Unified Interior Regions
Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
Map of Region 7
Key USGS Region 7 Upper Colorado Basin Contacts
Regional Director-Roseann Gonzales-Schreiner
Associate Regional Director, Operations-Peter Griffiths
USGS Region 7 Upper Colorado Basin Offices and Science Centers
Regions L2 Landing Page Tabs
USGS Science Centers in Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin conduct a large number of cooperative and collaborative projects with other agencies and partners. A sampling of those projects are shown below on this web page.
South Platte Alluvial Aquifer Water-Level Monitoring
Reports indicate that groundwater levels are rising in parts of the South Platte alluvial aquifer. The Colorado Division of Water Resources and the Colorado Water Conservation Board are establishing a groundwater-level monitoring network in the South Platte basin. The USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) monitoring wells are uniquely located so as to be included in the...
USGS Post-Wildfire Hydrologic Monitoring in New Mexico
USGS Gages in New Mexico Wildfire Areas
Selenium Mobilization from Shales
Selenium (Se) and salinity (total dissolved solids) are water-quality concerns in much of the arid western US where agricultural and urban irrigation overlie Cretaceous-age shale. Leaching of Se and salinity from shale can degrade water quality and negatively affect aquatic biota in receiving water bodies. In the upper Colorado River Basin, programs since 1985 have worked to reduce Se and...
Gunnison and Green River Basin Sediment Monitoring and Evaluation Program
Underlying geomorphic processes relevant to the formation and maintenance of backwater habitats are relatively poorly understood, particularly the effects of peak-flow magnitude and duration; sediment deposition and erosion; base-flow magnitude and variability; and antecedent conditions on habitat availability and conditions. Knowledge of sediment dynamics in important river reaches is...
Natural Resources Conservation Service Deep Percolation
The conversion of agricultural land to urban residential land is associated with rapid population growth in the Grand Valley of western Colorado. Information regarding the effects of this land-use conversion on deep percolation, irrigation-water application, and associated salt loading to the Colorado River is needed to support water-resource planning and conservation efforts.
Biosolids, soils, crops, ground water, and streambed sediments in the vicinity of a biosolids-application area near Deer Trail, Colorado
The Metro Wastewater Reclamation District (Metro District) applies biosolids throughout their properties (the MetroGro Farm) near Deer Trail, Colorado. These biosolids applications could affect the quality of water in alluvial and bedrock aquifers, streambed sediment, soil, dust, and crops.
Water quality can be directly affected through:
- Contaminated recharge water, or ...
Characterization of the Hydrologic Resources of San Miguel County, New Mexico, and Identification of Critical Data Gaps in Characterizing the Hydrologic Resources, 2011
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with San Miguel County, New Mexico, conducted a study to assess publicly available information regarding the hydrologic resources of San Miguel County and to identify data gaps in that information and hydrologic information that could aid in the management of available water resources. The USGS operates four continuous annual streamgages in San...
Continuous Water Quality Monitoring on the Pecos River in Southern New Mexico
High levels of salinity in the Pecos River render it less useful for various purposes. It is believed that underground salt deposits in the Malaga area contribute to the increase in the salinity in the Pecos River as it flows through this area.
Bathymetry of Groundhog and Totten Reservoirs
In order to better characterize the water supply capacity of Groundhog Reservoir, Dolores County, Colorado, and Totten Reservoir, Montezuma County, Colorado, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Dolores Water Conservancy District, conducted a bathymetric survey of Groundhog and Totten Reservoir. The study was performed in June 2011 using a man-operated boat-mounted multibeam...
Rural Douglas County Groundwater Network
More than 70 percent of the municipal water supply in the south Denver metropolitan area is provided by groundwater, and homeowners in rural areas depend solely on self-supplied groundwater for water supply. Increased groundwater withdrawal to meet the demand of the rapidly growing population is causing water levels to decline. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Rural Water...
RCMAP - Gunnison River at Spann Diversion at Gunnison, Colorado
The U.S. Geological Survey was engaged in a program to monitor and assess the long-term geomorphic behavior of selected river and stream reaches that previously had undergone some physical modification. These modifications included natural channel adjustments to floods as well as intentional channel reconfigurations to alter the function or appearance of a river reach.
Gunnison...
