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Jason S. Alexander

Jason is Surface Water Section Chief and Sediment Specialist at the Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center.

Jason's training is in fluvial geomorphology and his work typically focuses on the interface(s) between river processes and physical habitats of river-dependent species. He works with stakeholders to develop scientific foundations for decision making in rivers and streams with ongoing or legacy development pressures. This work spans geomorphic settings ranging from low-slope sand-bedded streams of the Midwest United States to canyon rivers of the Colorado Plateau, and land-use settings ranging from the near pristine to those with heavy agricultural and urban land pressures.

 

Professional Experience

  • 2021-present Supervisory Hydrologist [Surface Water Studies Chief], U.S. Geological Survey Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center.

  • 2018-2021 Hydrologist [Project Chief], U.S. Geological Survey Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center.

  • 2007-2014 Hydrologist [Project Chief], U.S. Geological Survey Nebraska Water Science Center, 2007 to 2014.

  • 2007 Integrated Water Management Analyst, Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, Lincoln, Nebraska.

  • 2002 – 2004 Engineering Specialist, Wright Water Engineers Inc., Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

  • 2000 – 2002 Geomorphologist, Stetson Engineers, San Rafael, California.

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D. Geology (Fluvial Geomorphology), University of Wyoming, 2020.

  • M.S. Watershed Science (Fluvial Geomorphology), Utah State University, 2007.

  • B.S. Geology, Colorado State University, 2000.

  • B.S. Watershed Science, Colorado State University, 2000.

Science and Products

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Measuring stream stage on Muddy Creek near Dad

Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Water Resources

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative is a long-term science-based effort to assess and enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitats at a landscape scale in southwest Wyoming, while facilitating responsible development through local collaboration and partnerships. The WLCI is an interagency working group of partners that is beginning the process of establishing a much larger coalition of...
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Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
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Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Water Resources

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative is a long-term science-based effort to assess and enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitats at a landscape scale in southwest Wyoming, while facilitating responsible development through local collaboration and partnerships. The WLCI is an interagency working group of partners that is beginning the process of establishing a much larger coalition of...
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Littlefield Creek middle study site

Characterizing Hydrologic and Geomorphic Processes in a Spring-Fed, Cold-Desert Headwater Stream

The role of natural versus human-influenced factors in sedimentation of Littlefield Creek, a small, high-desert creek in south-central Wyoming is currently unknown. In general, there is little empirical information about both hydrologic and geomorphic processes (together described as hydrogeomorphic) in these types of streams. To develop a better understanding of hydrogeomorphic processes, their...
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Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
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Characterizing Hydrologic and Geomorphic Processes in a Spring-Fed, Cold-Desert Headwater Stream

The role of natural versus human-influenced factors in sedimentation of Littlefield Creek, a small, high-desert creek in south-central Wyoming is currently unknown. In general, there is little empirical information about both hydrologic and geomorphic processes (together described as hydrogeomorphic) in these types of streams. To develop a better understanding of hydrogeomorphic processes, their...
Learn More
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Peak-flow measurement at Flathead River at Flathead, British Columbia

Peak-Flow Frequency Analysis for Selected Montana Streamgages

Peak-flow frequency information is needed for flood-plain mapping, design of highway infrastructure, and many other purposes across Montana. The USGS Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center has an ongoing project working to update peak-flow frequency estimates at USGS streamgages across the state.
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Water Resources, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
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Peak-Flow Frequency Analysis for Selected Montana Streamgages

Peak-flow frequency information is needed for flood-plain mapping, design of highway infrastructure, and many other purposes across Montana. The USGS Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center has an ongoing project working to update peak-flow frequency estimates at USGS streamgages across the state.
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Peak-flow frequency analyses for selected streamgages on the Bighorn, Tongue, and Lower Yellowstone Rivers and tributaries and Home Creek, Montana, based on data through water year 2021

The USGS Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center (WY–MT WSC) completed a report (Sando and McCarthy, 2018) documenting methods for peak-flow frequency analysis following implementation of the Bulletin 17C guidelines. The methods are used to provide estimates of peak-flow quantiles for 66.7-, 50-, 42.9-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs) for selected st
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Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Peak-flow frequency analyses for selected streamgages in and near Teton County, Montana, based on data through water year 2019

The USGS Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center (WY-MT WSC) completed a report (Sando and McCarthy, 2018) documenting methods for peak-flow frequency analysis following implementation of the Bulletin 17C guidelines. The methods are used to provide estimates of peak-flow quantiles for 66.7-, 50-, 42.9-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs) for selected st
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Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Peak-flow frequency analyses for selected streamgages in and near Powell County, Montana, based on data through water year 2019

