used to monitor changing water-quality conditions within the Three Lakes System (Northern Water, 2023b).
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
In October 2020, the East Troublesome Fire burned 193,892 acres that largely encompassed a large part of the Three Lakes System drainage basin (USFS,2021). Following the fire, the existing real-time precipitation station and streamgage network were expanded to collect data within the burn scar. These data are being used to evaluate possible effects of the East Troublesome Fire on the local hydrology.
References
Bureau of Reclamation, 2023, Colorado-Big Thompson Project, accessed November 20, 2023, at https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=432
Northern Water, 2023a, Deliver Water, accessed November 30, 2023, at https://www.northernwater.org/what-we-do/deliver-water
Northern Water, 2023b, Grand Lake Clarity, accessed December 19, 2023, at https://www.northernwater.org/Home/Page/3568cf32-614a-4462-b7a8-f95c431ec7c9
Northern Water, 2023c, Water Quality Data Retrieval, accessed December 19, 2023, at https://www.northernwater.org/our-data/water-quality-data/data
U.S. Forest Service [USFS], 2021, One year later: Partners reflect on East Troublesome Fire recovery, accessed January 10, 2024, at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD961823
U.S. Geological Survey [USGS], 2023, USGS Water Data for the Nation. U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System database, accessed December 18, 2023, at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN
Grand Lake, Colorado
Photograph of USGS employees, Ethan Newman, Katherine Curran, and Lily Delmarsh, driving a boat on Grand Lake.
Water Chemistry Sampling on Shadow Mountain Reservoir
Photograph of USGS employees, Lily Delmarsh and Katherine Curran, collecting a water chemistry sample with a Kemmerer sampler.
USGS 4013311005501401 – Shadow Mountain Lake near Midlake near Grand Lake, Colorado
Photograph of USGS employees, Lily Delmarsh and Katherine Curran, collecting a water chemistry sample with a Kemmerer sampler.
USGS 4013311005501401 – Shadow Mountain Lake near Midlake near Grand Lake, Colorado
Phytoplankton sampling on Shadow Mountain Reservoir
Photograph of USGS employees, Ethan Newman and Katherine Curran, collecting a depth-integrated, water sample from the photic zone (the layer of water that receives sunlight) using a modified pool hose. Lily Delmarsh (bottom right) is preparing to measure the transparency of the water using a secchi disk.
Photograph of USGS employees, Ethan Newman and Katherine Curran, collecting a depth-integrated, water sample from the photic zone (the layer of water that receives sunlight) using a modified pool hose. Lily Delmarsh (bottom right) is preparing to measure the transparency of the water using a secchi disk.
The Three Lakes System of Colorado includes Grand Lake, Shadow Mountain Reservoir, and Granby Reservoir. This system is located within the headwaters of the Upper Colorado River Basin and is near the west entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park. The town of Grand Lake is a popular recreational location within Colorado, and the Three Lakes System provides year-round activities including swimming, boating, fishing, snowmobiling, and hiking on nearby trails. This project website focuses primarily on the drainage basin of the Three Lakes System and the Colorado River downstream to Windy Gap Reservoir.
Background
The Colorado River and other headwater tributaries are natural inputs to the Three Lakes Systems. The Three Lakes System is a component of the Colorado-Big Thompson (C-BT) project which is jointly operated by Northern Water and the Bureau of Reclamation. The C-BT project delivers approximately 260,000 acre-feet of water annually from the Colorado River on the western side of the Continental Divide to the Front Range on the eastern side of the divide via the Alva B. Adams Tunnel and serves more than 1,000,000 people for municipal water uses and approximately 615,000 acres for agricultural water uses (Bureau of Reclamation, 2023; Northern Water, 2023a).
Streamgage networks can monitor real-time streamflow conditions in the Colorado River and headwater tributaries. These data are used by Northern Water and the Bureau of Reclamation to operate the C-BT project.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Water quality has been monitored within the Upper Colorado and Three Lakes System for more than 50 years (USGS, 2023; Northern Water, 2023c). Water-quality monitoring efforts include collecting discrete water samples and operating real-time, water-quality instrumentation. These data are used to monitor changing water-quality conditions within the Three Lakes System (Northern Water, 2023b).
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
In October 2020, the East Troublesome Fire burned 193,892 acres that largely encompassed a large part of the Three Lakes System drainage basin (USFS,2021). Following the fire, the existing real-time precipitation station and streamgage network were expanded to collect data within the burn scar. These data are being used to evaluate possible effects of the East Troublesome Fire on the local hydrology.
References
Bureau of Reclamation, 2023, Colorado-Big Thompson Project, accessed November 20, 2023, at https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=432
Northern Water, 2023a, Deliver Water, accessed November 30, 2023, at https://www.northernwater.org/what-we-do/deliver-water
Northern Water, 2023b, Grand Lake Clarity, accessed December 19, 2023, at https://www.northernwater.org/Home/Page/3568cf32-614a-4462-b7a8-f95c431ec7c9
Northern Water, 2023c, Water Quality Data Retrieval, accessed December 19, 2023, at https://www.northernwater.org/our-data/water-quality-data/data
U.S. Forest Service [USFS], 2021, One year later: Partners reflect on East Troublesome Fire recovery, accessed January 10, 2024, at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD961823
U.S. Geological Survey [USGS], 2023, USGS Water Data for the Nation. U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System database, accessed December 18, 2023, at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN
Grand Lake, Colorado
Photograph of USGS employees, Ethan Newman, Katherine Curran, and Lily Delmarsh, driving a boat on Grand Lake.
Photograph of USGS employees, Ethan Newman, Katherine Curran, and Lily Delmarsh, driving a boat on Grand Lake.
Water Chemistry Sampling on Shadow Mountain Reservoir
Photograph of USGS employees, Lily Delmarsh and Katherine Curran, collecting a water chemistry sample with a Kemmerer sampler.
USGS 4013311005501401 – Shadow Mountain Lake near Midlake near Grand Lake, Colorado
Photograph of USGS employees, Lily Delmarsh and Katherine Curran, collecting a water chemistry sample with a Kemmerer sampler.
USGS 4013311005501401 – Shadow Mountain Lake near Midlake near Grand Lake, Colorado
Phytoplankton sampling on Shadow Mountain Reservoir
Photograph of USGS employees, Ethan Newman and Katherine Curran, collecting a depth-integrated, water sample from the photic zone (the layer of water that receives sunlight) using a modified pool hose. Lily Delmarsh (bottom right) is preparing to measure the transparency of the water using a secchi disk.
Photograph of USGS employees, Ethan Newman and Katherine Curran, collecting a depth-integrated, water sample from the photic zone (the layer of water that receives sunlight) using a modified pool hose. Lily Delmarsh (bottom right) is preparing to measure the transparency of the water using a secchi disk.