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.
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...
RCMAP - Uncompahgre River at Ridgway, 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.
The Uncompahgre...
Eagle River Water-Quality Data
The Eagle River drains approximately 970 square miles (sq mi) west of the Continental Divide in central Colorado before flowing into the Colorado River. The Eagle River watershed (ERW) is located primarily within Eagle County and includes the towns of Vail, Minturn, Avon, Edwards, Eagle, and Gypsum. The eastern boundary of the Eagle River watershed is drained by Gore Creek, located at Vail...
Development of a fecal contamination monitoring and control strategy in upper Fountain Creek, Colorado
Fountain Creek is a high-gradient stream on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The headwaters of Fountain Creek drain Pikes Peak, a major destination for tourism. Fountain Creek is a drinking-water source for the City of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is used for irrigation, recreation, and other purposes between Colorado Springs and the confluence with the Arkansas River at...
NAWQA High Plains Regional Groundwater Study
As part of the National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA), the USGS has evaluated ground-water quality in the High Plains aquifer system. Beginning in 1999 and continuing for a period of 6 years, the High Plains Regional Groundwater Study intensively investigated the...
Snowpack Sublimation - Measurements and Modeling in the Colorado River Basin
Snow is an essential resource in the western United States (U.S.), providing water for drinking, irrigation, industry, energy production, and ecosystems across much of the region. In the mountains of the western U.S., most precipitation falls as snow, which accumulates in seasonal snowpacks that serve as a large natural reservoir.
Snowpack sublimation, which is analogous to evaporation...
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.
Dissolved organic matter in the deep TALDICE ice core: A nano-UPLC-nano-ESI-HRMS method
Trace organic compounds in deep ice cores supply important paleoclimatic information. Untargeted analyses of dissolved organic matter provide an overview of molecular species in ice samples however, sample volumes usually required for these analyses are generally not available from deep ice cores. Here, we developed an analytical method using a...
Zangrando, Roberta; Zanella, Veronica; Karroca, Ornela; Barbaro, Elena; Kehrwald, Natalie; Battistel, Dario; Gambaro, Andrea; Barbante, Carlo Using stream-side groundwater discharge for geochemical exploration in mountainous terrain
Groundwater chemistry has been predominantly used in geochemical exploration studies to identify mineralized targets concealed under transported cover in areas with gentle topography. Another potentially valuable ap-plication that has received little attention is using groundwater chemistry to identify deposits concealed within mountain ridges. A...
Manning, Andrew H.; Morrison, Jean M.; Wanty, Richard; Mills, Christopher T. The complexity of mudstone diagenesis - some insight from the Tøyen Formation, Lower to Middle Ordovician, southern Sweden
The Lower to Middle Ordovician Tøyen Shale in southern Sweden, a biostratigraphically well-dated siliciclastic mudstone unit, shows 18 distinct authigenic cements that include sulfides, carbonates, silicates, clays, and phosphates. Marcasite, sphalerite, galena, and six texturally distinct types of pyrite characterize the sulfides whereas only one...
Egenhoff, Sven; Fishman, Neil; Lowers, Heather A.; Ahlberg, Per Variable normal-fault rupture behavior, northern Lost River fault zone, Idaho, USA
The 1983 Mw 6.9 Borah Peak earthquake generated ∼36 km of surface rupture along the Thousand Springs and Warm Springs sections of the Lost River fault zone (LRFZ, Idaho, USA). Although the rupture is a well-studied example of multisegment surface faulting, ambiguity remains regarding the degree to which a bedrock ridge and branch fault at the...
Duross, Christopher; Bunds, Michael P.; Gold, Ryan D.; Briggs, Richard W.; Reitman, Nadine G.; Personius, Stephen; Toké, Nathan A. Protracted multipulse emplacement of a post-resurgent pluton: The case of Platoro caldera complex (Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado)
Many eroded calderas expose associated postcollapse plutons, but detailed fieldwork‐supported studies have rarely focused on the internal structure that can contribute to understanding of emplacement dynamics. The Alamosa River monzonite pluton is a postcollapse intrusion at the Platoro caldera complex that erupted six large ignimbrites between 30...
Tomek, Filip; Gilmer, Amy K.; Petronis, M. S.; Lipman, Peter W.; Foucher, M. S. Earthquakes, PAGER
PAGER, short for Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response, is an automated system developed and run by the US Geological Survey (USGS) that produces information concerning the impact of significant earthquakes around the world within approximately 20 min of any magnitude 5.5 or larger event. PAGER rapidly assesses earthquake impacts by...