Flood Database for Colorado
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation, created a Web-based geodatabase for information on floods from 1867 through water year 2015 and information on paleofloods occurring in the past 5,000 to 10,000 years. The geodatabase was created using Environmental Systems Research Institute ArcGIS JavaScript Application Programing Interface. Engineers...
Salinity yield modeling of the Upper Colorado River Basin using 30-meter resolution soil maps and random forests
Salinity loading in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) costs local economies upwards of $300 million US dollars annually. Salinity source models have generally included coarse spatial data to represent non‐agriculture sources. We developed new predictive soil property and cover maps at 30 m resolution to improve source representation in...
Nauman, Travis; Ely, Christopher; Miller, Matthew; Duniway, Michael
Assessment of Paleozoic Shale-Oil and Shale-Gas Resources in the Tarim Basin of China, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 1.4 billion barrels of shale oil and 26.9 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in Paleozoic formations in the Tarim Basin of China.
Potter, Christopher J.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Finn, Thomas M.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Marra, Kristen R.; Le, Phuong A.; Drake, Ronald M.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Pitman, Janet K.
Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Reggane Basin Province, Algeria, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 63 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Reggane Basin Province of Algeria.
Schenk, Christopher J.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Le, Phuong A.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Finn, Thomas M.; Marra, Kristen R.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Pitman, Janet K.; Drake, Ronald M.
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Northwest Canada Interior Basins Province, Arctic Canada
The Northwest Canada Interior Basins Province is bounded by the Mackenzie and Richardson Mountains on the southwest and west, by the Eskimo Lakes Arch on the northwest, and by the erosional limit of Paleozoic strata on the east. It lies within the far northwest part of the Paleozoic continent of Laurentia. During early Paleozoic time, it was part...
Moore, Thomas E.; Gautier, Donald L.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Pitman, Janet K. GLASS3: A standalone multi-scale seismic detection associator
The automated global real-time association of phase picks into seismic sources comes with unique challenges when simultaneously monitoring at local, regional and global scales. High spatial variability in seismic station density, transitory seismic data availability, and time-varying noise characteristics of individual stations must be considered...
Yeck, William L.; Patton, John; Johnson, Caryl E.; Kragness, David; Benz, Harley M.; Earle, Paul S.; Guy, Michelle; Ambruz, Nicholas (Contractor)
Assessment of undiscovered continuous tight-gas resources in the Mesaverde Group and Wasatch Formation, Uinta-Piceance Province, Utah and Colorado, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 24 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Mesaverde Group and Wasatch Formation of the Uinta-Piceance Province in northeast Utah and northwest Colorado.
Drake, Ronald M.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Le, Phuong A.; Finn, Thomas M.; Johnson, Ronald C.; Woodall, Cheryl A.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Marra, Kristen R.; Pitman, Janet K.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Haines, Seth S.; Tennyson, Marilyn E. Groundwater quality of a public supply aquifer in proximity to oil development, Fruitvale Oil Field, Bakersfield, California
Due to concerns over the effects of oil production activities on groundwater quality in California, chemical, isotopic, dissolved gas and age-dating tracers were analyzed in samples collected from public-supply wells and produced-water sites in the Fruitvale oil field (FVOF). A combination of newly collected and historical data was used to...
Wright, Michael; McMahon, Peter B.; Landon, Matthew K.; Kulongoski, Justin T. Connections between Eocene Lakes Uinta and Gosiute with emphasis on the infilling stage of Lake Uinta in Piceance Basin
Late in its history, Eocene saline Lake Gosiute in the Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming and Colorado was progressively filled from north to south with coarse volcaniclastic sediments. During the infilling, Lake Gosiute began to drain southward across the Axial arch into saline Lake Uinta in the Piceance and Uinta Basins, Colorado and Utah (about...
Johnson, Ronald C.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Hansley, Paula L. Distribution of mineral phases in the Eocene Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, Colorado – Implications for the evolution of Lake Uinta
The mineralogy of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, Colorado, has been the subject of numerous studies since the 1920s. Most previous work has focused on the resource potential of these lacustrine mudrocks, which in addition to substantial oil shale potential (in-place resources of 353 billion barrels of synthetic crude oil...
