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.
Integrated Hyperspectral, Geophysical and Geochemical Studies of Yellowstone National Park Hydrothermal Systems
We are researching the subsurface groundwater flow systems in Yellowstone and the relation of these systems to understanding the regional movement of water in a volcanic center. New geophysical data will be integrated with existing data sets from hyperspectral data from Yellowstone's thermal areas and thermal water geochemistry to help define regionally extensive mineral assemblages, the...
Lake Powell Coring
In response to the August 5, 2015, Gold King Mine Spill from the Bonita Peak Mining District that resulted in the release of three-million gallons of mine-impacted waters, the Utah Water Science Center, in partnership with the Utah Division of Water Quality, National Park Service, and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, cored the San Juan and Colorado River deltas in multiple locations in Lake Powell...
Colorado Plateau Regional Groundwater Availability
Study goals
This project seeks to quantify the status of groundwater as an integrated resource with surface water in the arid and semiarid region of the Colorado Plateau principal aquifer system. Surface-water resources that originate in this region are over allocated and serve 35 million people, 4.5 million acres of farmland, and are used to generate 12 billion...
Salinity
Studies of Sources and Transport of Dissolved Solids (Salt) in the Colorado River Basin using the Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed Attributes (SPARROW) Model
The Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) encompasses about 112,000 mi2 and discharges more than 6 million tons of dissolved solids (salt) annually to the lower Colorado River Basin. It has been estimated...
Remotely Sensed Discharge
River discharge is an important component of the water cycle, and an accurate accounting of streamflow can be accomplished by monitoring the spatial and temporal variations in river discharge. The U.S. Geological Survey is actively pursuing remote-sensing platforms to compute river discharge using a combination of satellite-, high altitude-, drone-, and fixed-based platforms to directly...
NAWQA Upper Colorado River Basin Study
The USGS implemented the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program in 1991 to support national, regional, and local information needs and decisions related to water-quality management and policy. Shaped by and coordinated with ongoing efforts of other Federal, State, and...
Managed Aquifer Recharge
Sand Hollow Reservoir in Washington County, Utah, was completed in March 2002 and is operated for both surface-water storage and managed aquifer recharge via infiltration from surface basin spreading to the underlying Navajo Sandstone. From 2002 through 2014, about 216,000 acre-feet were diverted from the Virgin River to Sand Hollow Reservoir, and about 127,000 acre-feet of water seeped...
New Mexico Water Science Center Sediment Field Program
Sediment is fragmental material transported by, suspended in, or deposited by water or air, or accumulated in beds by other natural agents. Sediment particles range in size from large boulders to colloidal-size fragments and vary in shape from rounded to angular. They also vary in mineral composition and specific gravity. Sediment is derived from a parent material subjected to erosional...
Chalk Cliffs, Colorado
Recent Conditions
The instrumentation was installed in the summer of 2008 and includes a series of three monitoring stations located along the main channel. Data from one of these stations (Station 1) is transmitted from the site and displayed here.
- Rainfall ...
Geochemical Evidence of Groundwater Flow Paths and the Fate and Transport of Constituents of Concern in the Alluvial Aquifer at Fort Wingate Depot Activity, New Mexico
As part of an environmental investigation at Fort Wingate Depot Activity, New Mexico, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, interpreted aqueous geochemical concentrations to better understand the groundwater flow paths and the fate and transport of constituents of concern in the alluvial aquifer underlying the study area. The fine-grained nature of...
Hydrogeologic and geochemical characterization and evaluation of two arroyos for managed aquifer recharge by surface infiltration in the Pojoaque River Basin
In order to provide long-term storage of diverted surface water from the Rio Grande as part of the Aamodt water rights settlement, managed aquifer recharge by surface infiltration in Pojoaque River Basin arroyos was proposed as an option. The initial hydrogeologic and geochemical characterization of two arroyos located within the Pojoaque River Basin was performed in 2014 and 2015 in...
The Source of Groundwater and Solutes to Many Devils Wash at a Former Uranium Mill Site in Shiprock, New Mexico
The Shiprock Disposal Site is the location of the former Navajo Mill, a uranium ore-processing facility, located on a terrace overlooking the San Juan River in the town of Shiprock, New Mexico.The milling operations, conducted at the site from 1954 to 1968, created radioactive tailings and constituents of concern that are now found in the groundwater beneath the Mill. Elevated concentrations...
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.
