Kenneth J Leib
Ken is the Associate Director for Studies with the USGS Colorado Water Science Center (COWSC), Western Colorado Office, in Grand Junction, CO.
Previously he served as the Office and Studies Section Chief of the Western Area Office of the COWSC in Grand Junction, CO, and as a project hydrologist. He received a B.S. in Watershed Science from Colorado State University in 1995 and has worked with the USGS since 1996. Ken has served as the COWSC representative to the National Irrigation Water Quality Program, Salinity Control Program, Selenium Management Program, and has been project lead on numerous water-quality and surface water investigations in Western Colorado.
Science and Products
Upper Gunnison River Water-Quality Data
The Upper Gunnison River Watershed, located in the Rocky Mountains 150 miles southwest of Denver, Colorado, drains approximately 3,965 square miles. Forest and rangeland comprise 89 percent of land within the watershed, but the traditional western ranching economy is increasingly supplemented through a tourism economy centered around Crested Butte Mountain Resort and the Curecanti National...
Southwest Study Area Water-Quality Data
In southwest Colorado, drought, wildfires, mining activities, agriculture, and population growth have altered the landscape from its natural condition. These changes have potentially degraded the water-quality of streams, rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater by introducing or increasing levels of metals, nutrients, synthetic organic chemicals, and sediment. Recognizing the need to understand how...
Stochastic Modeling of Effects that the Sulphur Gulch Reservoir May Have on Colorado River Water Quality near Grand Junction, Colorado
Sulphur Gulch, a new reservoir proposed to be located about 25 miles east of Grand Junction, Colorado, on a tributary to the Colorado River that drains the Sulphur Gulch watershed between De Beque and Cameo, Colorado. The primary use of the Sulphur Gulch Reservoir would be to provide the Colorado River with up to 5,412.5 acre-feet of late-season water in support of the Endangered Fish Recovery...
Using GIS and Multivariate Regressions to Model Salt and Selenium Loads in Regions of the Upper Colorado River Basin
Elevated loads of salt and selenium can impair the quality of water for both anthropogenic and natural uses. Understanding the environmental processes controlling how salt and selenium are introduced to streams is critical to managing and mitigating the effects of elevated loads. Dominant relations between salt and selenium loads and environmental characteristics can be established by using...
Science and Products
Upper Gunnison River Water-Quality Data
The Upper Gunnison River Watershed, located in the Rocky Mountains 150 miles southwest of Denver, Colorado, drains approximately 3,965 square miles. Forest and rangeland comprise 89 percent of land within the watershed, but the traditional western ranching economy is increasingly supplemented through a tourism economy centered around Crested Butte Mountain Resort and the Curecanti National...
Southwest Study Area Water-Quality Data
In southwest Colorado, drought, wildfires, mining activities, agriculture, and population growth have altered the landscape from its natural condition. These changes have potentially degraded the water-quality of streams, rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater by introducing or increasing levels of metals, nutrients, synthetic organic chemicals, and sediment. Recognizing the need to understand how...
Stochastic Modeling of Effects that the Sulphur Gulch Reservoir May Have on Colorado River Water Quality near Grand Junction, Colorado
Sulphur Gulch, a new reservoir proposed to be located about 25 miles east of Grand Junction, Colorado, on a tributary to the Colorado River that drains the Sulphur Gulch watershed between De Beque and Cameo, Colorado. The primary use of the Sulphur Gulch Reservoir would be to provide the Colorado River with up to 5,412.5 acre-feet of late-season water in support of the Endangered Fish Recovery...
Using GIS and Multivariate Regressions to Model Salt and Selenium Loads in Regions of the Upper Colorado River Basin
Elevated loads of salt and selenium can impair the quality of water for both anthropogenic and natural uses. Understanding the environmental processes controlling how salt and selenium are introduced to streams is critical to managing and mitigating the effects of elevated loads. Dominant relations between salt and selenium loads and environmental characteristics can be established by using...