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Colorado Water Science Center

Welcome to the USGS Colorado Water Science Center!  Please use these pages to explore the hydrologic data and scientific investigations we conduct on Colorado water resources.

News

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USGS hydrologic study to use non-toxic green dye in Lake Fork Creek

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MEDIA ALERT: One of Colorado’s deadliest natural disasters on record began 47 years ago today

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Media Alert: USGS study will dye Slate River green in November

Publications

Mechanisms of water-rock interaction and implications for remediating flooded mine workings elucidated from environmental tracers, stable isotopes, and rare earth elements

Contamination from acid mine drainage affects ecosystems and usability of groundwater for domestic and municipal purposes. The Captain Jack Superfund Site outside of Ward, Boulder County, Colorado, USA, hosts a draining mine adit that was remediated through emplacement of a hydraulic bulkhead to preclude acid mine drainage from entering nearby Lefthand Creek. During impoundment of water within the
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Connor P. Newman, Katherine Walton-Day, Robert L. Runkel, Richard Wilkin

Assessment of salinity retention or mobilization by sediment-retention ponds near Delta, Colorado, 2019

Salinity control efforts in the Colorado River Basin have focused on mobilization of salts from irrigated land, but nonirrigated rangelands are also a source of salinity. In particular, lands where soils have formed from the Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale under arid and semiarid climates contain considerable quantities of salt, mainly in the subsurface. Hundreds of thousands of contour furrows and c
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Rodney J. Richards, Carleton R. Bern, Victoria Moreno

U.S. Geological Survey Rocky Mountain Region 2022 science exchange, showcasing interdisciplinary and state-of-the-art USGS science

IntroductionThe Rocky Mountains and the Colorado River Basin in the Western United States represent complex, interconnected systems that sustain a number of species, including tens of millions of humans. These systems face several challenges, including worsening drought, altered wildfire regimes, climate change, and the spread of invasive species. These factors can exacerbate one another, further
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Dana E. Peterson, Katherine L. French, Jeannette H. Oden, Patrick J. Anderson, Timothy N. Titus, Katharine G. Dahm, Jessica M. Driscoll, William J. Andrews

Science

Isotopic and environmental tracers for improved understanding of geochemical and hydrologic processes occurring near flooded mine workings

Draining mine tunnels contribute metals and acidity to streams throughout the western United States. One remediation strategy that is increasing in usage is the emplacement of hydraulic bulkheads to impound water within the subsurface. Potential secondary effects of bulkhead usage are difficult to quantify however because of the inherent complexity of most mountain hydrologic systems. In...
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Isotopic and environmental tracers for improved understanding of geochemical and hydrologic processes occurring near flooded mine workings

Draining mine tunnels contribute metals and acidity to streams throughout the western United States. One remediation strategy that is increasing in usage is the emplacement of hydraulic bulkheads to impound water within the subsurface. Potential secondary effects of bulkhead usage are difficult to quantify however because of the inherent complexity of most mountain hydrologic systems. In...
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Data supporting management of thermal springs –Steamboat Springs, Colorado

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the city of Steamboat Springs and the Tread of Pioneers Museum, is undertaking a geologic, hydrologic, and geochemical study to better understand the sources of water to hot springs and the possible effects of land use change and human activities on the chemistry and sustainability of springs.
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Data supporting management of thermal springs –Steamboat Springs, Colorado

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the city of Steamboat Springs and the Tread of Pioneers Museum, is undertaking a geologic, hydrologic, and geochemical study to better understand the sources of water to hot springs and the possible effects of land use change and human activities on the chemistry and sustainability of springs.
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Actionable Science

The Colorado River Basin Pilot Project is exploring new approaches for the USGS to answer complex earth systems questions identified in partnership with stakeholders, which cannot be answered through a single discipline approach. Science coproduction is a method where scientists, managers, policy makers, and other stakeholders first identify specific decisions to be informed by science, and then...
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Actionable Science

The Colorado River Basin Pilot Project is exploring new approaches for the USGS to answer complex earth systems questions identified in partnership with stakeholders, which cannot be answered through a single discipline approach. Science coproduction is a method where scientists, managers, policy makers, and other stakeholders first identify specific decisions to be informed by science, and then...
Learn More