Surface-Water Model Archive for a Flood-Inundation Mapping Study of the South Platte River at Fort Morgan, Colorado, 2018
The development and generation of the datasets that are published in this data release, were based on the methods and findings of the report: Kohn, M.S. and Patton, T.T., 2018, Flood-Inundation Maps for the South Platte River at Fort Morgan, Colorado, 2018: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5114, 14 p., https://doi.org/10...
Blacks Fork synoptic sampling sites
Streamflow and water-quality samples collected during 2018 and 2019
USGS Annual Water Data Reports
Link to USGS web portal for all Annual Water Data Reports and site summaries.
Land Treatment Exploration Tool
The Land Treatment Exploration Tool is designed for resource managers to use when planning land treatments. The tool provides useful summaries of environmental characteristics of planned treatment areas and facilitates adaptive management practices by comparing those characteristics to other similar treatments within a specified distance or area of interest. ...
Rocky Mountain Regional Snowpack Chemistry Monitoring: Data Tables
Rocky Mountain Regional Snowpack Chemistry Monitoring Study. Links to collected snowpack chemistry data.
Rocky Mountain Regional Snowpack Chemistry Monitoring Station List
Snowpack monitoring site identification and snow-sampling-site location information.
Yellowstone River Basin Water-Quality Assessment data tables
Data collected in the Yellowstone River basin since 1998 are available from this link. Data from the Yellowstone River Basin NAWQA study unit and other study units that overlap into Wyoming, such as the Upper Snake River, the Great Salt Lake Basins, and the South Platte River study units, also are available from the...
Fish Creek macroinvertebrate and algal data, 2007-11
Sampling began in 2007 to determine biological and chemical characteristics of Fish Creek, Teton County. Macroinvertebrate and algal data collected from 2007 through 2011 are available from this link.
Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network
Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network
Real-time groundwater data sites in the WLCI area
Four wells in the WLCI area are continuously monitored to help describe the interaction between the groundwater and surface water.
What is a Shift-Adjusted Rating?
Stage-discharge relationships (ratings) are primarily developed from a graphical analysis of multiple streamflow measurements. Measurements are generally made on 8-week intervals. The frequency/interval of streamflow measurements may change based on a variety of circumstances including (but not limited to) flow conditions and rating definition.
Drip Calculator: How Much Water Does a Leaking Faucet Waste?
Check your faucets at home -- do any of them drip? Well, maybe it's just a small drip -- how much water can a little drip waste? True, a single drip won't waste much water, but think about each faucet in your home dripping a little bit all day long. What if every faucet in every home on your block ... in your town ... in your state also dripped?
Earthquakes, 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, Daniel
Map 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, William 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, Jeff Assessing 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. 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 H Testing 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. Evaluation of soil zone processes and a novel radiocarbon correction approach for groundwater with mixed sources
Estimates of groundwater age based on 14C is often limited by the uncertainty in geochemical processes that alter the 14C concentration measured in water and the composition (δ13C and 14C) of carbon sources needed to appropriately parametrize 14C adjustment models. Estimated ages for samples that contain a mixture of young and old groundwater will...
Solder, John E.; Jurgens, Bryant Runoff sensitivity to snow depletion curve representation within a continental scale hydrologic model
The spatial variability of snow water equivalent (SWE) can exert a strong influence on the timing and magnitude of snowmelt delivery to a watershed. Therefore, the representation of subgrid or subwatershed snow variability in hydrologic models is important for accurately simulating snowmelt dynamics and runoff response. The U.S. Geological Survey...
Sexstone, Graham A.; Driscoll, Jessica M.; Hay, Lauren; Hammond, John; Barnhart, Theodore B.
Assessment of soil and water resources in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico
The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (Monument) in southern New Mexico was established in 2014. Given anticipated future demands in the Monument for recreation, livestock grazing, and maintenance of rights-of-way (for example, pipelines and powerlines), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) needs a better understanding of the current...
Blake, Johanna M.; Mitchell, Aurelia C.; Shephard, Zachary; Ball, Grady; Chavarria, Shaleene; Douglas-Mankin, Kyle R. Relating hydroclimatic change to streamflow, baseflow, and hydrologic partitioning in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 1980 to 2015
Understanding how changing climatic conditions affect streamflow volume and timing is critical for effective water management. In the Rio Grande Basin of the southwest U.S., decreasing snowpack, increasing minimum temperatures, and decreasing streamflow have been observed in recent decades, but the effects of hydroclimatic changes on baseflow, or...
Rumsey, Christine; Miller, Matthew; Sexstone, Graham A. