Unified Interior Regions
Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
Map of Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
Map Showing USGS/DOI Unified Region 7 and parts of adjoining Regions
Key USGS Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin Contacts
Regional Director (Acting)-Allison Shipp
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.
Lower Gunnison River Basin Groundwater Selenium
The east side of the Uncompahgre River Basin has been a known contributor of dissolved selenium to recipient streams. Discharge of groundwater containing dissolved selenium contributes to surface-water selenium concentrations and loads; however, the groundwater system on the east side of the Uncompahgre River Basin is not well characterized. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the...
StreamStats for Colorado
StreamStats is a map based Web application that provides information that can be used by engineers, managers, and planners to make informed decisions on water-related activities. The map-based user interface can be used to delineate drainage areas, get basin characteristics and estimates of flow statistics. StreamStats allows for the analysis of upstream and downstream relations along...
Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative Streamgage Database and Network Analysis
Within the Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative (SRLCC), streamflow information is needed for a wide variety of hydrologic conditions to understand streamflow in the context of ecological services, water availability and use, or water quality.
Precipitation and Streamgage Flood Warning System
Rainfall amounts associated with the September 2013 Colorado Floods exceeded 15 inches in some locations and resulted in significant flooding along the Front Range (Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center, 2013). These events resulted in streamflows that compromised a variety of transportation structures such as bridges and culverts and roadways.
By coupling the National Oceanic and...
Lower Gunnison River Basin - Gunnison River Synoptic
In response to the need for more information about selenium (Se) sources and transport, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Colorado Water Conservation Board, completed a study that characterized Se loads in a reach of the Gunnison River between Delta and Grand Junction, Colo.
This study identifies where possible dissolved Se loading is occurring in a study reach in the...
Selenium on Sediment in Lower Gunnison River Basin Critical Habitat
The Gunnison Basin Selenium Management Program (SMP) implemented a water-quality monitoring network in 2011 in the lower Gunnison River Basin in Colorado. Selenium (Se) is a trace element that bioaccumulates in aquatic food chains and can cause reproductive failure, deformities, and other harmful effects.
The dissolved concentration of selenium in the water column is not necessarily a...
Potentiometric Surfaces and Groundwater-Level Changes
In the past, groundwater pumped from the Santa Fe Group aquifer system was the principal source of water for the Albuquerque metropolitan area of central New Mexico. The large quantity of groundwater pumping relative to recharge resulted in substantial drawdown in the aquifer system. In 2008 the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority began diverting water from the San Juan-Chama...
Changes in Watershed Hydrologic Response Time with Post-wildfire Changes in Vegetation and Surface Fuels Along a Severely-burned, High-desert Canyon, Bandelier National Monument, NM
Flash flooding can be a destructive and life-threatening response of watersheds to intense rainfall events, particularly in sparsely vegetated, or burned watersheds. Studies have been conducted to estimate the magnitude of hydrologic responses of burned watersheds to rainfall events, however the time that it takes a flood to travel through a burned watershed and reach a critical or populated...
NMWSC Groundwater Data Program
Historic and current groundwater data may be used to help guide water management in New Mexico. Groundwater levels measured by the USGS provide the public, State, and Federal agencies, and cooperators with reliable and impartial information.
Post-Wildfire Investigation: Analysis of Soil Properties Based on Burn Severity
The Las Conchas fire started on June 26, 2011, near the small community of Las Conchas in the Jemez Mountains of north-central New Mexico. When the fire was contained on August 3, 2011, it had burned 156,593 acres of mixed conifer, pinyon/juniper and ponderosa forest and at the time was the largest wildfire in New Mexico history. Peak burn severity was extreme; over 60,000 acres of the total...
Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP)
Transboundary aquifers are an essential source of water for United States – Mexico border communities. Declining water levels, deteriorating water quality, and increasing use of groundwater resources on both sides of the border raise concerns about the long-term availability of this supply.
The U.S. – Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act (Public Law 109-448) of 2006 was enacted...
Water Resource Assessment of the Rio San Jose Basin, West-Central New Mexico
Water resources in the Rio San Jose Basin are limited, and development for public supply, mining, agriculture, and commercial activities have the potential to affect the water availability and quality at a basin-wide scale. This study is designed to provide water-resource managers with better information to plan for potential effects of increased or shifting demands and changes of climatic...
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.
Hydrographic Areas Within the Basin and Range Carbonate-Rock Aquifer System, White Pine County, Nevada and Adjacent Areas in Nevada and Utah
This data set consists of sub delineations of the hydrographic area (HA) boundaries and polygons drawn at 1:1,000,000 scale for the Great Basin supplemented by information from HA drawn at 1:750,000 scale where necessary. See the process steps for more information.
Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB): Loch Vale Data
The chemistry of streams and lakes have been monitored in Loch Vale since 1983. Changes in stream and lake chemistry have been traced to variations in climate and atmospheric deposition of pollutants. Samples are collected throughout the year in Loch Vale. This provides information on seasonal variations in stream and lake chemistry.
Identifying Changes in Background Water-Quality Conditions, Arkansas River and Fountain Creek, near Pueblo, Colorado
Web based application to compare, on a real-time basis, estimated dissolved-solids concentration and load as a as a surrogate for water-quality condition in the Arkansas River and Fountain Creek near Pueblo, CO and determine whether future water-quality conditions are significantly different from background conditions.
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.
Dating silica sinter (geyserite): A cautionary tale
We describe a new effort to date hydrothermal silica sinter deposits (geyserite) from the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park using 14C of co-deposited organic matter, U-series and cosmogenic 10Be methods. A majority of the samples were collected from stratigraphic sections, mainly at Riverside, Giant, and Castle Geysers. Ages obtained...
Churchill, Dakota M.; Manga, Michael; Hurwitz, Shaul; Peek, Sara; Licciardi, Joseph; Paces, James U-Pb geochronology of igneous and detrital zircon samples from the Tok River area, eastern Alaska Range, and Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska
This Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) Raw Data File presents U-Pb zircon geochronology results from selected igneous, meta-igneous, and metasedimentary rocks collected during the Tok River and Wrangellia geologic mapping projects in the eastern Alaska Range and the northwestern Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska. The purpose...
Holm-Denoma, Christopher S.; Sicard, Karri R.; Twelker, Evan The Great Acceleration of fragrances and PAHs archived in an ice core from Elbrus, Caucasus
The Great Acceleration of the anthropogenic impact on the Earth system is marked by the ubiquitous distribution of anthropogenic materials throughout the global environment, including technofossils, radionuclides and the exponential increases of methane and carbon dioxide concentrations. However, personal care products as direct tracers of human...
Vecchiato, Marco; Gambaro, Andrea; Kehrwald, Natalie; Ginot, Patrick; Kutuzov, Stanislav; Mikhalenko, Vladimir; Barbante, Carlo Petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments recovered from Alaska North Slope 2018 Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well
Knowledge of petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments are essential for predicting reservoir responses to gas production. The same information is also needed for the designing of production well completions such as specifications for artificial lift, test site water storage capacity, and mesh size for the sand...
Yoneda, Jun; Jin, Yusuke; Muraoka, Michihiro; Oshima, Motoi; Suzuki, Kiyofumi; Walker, Mike; Westacott, Donald; Otsuki, Satoshi; Kumagai, Kenichi; Collett, Timothy; Boswell, Ray; Okinaka, Norihiro Rethinking groundwater flow on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, USA: Characterizing recharge sources and flow paths with environmental tracers
In the arid landscape south of the Grand Canyon, natural springs and seeps are a critical resource for endemic species and Native American tribes. Groundwater is potentially threatened by expanding populations, visitations, and mineral extraction activities. Environmental tracers including noble gases, stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in...
Solder, John E.; Beisner, Kimberly R.; Anderson, Jessica; Bills, Donald J. Mobility characteristics of landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Mobility is an important element of landslide hazard and risk assessments yet has been seldom studied for shallow landslides and debris flows in tropical environments. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria triggered > 70,000 landslides across Puerto Rico. Using aerial imagery and a lidar digital elevation model (DEM), we mapped and characterized...
Bessette-Kirton, Erin K.; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Schulz, William; Cerovski-Darriau, Corina; Einbund, Mason Muir Magnetic field variations in Alaska: Recording space weather events on seismic stations in Alaska
Seismometers are highly sensitive instruments to not only ground motion but also many other nonseismic noise sources (e.g., temperature, pressure, and magnetic field variations). We show that the Alaska component of the Transportable Array is particularly susceptible to recording magnetic storms and other space weather events because the sensors...
Ringler, Adam T.; Anthony, Robert E.; Wilson, David C.; Claycomb, Abram E.; Spritzer, John Evidence for a concealed Midcontinent Rift-related northeast Iowa intrusive complex
Large amplitude aeromagnetic and gravity anomalies over a ~9500 km2 area of northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota have been interpreted to reflect the northeast Iowa intrusive complex (NEIIC), a buried intrusive igneous complex composed of mafic/ultramafic rocks in the Yavapai Province (1.8–1.7 Ga). Hundreds of meters of Paleozoic...
Drenth, Benjamin J.; Souders, A. Kate; Schulz, Klaus J.; Feinberg, Joshua M.; Anderson, Raymond R.; Chandler, Val W.; Cannon, William F.; Clark, Ryan A rasterized building footprint dataset for the United States
Microsoft released a U.S.-wide vector building dataset in 2018. Although the vector building layers provide relatively accurate geometries, their use in large-extent geospatial analysis comes at a high computational cost. We used High-Performance Computing (HPC) to develop an algorithm that calculates six summary values for each cell in a raster...
Pourpeikari Heris, Mehdi; Foks, Nathan Leon; Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Troy, Austin; Ancona, Zachary H. Design and operations of the Hydrate 01 Stratigraphic test well, Alaska North Slope
The National Energy Technology Laboratory, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, and the U.S. Geological Survey are leading an effort to conduct an extended gas hydrate production test in northern Alaska. The proposed production test required the drilling of an initial stratigraphic test well (STW) to confirm the geologic conditions...
Collett, Timothy S.; Zyrianova, Margarita V.; Okinaka, Norihiro; Wakatsuki, Motoi; Boswell, Ray; Marsteller, Scott; Minge, David; Crumley, Stephen; Itter, David; Hunter, Robert D.
Procedure for calculating estimated ultimate recoveries of wells in the Wolfcamp shale of the Midland Basin, Permian Basin Province, Texas
In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey published an assessment of technically recoverable continuous oil and gas resources of the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin, Permian Basin Province, Texas. Estimated ultimate recoveries (EURs) were calculated with production data from IHS MarkitTM using DeclinePlus software in the Harmony interface. These...
Leathers-Miller, Heidi M. Alaska North Slope 2018 Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well: Technical results
The Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well was drilled in December 2018 to confirm that a seismically-identified location within the western Prudhoe Bay Unit might be suitable for extended-duration scientific production testing. The well tested two primary targets: the deeper Unit B is highly favorable due to optimal reservoir temperature and minimal...
Boswell, Ray; Collett, Timothy; Suzuki, Kiyofumi; Yoneda, Jun; Haines, Seth S.; Okinaka, Nori; Tamaki, Machiko; Crumley, Stephen; Itter, David; Hunter, RobertPhotos 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.
Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, Utah
A gage to measure lake water levels stands dry in the lake bed of the Great Salt Lake. For the first time since it was opened in 1984, water has stopped flowing through the Great Salt Lake causeway breach, an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
Measuring streamflow of the Green River near LaBarge
Measuring streamflow of the Green River near LaBarge
Sampling on Muddy Creek
Collecting a QW sample on Muddy Creek near Tomsich Butte, eastern Utah.