Birdwell, Justin E.; Johnson, Ronald C.; Brownfield, Michael E. Rapid station and network quality analysis for temporary deployments
Seismic station data quality is commonly defined by metrics such as data completeness or background seismic noise levels in specific frequency bands. However, for temporary networks such as aftershock deployments or induced seismicity monitoring, the most critical metric is often how well the station performs when recording events of interest. A...
Wilson, David C.; Ringler, Adam T.; Storm, Tyler; Anthony, Robert E.
Remote sensing of river flow in Alaska—New technology to improve safety and expand coverage of USGS streamgaging
The U.S. Geological Survey monitors water level (water surface elevation relative to an arbitrary datum) and measures streamflow in Alaska rivers to compute and compile river flow records for use by water resource planners, engineers, and land managers to design infrastructure, manage floodplains, and protect life, property, and aquatic resources...
Conaway, Jeff; Eggleston, John R.; Legleiter, Carl J.; Jones, John W.; Kinzel, Paul J.; Fulton, John W. Spatially-structured statistical network models for landscape genetics
A basic understanding of how the landscape impedes, or creates resistance to, the dispersal of organisms and hence gene flow is paramount for successful conservation science and management. Spatially structured ecological networks are often used to represent spatial landscape‐genetic relationships, where nodes represent individuals or populations...
Hooten, Mevin B.Photos and videos described and linked on this webpage come from a wide variety of USGS science activities and presentations performed by USGS Science Center staff members in the Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin.
Lowering pump down monitoring well to sample for pesticides
Lowering pump down monitoring well to sample for pesticides
Water-quality sampling for pesticides, Shoshone River near Lovell
Water-quality sampling for pesticides, Shoshone River near Lovell
Water-quality sampling from Salt River cableway
Water-quality sampling from Salt River cableway
Digging trench to bury cable transmitting GW data to streamgage
Digging trench in which to bury cable transmitting groundwater data from well to streamgage
Setting up Groundwater Streamgage on Green River nr LaBarge
Setting up Groundwater Streamgage on Green River nr LaBarge
White River near Watson, Utah
Measuring discharge in White River near Watson, Utah using FlowTracker on sunny winter day.
Wheat Field Wind Turbines in Wyoming
Wheat field wind turbines in Wyoming.
An agricultural barn with farming equipment stored outside in Colorado
An agricultural barn with farming equipment stored outside in Colorado.
Sampling for aquatic invasive species in the Greater Yellowstone Area.
Sampling for aquatic invasive species in the Greater Yellowstone Area.
Bat Thermal Video
Imagery from temperature-sensing cameras showing bats in hibernation. This new footage suggests that bats who warm up from hibernation together throughout the winter may be better at surviving white nose syndrome, a disease caused by a cold-loving fungus ravaging insect-eating bat populations in the United States and Canada. Locations: Gap Cave,125 Cumberland Gap National
News items shown on this page are highlights of selected studies conducted and publications produced by USGS Science Center staff members in Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin.
Wendy Romney Hassibe, recently retired leader and manager with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Denver, Colo., died suddenly after suffering a stroke on March 11 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
BOSTON--The carbon balance of wetlands in the southern Rocky Mountains may be very sensitive to small changes in local climate, according to recent research conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey.
BOSTON-Cleaning up where the mines left off is where some scientific minds are focused this week. Robert Runkel, a U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist based in Denver, Colo., will present Modeling the Effects of Proposed Remedial Actions on Stream Chemistry in Abandoned Mine Lands...
Blue skies and gentle breezes prevailed for the 5k race and 2k fun run that kicked off Open House at the U.S. Geological Survey, Sat., April 25, 1998.
Water quality in the South Platte River Basin has been adversely affected by agriculture and urban development, according to the results of a 5-year investigation of water quality by the U.S. Geological Survey.
A 5-year study of water quality in the Rio Grande Valley, from its headwaters in Colorado to near El Paso, Texas, has been completed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The study focused on ground water in the flood plain of the Rio Grande and surface water in the Rio Grande and selected tributaries.
Although agriculture and urban activities have substantially affected water quality in several areas of the South Platte River Basin, concentrations of pesticides and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), such as MTBE, are generally below levels of concern for human health, according to the results of a 5-year investigation of water quality by the U.S. Geological Survey.
