Unified Interior Regions
Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
Map of Region 7 Upper Colorado River Basin

Map Showing USGS/DOI Unified Region 7 and parts of adjoining Regions
Key USGS Region 7 Upper Colorado Basin Contacts
Regional Director (Acting)-Peter Griffiths
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.
How and Why Upper Colorado River Basin Land, Water, and Fire Managers Choose to Use Drought Tools (or Not)
Objectives
Preparing for and responding to drought requires integrating scientific information into complex decision making processes. In recognition of this challenge, regional drought early warning systems (DEWS) and related drought-information tools have been developed under the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). Despite the...
Ecological Responses to Fish Reclamation Treatments
Piscicides have been used in Rocky Mountain stream and lakes to restore native fish populations. In the last two decades concerns over piscicide effects to non-target organisms, primarily aquatic invertebrates, has increased. Although piscicides have been used for more than 70 years the impact to invertebrate assemblages has not been well studied and is largely unknown. Given the importance a...
Water Management Studies
As the need for incorporating biological objectives into water management decisions has grown, so has the need for methods and metrics to incorporate predictions of relevant biological responses into an increasingly complex decision environment that attempts to balance multiple uses.
Negotiation Skills for Natural Resource Professionals: Building a Foundation
The Fort Collins Science Center's Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch has been conducting and publishing research on multi-party natural resource negotiation since the 1980s. This research has led to the development of the basic negotiation training courses. This course is a mix of lecture, hands-on training, and discussion. Please join us and other natural resource professionals facing ...
Pesticides in the Prairie Pothole Region
Wetlands of the northern Great Plains are crucial feeding grounds for migrating birds and waterfowl embedded in an agricultural landscape. Land use and hydrology can affect adult aquatic insects – crucial prey for critically declining populations of insectivorous birds. Current studies focus on effects of current-use pesticides on adult aquatic insects to inform decision making about...
Potential Toxicity of Multiple Metals Associated with PGE Deposits
Water quality and aquatic life standards that are set by Federal and state regulatory agencies are used to evaluate the quality of our nation’s water and the health of aquatic ecosystems. These standards currently are based on hardness of the water and are determined for single metals, not for mixtures of metals that are typically found in natural systems. Metal mixtures can potentially be...
Conservation Genomics
Conservation genomics is a new field of science that applies novel whole-genome sequencing technology to problems in conservation biology. Rapidly advancing molecular technologies are revolutionizing wildlife ecology, greatly expanding our understanding of wildlife and their interactions with the environment. In the same way that molecular tools such as microsatellites revolutionized wildlife...
Landscape Genetics
Landscape genetics is a recently developed discipline that involves the merger of molecular population genetics and landscape ecology. The goal of this new field of study is to provide information about the interaction between landscape features and microevolutionary processes such as gene flow, genetic drift, and selection allowing for the understanding of processes that generate genetic...
Ecology of Insect-eating Bats
Bats are the only flying mammals that are active mostly at night and occur on all continents except Antarctica. Bats are ecologically diverse, with a range of species that specialize in feeding on fruit, nectar, blood, fish, small mammals, and insects. However, of the more than 1,100 known species of bats on Earth, the majority specialize in feeding on insects. In the United States for example...
HDgov: Multi-agency Website for Human Dimensions of Natural Resources
HDgov is an interactive and mobile-responsive online portal to interagency, academic, and non-government resources focused on the human dimensions of natural resource management. The web portal provides easy access to tools, publications, data, and methods that help ensure that the people side of natural resources is considered throughout the entire natural resource management process. The...
National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports a considerable amount of economic activity within park gateway communities. USGS economists collaborate with the National Park Service social science program to estimate NPS...
Using Quantile Regression to Investigate Ecological Limiting Factors
Unexplained heterogeneity in statistical models of animal responses to their physical environment is reasonable to expect because the measured habitat resources are a constraint on—but not the sole determinant of—abundance, survival, fecundity, or fitness. The ecological understanding and reliability of management predictions based on animal habitat models can be improved by shifting focus ...
USGS Science Centers in Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin collect a wide variety of natural resource data types including spatial, geologic, hydrologic, and biologic data. Data included in USGS-series publications that are not publically available in USGS databases are published in Data Releases. Tools are USGS products that can be used to analyze those types of data.