The USGS Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center (WY-MT WSC) completed a report (Sando and McCarthy, 2018) documenting methods for peak-flow frequency analysis following implementation of the Bulletin 17C guidelines. The methods are used to provide estimates of peak-flow quantiles for 66.7-, 50-, 42.9-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs) for selected st
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Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Peak-flow frequency analyses for selected streamgages in and near the Milk River Basin, Montana, based on data through water year 2018, Part 1

The USGS Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center (WY?MT WSC) completed a report (Sando and McCarthy, 2018) documenting methods for peak-flow frequency analysis following implementation of the Bulletin 17C guidelines. The methods are used to provide estimates of peak-flow quantiles for 50-, 42.9-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs) for selected streamgag
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Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
Filter Total Items: 17

Using continuous measurements of turbidity to predict suspended-sediment concentrations, loads, and sources in Flat Creek through the town of Jackson, Wyoming, 2019−20 — A pilot study

Flat Creek, a tributary to the Snake River in northwestern Wyoming, is an important source of irrigation water, fish and wildlife habitat, and local recreation. Since 1996, a section of Flat Creek within the town of Jackson has failed to meet Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s surface-water-quality standards for total suspended solids and turbidity required by its State water-use classi
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Water Resources, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Testing the potential of streamflow data to predict spring migration of an ungulate herds

In mountainous and high latitude regions, migratory animals exploit green waves of emerging vegetation coinciding with rising daily mean temperatures initiating snowmelt across the landscape. Snowmelt also causes rivers and streams draining these regions to swell, a process referred to as to as the ‘spring pulse.’ Networks of streamgages measuring streamflow in these regions often have long-term a
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Water Resources, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2018 annual report

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) was established in 2007 as a collaborative interagency partnership to develop and implement science-based conservation actions. During the past 11 years, partners from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), State and Federal land management agencies, universities, and the public have collaborated to implement a long-term (more than 10 years) science-bas
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Ecosystems, Water Resources, Core Research Center, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Fort Collins Science Center, Nebraska Water Science Center, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Core Research Center

Deposition potential and flow-response dynamics of emergent sandbars in a braided river

Sandbars are ubiquitous in sandy‐braided rivers throughout the world. In the Great Plains of the United States, recovery and expansion of emergent sandbar habitat (ESH) has been a priority in lowland rivers where the natural extent of sandbars has been degraded. Recovery efforts are aimed at protection of populations of the interior least tern (Sterna antillarum) and piping plover (Charadrius melo
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Ecosystems, Columbia Environmental Research Center

Spectrally based bathymetric mapping of a dynamic, sand‐bedded channel: Niobrara River, Nebraska, USA

Methods for spectrally based mapping of river bathymetry have been developed and tested in clear‐flowing, gravel‐bed channels, with limited application to turbid, sand‐bed rivers. This study used hyperspectral images and field surveys from the dynamic, sandy Niobrara River to evaluate three depth retrieval methods. The first regression‐based approach, optimal band ratio analysis (OBRA), paired in

Effects of streamflows on stream-channel morphology in the eastern Niobrara National Scenic River, Nebraska, 1988–2010

The Niobrara River is an important and valuable economic and ecological resource in northern Nebraska that supports ecotourism, recreational boating, wildlife, fisheries, agriculture, and hydroelectric power. Because of its uniquely rich resources, a 122-kilometer reach of the Niobrara River was designated as a National Scenic River in 1991, which has been jointly managed by the U.S. Fish and Wild
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Water Resources, Nebraska Water Science Center

Characteristics of sediment transport at selected sites along the Missouri River, 2011–12

Extreme flooding in the Missouri River in 2011, followed by a year of more typical streamflows in 2012, allowed the sediment-transport regime to be compared between the unprecedented conditions of 2011 and the year immediately following the flooding. As part of a cooperative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, this report follows up U.S. Geological Surve
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Water Resources, Nebraska Water Science Center

The influence of controlled floods on fine sediment storage in debris fan-affected canyons of the Colorado River basin

Prior to the construction of large dams on the Green and Colorado Rivers, annual floods aggraded sandbars in lateral flow-recirculation eddies with fine sediment scoured from the bed and delivered from upstream. Flows greater than normal dam operations may be used to mimic this process in an attempt to increase time-averaged sandbar size. These controlled floods may rebuild sandbars, but sediment
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Ecosystems, Southwest Biological Science Center

Monitoring and research to describe geomorphic effects of the 2011 controlled flood on the Green River in the Canyon of Lodore, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado and Utah

In 2011, a large magnitude flow release from Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Wyoming and Utah, occurred in response to high snowpack in the middle Rocky Mountains. This was the third highest recorded discharge along the Green River downstream of Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah, since its initial closure in November 1962 and motivated a research effort to document effects of these flows on channel morphology and
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Ecosystems, Southwest Biological Science Center