What's the Big Idea? — Creating Cleaner Energy from Coal
Elliott Barnhart, a hydrologist with the USGS Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center, describes his work developing what could be a cleaner way to develop coal.
Great Salt Lake ADCP measurement at Bear River Bay causeway bridge
USGS scientist makes ADCP measurement from canoe where the Bear River enters Great Salt Lake
Bear River below Alexander Reservoir, Idaho
Making an ADCP measurement on the Bear River below Alexander Reservoir, Idaho
Great Salt Lake beach
USGS scientist on Great Salt Lake beach
Great Salt Lake, declining water level
Great Salt Lake, declining water level
Lake Fork above Moon Lake
Stilling well on Lake Fork above Moon Lake that is used to measure stream stage, and ultimately amount of water entering Moon Lake, on the south slope of the Uintas.
Sediment Sampling at A72
Animas River downstream from Silverton, Colorado, showing right and left bank areas where streambed sediment sample was collected near USGS stream gage at site A72 (USGS site ID 09359020). Latitude 37.789964, Longitude -107.667394.
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.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Michelle Walvoord will be honored as the 2005 Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science at the annual Geological Society of America (GSA) meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Oct. 15. Walvoord, who resides in Golden, is a Research Hydrologist at the USGS National Research Program in Lakewood.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Michelle Walvoord will be honored as the 2005 Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science at the annual Geological Society of America (GSA) meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Oct. 15. Walvoord, who resides in Golden, is a Research Hydrologist at the USGS National Research Program in Lakewood.
The USGS announced today the start of the public-private competition that will determine current and future functions; and the number of personnel required by the National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC) at the Denver Federal Center, an all government campus, located in Lakewood, Colo.
The USGS announced today (Sept. 15, 2005) that the National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC) will be located in the city of Denver. The NGTOC will consolidate the functions and operations currently performed in four USGS mapping centers (Menlo Park, Calif.; Rolla, Mo.; Denver, Colo.; and Reston, Va.) and other distributed sites to one location.
The USGS announced today (Sept. 15, 2005) that the National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC) will be located in the city of Denver. The NGTOC will consolidate the functions and operations currently performed in four USGS mapping centers (Menlo Park, Calif.; Rolla, Mo.; Denver, Colo.; and Reston, Va.) and other distributed sites to one location.
In its latest report on water use in the United States, the USGS looked at the nation's dependence on ground water. The report entitled Estimated Withdrawals from Principal Aquifers in the United States, 2000, provides details of ground-water withdrawals and use from principal aquifers in each state.
The USGS’s Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC), under the auspices of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program, will conduct scientific overflights in Grand Canyon National Park over Memorial Day weekend.
Reston, VA – The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) today released the first ever comprehensive and systematic review of the 169 U.S. volcanoes and established a framework for a National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) which calls for a 24-hour seven-day-a-week Volcano Watch Office and enhanced instrumentation and monitoring at targeted volcanoes.
Another Great Earthquake in the Indian Ocean, but What About the Tsunami?
Steam Explosions, Earthquakes, and Volcanic Eruptions--What’s in Yellowstone’s Future?
Radio-Monitored Salmon Shed Light on Snake River for Water Managers
Itching to Know More About America’s Modern Gold Rush?
Hazards and Cooperation Spawn New Uses for Geospatial Information
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are presenting science about our changing world at the 2005 Association of American Geographers conference, April 5-9, in Denver, Colo. Changes to the landscape of the Front Range of Colorado, changes to the way American cities look, and changes to the water, land use, and land cover of our Nation are topics USGS scientists will discuss.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are presenting science about our changing world at the 2005 Association of American Geographers conference, April 5-9, in Denver, Colo.
The Department of the Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey is collaborating with partner agencies to conduct scientific experiments designed to evaluate the effect of a high-flow release from Glen Canyon Dam on the natural resources of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park.
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.