North American Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Digital Reference Collection (NAAMDRC)
Aquatic invertebrates are a key component of freshwater ecosystems, and an understanding of aquatic invertebrate taxonomy is central to freshwater science. The North American Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Digital Reference Collection (NAAMDRC) was created by the USGS Aquatic Experimental Lab (AXL) to provide users with high-quality digital microscopy photographs.
Mean of the Top Ten Percent of NDVI Values in the Yuma Proving Ground during Monsoon Season, 1986-2011
This study uses growth in vegetation during the monsoon season measured from LANDSAT imagery as a proxy for measured rainfall. NDVI values from 26 years of pre- and post-monsoon season Landsat imagery were derived across Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) in southwestern Arizona, USA.
Lower Rio Puerco geospatial data, 1935 - 2014
A long-term study of the geomorphic history of the lower Rio Puerco arroyo in north-central New Mexico included the collection of high-precision (Real-time kinematic) GPS survey data (2002, 2007, 2010, and 2014), registration and rectification of historical aerial photographs (1935, 1950s, 1970s, and 1996), aerial LiDAR survey (2005) and post-flood (2006) satellite imagery.
Bedrock-altitude contours for the base of the shallow groundwater system in the Lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado
This dataset consists of contours showing the altitude of the top surface of well-consolidated bedrock at the base of the shallow groundwater system in the Lower Gunnison River Basin in Delta, Montrose, Ouray, and Gunnison Counties, Colorado. Bedrock altitude was contoured from values in the raster dataset bralt. The U.S. Geological Survey prepared this dataset in cooperation with the Col
Data release of the influence of data characteristics on detecting wetland/stream surface-water connections in the Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware
The datasets were generated for the Upper Choptank River Watershed (UCRW) in Maryland and Delaware. Depressions and the total stream network were derived from a lidar DEM collected during April to June 2003 (vertical accuracy root mean square error (RMSE) = 14.3 cm) and March to April 2006 (vertical accuracy RMSE = 18.5 cm) for Maryland (1 m resolution) and April 2007 (v
Data Release for Bedrock Geology and Hydrostratigraphy of the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers within the Driftwood and Wimberley 7.5-Minute Quadrangles, Hays and Comal Counties, Texas at 1:24,000 scale
The Edwards and Trinity aquifers are major sources of water in south-central Texas and are both classified as major aquifers by the State of Texas. The population in Hays and Comal Counties is rapidly growing, increasing demands on the area's water resources. To help effectively manage the water resources in the area, refined maps and descriptions of the geologic structures and hydrostratig...
Description of core collected during installation of a Wasatch aquifer monitoring well in the Green River Basin, Sublette County, Wyoming
A monitoring well was installed in the Wasatch aquifer in the Green River Basin, Sublette County, Wyoming in August 2015. Core collected during drilling activities was described to a depth of 170 feet. The data release contains a detailed description of the lithology and physical characteristics of the core sections, as well as numerous photographs. The data release was produced in complian...
Output datasets of ecological communities (invertebrates and fish), streamflow, habitat, and water quality to examine the presence of trends in ecological communities from the Fountain Creek Basin, Colorado, USA, 2003-2016
These data were used for an analysis as part of a long-term project monitoring the biological communities, habitat, and water quality of the Fountain Creek Basin. Biology, habitat, and water quality data have been collected at 10 sites starting in 2003. These data include annual samples of aquatic invertebrate communities, fish communities, water quality, and quantitative riverine
Input datasets of ecological communities (invertebrates and fish), streamflow, habitat, and water quality to examine the presence of trends in ecological communities from the Fountain Creek Basin, Colorado, USA, 2003-2016
These data were used for an analysis as part of a long-term project monitoring the biological communities, habitat, and water quality of the Fountain Creek Basin. Biology, habitat, and water quality data have been collected at 10 sites starting in 2003. These data include annual samples of aquatic invertebrate communities, fish communities, water quality, and quantitative riverine
Datasets of ecological communities (invertebrates and fish), streamflow, habitat, and water quality to examine the presence of trends in ecological communities from the Fountain Creek Basin, Colorado, USA, 2003-2016
These data were used for an analysis as part of a long-term project monitoring the biological communities, habitat, and water quality of the Fountain Creek Basin. Biology, habitat, and water quality data have been collected at 10 sites starting in 2003. These data include annual samples of aquatic invertebrate communities, fish communities, water quality, and quantitative riverine
Boundary extent for datasets of regolith thickness, bedrock altitude, depth to water, potentiometric-surface altitude, and saturated thickness for the shallow groundwater system in the Lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado
This dataset consists of the boundary extent used to evaluate regolith thickness, bedrock altitude, depth to water, potentiometric-surface altitude, and saturated thickness for the shallow groundwater system in the Lower Gunnison River Basin, in Delta, Montrose, Ouray, and Gunnison Counties, Colorado. The U.S. Geological Survey prepared this dataset in cooperation with the Color
Dataset of Flathead Chub abundance and important streamflow metrics from the Fountain Creek Basin, Colorado, USA, 2003-2016
These data were used for an analysis as part of a long-term project monitoring the biological communities, habitat, and water quality of the Fountain Creek Basin. Biology, habitat, and water quality data have been collected at 10 sites starting in 2003. These data include annual samples of aquatic invertebrate communities, fish communities, water quality, and quantitative riverine
USGS Science Centers in Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin produce hundreds of USGS-series publications, journal papers, and books each year that are subject to rigorous review by USGS specialists. The publications shown below on this page are related to study areas and staff members of USGS Science Centers in Region 7 compiled from the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Climate explorer: Improved access to local climate projections
The goal of the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit’s (CRT) Climate Explorer (CE) is to provide information at appropriate spatial and temporal scales to help practitioners gain insights into the risks posed by climate change. Ultimately, these insights can lead to groups of local stakeholders taking action to build their resilience to a changing...
Lipschultz, Fredric ; Herring, David ; Ray, Andrea J. ; Alder, Jay R.; Dahlman, LuAnn ; DeGaetano, Arthur ; Fox, James F. ; Gardiner, Edward ; Herring, Jamie; Hicks, Jeff ; Melton, Forrest; Morefield, Philip E. ; Sweet, WilliamQuantifying interregional flows of multiple ecosystem services – A case study for Germany
Despite a growing number of national-scale ecosystem service (ES) assessments, few studies consider the impacts of ES use and consumption beyond national or regional boundaries. Interregional ES flows – ecosystem services “imported” from and “exported” to other countries – are rarely analyzed and their importance for global sustainability is...
Kleeman, Janina; Schröter, Matthias; Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Kuhlicke, Christian; Kastner, Thomas; Fridman, Dor; Schulp, Catharina J. E.; Wolff, Sarah; Martinez-Lopez, Javier; Koellner, Thomas; Arnhold, Sebastian; Martin-Lopez, Berta; Marques, Alexandra; Lopez-Hoffman, Laura; Liu, Jianguo; Kissinger, Meidad; Guerra, Carlos; Bonn, AlettaGeologic map of Petroglyph National Monument and vicinity, Bernalillo County, New Mexico
This geologic map depicts and briefly describes geologic units underlying Petroglyph National Monument and immediately adjacent areas in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. The Monument is underlain dominantly by Quaternary basalts of the Albuquerque Volcanoes volcanic field, a series of basin-filling volcanic flows and associated vents from a...
Thompson, Ren A.; Chan, Christine F.; Gilmer, Amy K.; Shroba, Ralph R.Geochemical and mineralogical study of the Red Mountain porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit and vicinity, Santa Cruz County, Arizona
The Red Mountain porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit (Cu-Mo deposit or PCD) is located in the northern part of the Patagonia Mountains, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Extensive core drilling has delineated a large, deep-seated, structurally intact mineral system that extends from the present surface to depths of more than 1,765 meters. This system is...
Chaffee, MauriceEarthquakes, ShakeCast
ShakeCast® – short for ShakeMap Broadcast – is a fully automated software system for delivering specific ShakeMap products to critical users and for triggering established post-earthquake response protocols. ShakeCast is a freely available, postearthquake situational awareness software application that automatically retrieves earthquake shaking...
Lin, Kuo-wan; Wald, David J.; Slosky, DanielMap depicting susceptibility to landslides triggered by intense rainfall, Puerto Rico
Landslides in Puerto Rico range from nuisances to deadly events. Centuries of agricultural and urban modification of the landscape have perturbed many already unstable hillsides on the tropical island. One of the main triggers of mass wasting on the island is the high-intensity rainfall that is associated with tropical atmospheric systems. Puerto...
Hughes, K. Stephen; Schulz, WilliamProbabilistic categorical groundwater salinity mapping from airborne electromagnetic data adjacent to California’s Lost Hills and Belridge oil fields
Growing water stress has led to emerging interest in protecting fresh and brackish groundwater as a potential supplement to water supplies and raised questions about factors that could affect the future quality of fresh and brackish aquifers. Limited well infrastructure, particularly in regions where elevated salinity has led to limited historical...
Ball, Lyndsay B.; Davis, Tracy; Minsley, Burke J.; Gillespie, Janice M.; Landon, Matthew K.Dust deposited on snow cover in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, 2011-2016: Compositional variability bearing on snow-melt effects
Light-absorbing particles in atmospheric dust deposited on snow cover (dust-on-snow, DOS) diminish albedo and accelerate the timing and rate of snow melt. Identification of these particles and their effects are relevant to snow-radiation modeling and thus water-resource management. Laboratory-measured reflectance of DOS samples from the San Juan...
Reynolds, Richard L.; Goldstein, Harland L.; Moskowitz, Bruce M.; Kokaly, Raymond; Munson, Seth M.; Solheid, Peat; Breit, George N.; Lawrence, Corey R.; Derry, JeffAssessing population-level consequences of anthropogenic stressors for terrestrial wildlife
Human activity influences wildlife. However, the ecological and conservation significances of these influences are difficult to predict and depend on their population‐level consequences. This difficulty arises partly because of information gaps, and partly because the data on stressors are usually collected in a count‐based manner (e.g., number of...
Katzner, Todd E.; Braham, Melissa A.; Conkling, Tara; Diffendorfer, James E.; Duerr, Adam E.; Loss, Scott R.; Nelson, David M.; Vander Zanden, Hannah B.; Yee, Julie L.Evidence for late Quaternary deformation along Crowley's Ridge, New Madrid seismic zone
The New Madrid seismic zone has been the source of multiple major (M ~7.0–7.5) earthquakes in the past 2 ka, yet the surface expression of recent deformation remains ambiguous. Crowleys Ridge, a linear ridge trending north‐south for 300+ km through the Mississippi Embayment, has been interpreted as either a fault‐bounded uplift or a nontectonic...
Thompson Jobe, Jessica; Gold, Ryan D.; Briggs, Richard W.; Williams, Robert; Stephenson, William J.; Delano, Jaime E.; Shah, Anjana K.; Minsley, Burke J.Operational earthquake forecasting during the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence with the UCERF3-ETAS model
The first Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, Version 3–epidemic‐type aftershock sequence (UCERF3‐ETAS) aftershock simulations were running on a high‐performance computing cluster within 33 min of the 4 July 2019 M 6.4 Searles Valley earthquake. UCERF3‐ETAS, an extension of the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (...
Milner, Kevin R.; Field, Edward H.; Savran, William H; Page, Morgan T.; Jordan, Thomas HTesting glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea level history in the Bahamas and Bermuda
Part of the spatial variation in the apparent sea-level record of the last interglacial (LIG) period is due to the diverse response of coastlines to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) processes, particularly where coastlines were close to the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the past two glacial periods. We tested modeled LIG paleo-sea levels on New...
Muhs, Daniel R.; Simmons, Kathleen R.; Schumann, R. Randall; Schweig, Eugene S.; Rowe, Mark P.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.
USGS scientists Preparing for filming with BBC/PBS documentary crew
USGS scientists preparing for filming with BBC/PBS documentary crew making "The Great Yellowstone Thaw"
USGS personnel collecting bathymetry data.
USGS research vessel with Teledyne Odom Hydrographic ES3PT–M integrated multibeam echo sounder and motion sensor submerged on the port side, and Trimble SPS461 GPS receivers mounted on each side of vessel.
Sarah Hawkins Receives the Core
USGS scientist Sarah Hawkins, lead scientist for the Mancos Shale assessment, examining a core drilled by the USGS Core Research Center. This core provided valuable data for the assessment. Image credit: Joshua Hicks, USGS.
Research Drilling Rig and Landscape
The USGS Core Research Center collaborated with the USGS Energy Resources Program to drill a core from the Mancos Shale to aid in the oil and gas assessment. Image Credit: Joshua Hicks, USGS.
Canyonlands and the Colorado Plateau
The Needles district of Canyonlands serves as a stunning backdrop to our study site in the high desert grassland of the Colorado Plateau. Researchers at Canyonlands Research Station are testing the effect of experimentally imposed altered precipitation regimes on plant reproductive success, mortality, and biomass.
Colorado River Near Moab, Utah.
Water flowing on the Colorado River near Moab, Utah.
The entire Colorado River Basin currently supports 50 million people, and that amount is expected to increase by 23 million between 2000 and 2030. A new USGS study shows more than half of the streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin originates as groundwater.
Close-up of biocrust - lichen
Biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, are lichens, mosses, and cyanobacteria that grow on the soil surface and are common in the spaces between native plants in arid and semi-arid systems. Biocrusts reduce soil erosion, contribute to nutrient and water cycling, and reduce evaporation and invasion by exotic plants. The green-red plants with flower bud stalks are likely
...Red Mountain near Silverton, Colorado
Intensely altered propylitic rocks (red and yellow) in the Red Mountain mining district, overprinting the regional, propylitically altered igneous rocks (grayish-green), peaks at top of image. View to west.
Measuring streamflow from a cableway, Green River blw Fontenelle Resv
Measuring streamflow from a cableway using an ADCP, Green River blw Fontenelle Reservoir, WY
Salt Creek Rock Avalanche in Western Colorado
Photograph taken from a Colorado National Guard helicopter looking north down the West Salt Creek rock avalanche deposit. On May 25, 2014, the central core of the rock avalanche deposit continued to move for 1-2 hours after the main rock avalanche deposit had stopped moving. Shallow landslides on the steep valley flanks continued for at least several days after the
...Preparing to measure water level in streambank piezometer, New Fork R
Preparing to measure water level in streambank piezometer, New Fork R
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.
Tracking Native Mussels on the Mississippi River
For the first time ever, mussels in the Mississippi River will be radio tagged and their movements observed during the water-level drawdown that is scheduled to begin next week.
New U.S. Geological Survey research indicates that ammonia from water used in the production of natural gas from underground coal beds in Wyoming is entering the Powder River.
"High concentrations of ammonia are toxic, particularly at some of the higher pH values found in these discharged waters," said USGS scientist Richard Smith.
The U.S. Geological Survey has updated its assessment of in-place oil shale resources in the Piceance Basin in western Colorado.
Development of oil shale has significant technological and environmental challenges and no economic extraction method is currently available in the U.S. Therefore it is unknown how much of the assessed in-place (total amount present) resource is recoverable.
Dr. Stanley L. Ponce has been named Regional Director for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Central Region based in Denver.
Striking new glacier retreat photographs created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) visually illustrate the effects of climate change on Glacier National Park.
The glacier images reveal dramatic glacial decline over a century and are in line with predictions that all of the glaciers in Glacier National Park will disappear by 2030.
Dr. Julio Betancourt, a U.S. Geological Survey senior scientist, was recently awarded a prestigious 2008 Presidential Rank Award. Betancourt, who has conducted groundbreaking research in how climate variability affects ecosystems, is also an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona, where he received his graduate degrees.
Low levels of certain man-made chemicals remain in public water supplies after being treated in selected community water facilities.
The Map Store @ USGS is offering free maps to customers for use as holiday wrapping paper.
Citizens should not be alarmed if they witness a peculiar low-flying helicopter, with a large beam extending from its nose, flying over Poncha Springs in the next couple of weeks.
Local planetary geologist Chris Okubo is on a mission to understand the past roles of groundwater and faulting on Mars by studying similar locations on Earth. Okubo works in the Astrogeology Research Program for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Flagstaff.
Do you ever wonder what has happened beneath your feet? Curious about what might occur in years to come?
Long-term trends in landscape conditions have significantly reduced sagebrush habitat and populations of greater sage-grouse, according to a new study examining the bird's chances of survival.
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.
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.