An air temperature threshold is a powerful indicator for anticipatingpotentially hazardous landslides during the spring snowmelt season,according to the results of a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The potential for earthquakes in many parts of the United States, a review of the more than 10,000 earthquakes that have occurred near Mammoth Lakes, Calif., during the past year, and updates on the monitoring of earthquakes, mine explosions and earthquake-induced landslides are part of 32 presentations by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey at the annual meeting of the Seismological...
From Seafloor Mapping to Hammer Awards and AAAS Fellowships........
The asteroid impact that occurred 65 million years ago comes to life on the computer screen, Tuesday, Oct. 21, as a research cartographer with the U.S. Geological Survey demonstrates his latest HyperCard animation at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in Salt Lake City.
When Henry J. Moore was growing up on Third Avenue during the 1930s, he says he didn’t pay much attention to the comic-book space dust being kickedup by Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. Twenty years later, however, Moore’s interest in the dust and landforms of Planet Earth set him on a course that would eventually land in the dust on Mars; in a matter of speaking.
This page includes links to Social Media accounts (top of page), Science Centers (middle of page), and Regional Office staff members (bottom of page) of the USGS Region 7--Upper Colorado Basin.
Contacts
Locations
Region 7 - Upper Colorado Basin
rgonzales-schreiner@usgs.gov
Phone: 703-648-7200
NSF Ice Core Facility
Phone: 303-202-4830
New Mexico Water Science Center
Phone: (505) 830-7900
Fax: (505) 830-7998
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Phone: 303-236-5345
Utah Water Science Center
angeroth@usgs.gov
Phone: (801) 908-5000
Fax: (801) 908-5001
Colorado Water Science Center - Main Office
gs-w-codist_webmaster@usgs.gov
Phone: 303-236-6900
Fax: 303-236-4912
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Cheyenne Office
Phone: (307) 778-2931
Fax: (307) 778-2764
National Geospatial Technical Operations Center - Denver, CO
Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
Phone: 303-236-1800
Fax: 303-236-3200
Geologic Hazards Science Center
Phone: 303-273-8500
North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center
Fort Collins Science Center
Phone: 970-226-9100
Fax: 970-226-9230
Colorado Water Science Center - Southeast Colorado Office: Pueblo, CO
gs-w-codist_webmaster@usgs.gov
Phone: 719-562-2840
Fax: 719-544-2463
Colorado Water Science Center - Western Colorado Office: Grand Junction
gs-w-codist_webmaster@usgs.gov
Phone: 970-628-7150
Fax: 970-245-1026
National Earthquake Information Center
Phone: 303-273-8500
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO)
yvowebteam@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-993-8906
Spectroscopy Lab
Molecular Ecology Lab (MEL)
Phone: 970-226-9100
Fax: 970-226-9230
Denver Microbeam Laboratory
Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory
Moab Field Office
wilkowsk@usgs.gov
Phone: 435-259-4430
Fax: 435-259-5420
Salt Lake Field Office
sjgerner@usgs.gov
Phone: 801-908-5000
Fax: 801-908-5001
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Casper Office
Phone: 307-261-5485
Fax: 307-261-5487
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Riverton Office
Phone: 307-856-3771
Fax: 307-857-3165
Roswell Field Office
Phone: 575-627-0324
Fax: 575-646-7949
Southwest Biological Science Center - Moab, UT, Research Station
Phone: 435-259-3121
USGS Everglades Research Offices
Phone: 305-242-7834
Colorado Water Science Center - Durango Field Office
gs-w-codist_webmaster@usgs.gov
Phone: 970-247-4222
Fax: 970-247-4296
Jackson, Wyoming Field Research Station
Phone: 307-733-2314
Las Cruces Field Office
Phone: (575) 646-8129
Fax: (575) 646-7949
Cedar City Field Office
baslaugh@usgs.gov
Phone: 435-586-4543
Fax: 435-586-4557
USGS Denver Library
den_lib@usgs.gov
Phone: 303-236-1000
Fax: 303-236-1013
The Core Research Center
CRC@USGS.GOV
Phone: 303-202-4851
Fax: 303-202-4856
Social Media
USGS Science Centers in Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin conduct a large number of cooperative, co-funded science and monitoring projects with many other Federal, Tribal, State, and local agencies. Please scroll below to see the agencies with which those Science Centers currently have cooperative agreements.