Jason S Alexander
Jason is a fluvial geomorphologist whose work typically focuses on the interface(s) between river processes and physical habitats of river-dependent species. Jason spent four years as a water-resources consultant in California and Colorado before entering graduate school to study the effects of operations of Flaming Gorge Dam on the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument.
Biography
After a brief stint with the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, Jason joined the USGS in the Nebraska Water Science Center in 2007. While in Nebraska, Jason worked on river-sediment related problems in the Niobrara, Platte, Belle-Fourche and Missouri Rivers. Jason’s interest in river sandbars grew into a PhD project at the University of Wyoming, which he completed in 2020. He re-joined the USGS in the Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center in 2018. Currently Jason works on sediment-related projects in creeks and rivers of Wyoming and Montana. Jason enjoys canoeing, rafting, nordic and downhill skiing, running, and mountain biking…in that order.
Education
B.S. Geology – Colorado State University
B.S. Watershed Science – Colorado State University
M.S. Watershed Science (Fluvial Geomorphology) – Utah State University
PhD Geology and Geophysics (Fluvial Geomorphology) – University of Wyoming
Science and Products
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,...
Peak-Flow Frequency Analysis for Selected Montana Streamgages
The Montana Department of Resources and Conservation requires peak-flow information for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) floodplain mapping for various locations across Montana. Accordingly, the USGS WY-MT Water Science Center has updated peak-flow frequencies for selected streamgages in the Beaverhead River, Clark Fork, Ruby, Jefferson and Madison River Basins, and for selected...
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...
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 (...
Alexander, Jason S.; McElroy, Brandon; Huzurbazar, Snehalata; Elliott, Caroline M.; Murr, Marissa L. 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...
Dilbone, Elizabeth; Legleiter, Carl J.; Alexander, Jason S.; McElroy, Brandon
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...
Schaepe, Nathaniel J.; Alexander, Jason S.; Folz-Donahue, Kiernan
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...
Rus, David L.; Galloway, Joel M.; Alexander, Jason S. 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...
Mueller, Erich R.; Grams, Paul E.; Schmidt, John C.; Hazel, Joseph E.; Alexander, Jason S.; Kaplinski, Matt
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...
Mueller, Erich R.; Grams, Paul E.; Schmidt, John C.; Hazel, Joseph E.; Kaplinski, Matt; Alexander, Jason A.; Kohl, Keith
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...
Alexander, Jason S.; Jacobson, Robert B.; Rus, David L.
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...
Alexander, Jason S.; Schultze, Devin M.; Zelt, Ronald B.
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...
Galloway, Joel M.; Rus, Dave L.; Alexander, Jason S. Habitat use by a freshwater dolphin in the low-water season
1. Many river dolphin populations are most vulnerable during the low-water season when habitat is limited. Indus River dolphin habitat selection in the dry season was investigated using Generalized Linear Models of dolphin distribution and abundance in relation to physical features of river geomorphology and channel geometry in cross-section. 2....
Braulik, Gill T.; Reichert, Albert P.; Ehsan, Tahir; Khan, Samiullah; Northridge, Simon P.; Alexander, Jason S.; Garstang, Richard
A brief history and summary of the effects of river engineering and dams on the Mississippi River system and delta
The U.S. Geological Survey Forecast Mekong project is providing technical assistance and information to aid management decisions and build science capacity of institutions in the Mekong River Basin. A component of this effort is to produce a synthesis of the effects of dams and other engineering structures on large-river hydrology, sediment...
Alexander, Jason S.; Wilson, Richard C.; Green, W. Reed
Sediment samples and channel-geometry data, lower Platte River watershed, Nebraska, 2010
The relation between channel width and stream physical habitat in the lower Platte River in eastern Nebraska was studied as part of the lower Platte River Cumulative Impact Study. The purpose of this component was to document the grain-size distribution of sediment deposited as specific types of physical features, such as sandbars, banks, and...
Schaepe, Nathaniel J.; Alexander, Jason S.