Sediment transport and deposition in the lower Missouri River during the 2011 flood

Floodwater in the Missouri River in 2011 originated in upper-basin regions and tributaries, and then travelled through a series of large flood-control reservoirs, setting records for total runoff volume entering all six Missouri River main-stem reservoirs. The flooding lasted as long as 3 months. The U.S Geological Survey (USGS) examined sediment transport and deposition in the lower Missouri Rive
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Water Resources, Columbia Environmental Research Center

Emergent sandbar dynamics in the lower Platte River in eastern Nebraska: methods and results of pilot study, 2011

The lower Platte River corridor provides important habitats for two State- and federally listed bird species: the interior least tern (terns; Sternula antillarum athallassos) and the piping plover (plovers; Charadrius melodus). However, many of the natural morphological and hydrological characteristics of the Platte River have been altered substantially by water development, channelization, hydrop
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Water Resources, Nebraska Water Science Center

Characteristics of sediment transport at selected sites along the Missouri River during the high-flow conditions of 2011

During 2011, many tributaries in the Missouri River Basin experienced near record peak streamflow and caused flood damage to many communities along much of the Missouri River from Montana to the confluence with the Mississippi River. The large runoff event in 2011 provided an opportunity to examine characteristics of sediment transport in the Missouri River at high-magnitude streamflow and for a l
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Water Resources, Dakota Water Science Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Alexander, J.S, Huzurbazar, S., and McElroy, B.J., 2021, Examining the fluvial alteration hypothesis amidst recovery of the Interior Least Tern (Sternula antillarum), Ecosphere 12:7, p.e03491.
Alexander, J.S., McElroy, B.J., Huzurbazar, S., and Murr, M.L., 2020, Elevation gaps in fluvial sandbar deposition and their consequences for paleodepth inversion: Geology, DOI:10.1130/G47521.1.
Alexander, J.S., McElroy, B., Huzurbazar, S., Elliott, C. and Murr, M.L., 2020. Deposition potential and flow‐response dynamics of emergent sandbars in a braided river. Water Resources Research, 56(1), p.e2018WR024107.
Dilbone, E., Legleiter, C.J., Alexander, J.S. and McElroy, B., 2018. Spectrally based bathymetric mapping of a dynamic, sand‐bedded channel: Niobrara River, Nebraska, USA. River Research and Applications, 34(5), pp.430-441.
Alexander, J.S., Jorgensen, J.G., Brown, M.B., 2018, Reproductive ecology of interior least tern and piping plover in relation to Platte River hydrology and sandbar dynamics—Editorial: Ecology and Evolution, DOI:10.1002/ece3.4109.
Mueller, E.R., Grams, P.E., Schmidt, J.C., Hazel, J.E., Jr., Alexander, J.S., and Kaplinski, M., 2014, The influence of controlled floods on fine sediment storage in debris fan-affected canyons of the Colorado River basin: Geomorphology, v. 226, p. 65-75.
Braulik, G.T., Reichert, A.P, Ehsan, T., Khan, S., Northridge, S.P., Alexander, J.S., and Garstang, R., 2012, Habitat use by a freshwater dolphin in the low-water season: Aquatic Conservation—Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, v. 22, p. 533-546.
Soenksen, P.J., Flyr, B.B., Alexander, J.S., and Schaepe, N.J., 2010, Streamflow gains and losses in the Niobrara River Basin, Nebraska, 1980 and 2009: Journal of Environmental Hydrology, v. 18, 18 p.
Hallum, D., Alexander, J., Ostdiek, A., Cartwright, T., Lear, J., Pun, M., Bradley, J., Josiah, S., Koester, P., and Kloch, D., 2008, Assessment of resources available to quantify non-beneficial consumptive water use by riparian vegetation in Nebraska: Nebraska Department of Natural Resources Technical Report Number 2008-01, 58 p.

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

Littlefield Creek Upper site
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A yellow SCREE expedition raft floats through the calm waters of Browns Park.
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View looking at a shallow side channel of the Green River in Brown's Park, Colorado.
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View looking downstream at the red walls of Swallow Canyon.
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Scree boatwoman Jessica Flock looking upstream through binoculars from her expedition raft on the Green River.
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A downriver view of Red Canyon from about 100 feet above the river on the hillside.
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Jessica Flock rowing her 18-foot expedition raft in the rain across a long pool in Red Canyon of the Green River.
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View looking upstream at a small tributary stream in flood, contributing water and sediment to the Green River in Red Canyon.
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A blue UV light shines on a pool of ethanol in an rectangular container in the dark.
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Littlefield Creek Upper site
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Littlefield Creek Upper site
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Science and Products