Wald, David J.; Jaiswal, Kishor; Marano, Kristin; Hearne, Mike 2017 Monitoring and tracking wet nitrogen deposition at Rocky Mountain National Park
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the National Park Service (NPS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Nitrogen Deposition Reduction Plan (NDRP) in 2007 to address the effects and trends of nitrogen deposition at Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). The agencies chose a glidepath approach...
Kristi Morris; Mast, M. Alisa; Wetherbee, Gregory; Baron, Jill; Cheatham, Jim; Bromberg, Jim; Devore, Lisa; Hou, James; Gebhart, Kristi; Bell, Mike; Gay, David; Olson, Michael; Weinmann, Timothy; Bowker, Daniel Status of three-dimensional geological mapping and modeling activities in the U.S. Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), created in 1879, is the national geological survey for the United States and the sole science agency within its cabinet-level bureau, the Department of the Interior. The USGS has a broad mission, including: serving the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth;...
Sweetkind, Donald; Graymer, Russell; Higley, D.K.; Boyd, Oliver S. Influence of multi-decadal land use, irrigation practices and climate on riparian corridors across the Upper Missouri River Headwaters Basin, Montana
The Upper Missouri River Headwaters Basin (36,400 km2) depends on its river corridors to support irrigated agriculture and world-class trout fisheries. We evaluated trends (1984-2016) in riparian wetness, an indicator of riparian condition, in peak irrigation months (June, July, August) for 158 km2 of riparian area across the basin using the...
Vanderhoof, Melanie K.; Christensen, J.R.; Alexander, Laurie C. Ground failure from the Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake of 30 November 2018
Investigation of ground failure triggered by the 2018 Mw">MwMw 7.1 Anchorage earthquake showed that landslides, liquefaction, and ground cracking all occurred and caused significant damage. Shallow rock falls and rock slides were the most abundant types of landslides, but they occurred in smaller numbers than global models that are...
Jibson, Randall W.; Grant, Alex R. R. ; Witter, Robert C.; Allstadt, Kate; Thompson, Eric M.; Bender, Adrian
Groundwater and surface-water resources near Red Fleet Reservoir, Uintah County, Utah
Red Fleet Reservoir in Uintah County, Utah, is an approximately 26,000 acre-foot (acre-ft) on-channel reservoir in the Big Brush Creek drainage on the south slopes of the Uinta Mountains. It is operated primarily for irrigation needs while providing a supplemental drinking-water supply to the Vernal, Utah area. Red Fleet Reservoir, which was...
Marston, Thomas M.; Solder, John E.; Jones, Katherine K. Improvements in seismic resolution and current limitations in the Global Seismographic Network
Station noise levels play a fundamental limitation in our ability to detect seismic signals. These noise levels are frequency-dependent and arise from a number of physically different drivers. At periods greater than 100 s, station noise levels are often limited by the self-noise of the instrument as well as the sensitivity of the instrument to...
Ringler, Adam T.; Steim, J.; Wilson, David C.; Widmer-Schnidrig, R.; Anthony, Robert E.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.
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
Wind Turbines During Approaching Storm
A field of wind turbines in Wyoming with a storm rolling in.
Wheat Field Wind Turbines in Wyoming
Wheat field wind turbines in Wyoming.
Colorado River near Moab
The Colorado River as it runs near Moab, UT, surrounded by sandstone cliffs.
Colorado River near Moab
The Colorado River as it runs near Moab, UT, surrounded by sandstone cliffs.
Active oil and gas pad near Canyonlands National Park
Active oil and gas pad on Bureau of Land Management lands near Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
View into Green River Basin from Wyoming Range, Dry Piney Basin
View into Green River Basin from Wyoming Range, Dry Piney Basin
A managed wildfire burns in a Ponderosa pine stand, New Mexico
A managed wildfire burns in a Ponderosa pine stand, New Mexico
Cloud Lightning
What looks like lightning arcing through an ominous cloud is actually a dry landscape of rocky buttes in southern Utah and northeastern Arizona. River channels flow north from Arizona into the San Juan River. The light vertical feature at the top of the image is referred to as Comb Ridge, a jagged fold in the Earth's crust called a monocline.
- Collection: Earth
Assessing impacts to archaeological sites through collaboration
Archaeologists and fire scientists collaborate to assess impacts of wildfires on archaeological sites in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico
How fire research can help reduce cultural resource fire damage
Pre- and post-fire measurements of fire effects can help archaeologists and fire scientists determine how wildfires and prescribed fires impact cultural resources, and how management actions may reduce likelihood of damage
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