Hundreds of Biological Data Available for Fountain Creek Basin, Colorado 

Macroinvertebrates are spineless organisms that can be observed without a microscope. The dataset currently contains data for 160 fish and 649 aquatic macroinvertebrate samples that were collected from Fountain Creek — Manitou Springs to Pueblo — since 2005. Samples continue to be collected annually and will provide a snapshot into the ecosystem that eventually flows into the Arkansas River.  

“This is a large dataset collected over a long period of time that was previously unavailable in this format,” said James Bruce, a USGS scientist involved in the project.

The 809 samples were collected and processed following protocols from the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment project and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Aquatic Use Attainment Policy. The Fountain Creek Basin drains approximately 926 square miles of the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains in south-central Colorado. 

Users can retrieve the data from BioData by searching for “Fountain Creek” using project criteria under the Organization/Program Filter.

The USGS BioData Retrieval system provides access to aquatic bioassessment data, or biological and physical habitat data, collected by USGS scientists from stream ecosystems across the country since 1991.​ The USGS, in cooperation with Colorado Spring Utilities and Colorado Springs City Engineering, has been collecting macroinvertebrate and fish data since 2003 and invertebrate data starting in 2005.

Local, state and federal agencies are interested in better understanding the relations between environmental characteristics and biological communities in the Fountain Creek basin in order to aid water-resource management and guide future monitoring activities.

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