Phytoplankton, algal toxin, and water-quality data for Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado, 1970–2023

Blue Mesa Reservoir (Blue Mesa) is the largest storage reservoir in Colorado and is used for water supply and recreation. The reservoir consists of three distinct basins which are, moving from east to west, Iola, Cebolla, and Sapinero. This data release includes a wide variety of data collected to understand conditions that contribute to algal blooms in Blue Mesa. Data include phytoplankton and algal toxin abundance, discrete water-quality constituents, instantaneous vertical profiles, and continuous sonde measurements from boat surveys.