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Long-term trends in annual, seasonal, and monthly streamflow metrics at streamgages in the Upper Colorado River Basin, 1981-2022

January 21, 2025
Identifying long-term trends in water availability, including surface water quantity, is a key part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs) mission. This data release includes input and output data used in Mann-Kendall trend analyses to characterize streamflow conditions at 124 USGS streamgages in the Upper Colorado River Basin for water years 1982 through 2021. The Upper Colorado Riven Basin is defined here as the basin area upstream of USGS streamgage Colorado River above Lee's Ferry, AZ (USGS site number 09380000). Input data included annual (111 streamgages), seasonal (119 streamgages), and monthly (121 streamgages) streamflow metrics, calculated from daily mean streamflow data from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) database. Annual streamflow metrics include mean and median annual streamflow, 1-day, 7-day, and 30-day maximum annual streamflow; 1-day, 7-day, and 30-day minimum annual streamflow; and the date of the center of volume (the date on which 50 percent of the annual streamflow has passed by a streamgage). Seasonal metrics were calculated for Fall (October-December), Winter (January-March), Spring (April-June), and Summer (July-September) and include mean and median seasonal streamflow, 1-day and 7-day maximum seasonal streamflow, and 1-day and 7-day minimum seasonal streamflow. Monthly metrics include mean and median monthly streamflow, 1-day and 7-day maximum monthly streamflow, and 1-day and 7-day minimum monthly streamflow. Trend analyses using the Mann-Kendall test were completed on the annual, seasonal, and monthly metrics, which were passed through a series of data completeness filters to ensure robust trend analyses. Trend analyses were conducted for climate years 1982 through 2021 for low-flow metrics (where each climate year represents April – March), and trend analyses were conducted for water years 1982 through 2021 for all other metrics (where each water year represents October – September).
Publication Year 2025
Title Long-term trends in annual, seasonal, and monthly streamflow metrics at streamgages in the Upper Colorado River Basin, 1981-2022
DOI 10.5066/P1QVLQAP
Authors Natalie K Day, Patrick C Longley
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Asset Identifier Service (AIS)
USGS Organization Colorado Water Science Center - Main Office
Rights This work is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal
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