Images

Map of the Upper Colorado River Basin —referred to as an Integrated Water Science (IWS) basins—are intensively monitored study basins representing a wide range of environmental, hydrologic, and landscape settings and human stressors of water resources to improve our understanding of water availability across the Nation.

This is an overlay of three images showing new gage installations in Utah. 

USGS and university scientists observe a herd of cattle while taking a break from collecting vegetation cover data from an experiment examining the impacts of drought and grazing on grassland productivity on the Colorado Plateau, Utah.

USGS scientists collect vegetation forage data from a grazing and drought drylands experiment on the Colorado Plateau, Utah.

USGS researchers take measurements during vegetation drought monitoring at a long-term study site in Canyonlands National Park in May 2025.

Shrubs and biocrust soils with a view of rock formations in the landscape of Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

Drone operations near Moab, Utah to collect spectral remote sensing imagery during a collaborative USGS field campaign in May 2025.

A USGS scientist collects plant data at a long-term grassland study site underneath a drought shelter that excludes ~30% of incoming precipitation as part of a study to understand drought impacts on Colorado Plateau rangelands. Photo taken April 2025. The shelter was installed in 2010.

Map showing porphyry copper deposits and porphyry copper prospects in and near the Lower Colorado River Basin. 

Schematic flowchart showing relations between porphyry copper mining, drought, water resources, ecosystems, health, and economic factors in the Lower Colorado River Basin and adjoining areas

USGS crews hike in equipment to install a streamgage on the North Fork of Mill Creek near Moab, Utah. The new monitoring system provides vital real-time data for flood warnings and public safety.

USGS crews hike to install a streamgage on the North Fork of Mill Creek near Moab, Utah. The new monitoring system provides vital real-time data for flood warnings and public safety

Map of the Northwestern United States showing major volcanic features associated with the mantle plume currently underneath Yellowstone caldera.  Colors indicate general basaltic (blues) versus rhyolitic (reds) compositions, with shades indicating age (darker shades are older).  Rough outlines of calderas that formed due to the Yellowstone hotspot are give

RestoreNet is a networked ecological restoration experiment spanning drylands of the American Southwest. It is engaging diverse partners to develop methods for successful revegetation projects that mitigate the effects of drought, invasion by non-native species, and land use practices.

Graphs showing water-year total precipitation and air temperatures in the Lower Colorado River Basin from 1896 to 2019, units modified from millimeters to inches of precipitation and from degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit from: Tillman, F.D., Gangopadhyay, S., and Pruitt, T., 2020, Trends in recent historical and projected climate data for the Colorado River Bas

Cattle inside a grazing enclosure at Canyonlands Research Center (The Nature Conservancy) in southern Utah.

Scenic view of the red rock mesas surrounding Canyonlands Research Center (The Nature Conservancy) in southern Utah.

Landsat 8 image of the Henry Mountains in southeastern Utah. 

Published on social media on November 7, 2024.

Mosaic of two different Landsat 8 images:
Image date: June 16, 2024
Path 37, Row 33 and Path 37, Row 34

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation map of the Colorado River Basin accessed on October 15, 2024, at URL: CRBSmap.jpg (2550×3300) (usbr.gov)

Pie chart showing relative amounts of copper produced by leading copper producing states in the U.S. in 2019 (derived from data in Flanagan, D.M., 2019, Copper, in Metals and minerals: U.S. Geological Survey Minerals Yearbook 2019, v. 1, p. 20.1-20.30.

Reduced-size map of the Colorado River Basin from the USGS ASIST Initiative, Sept. 3, 2024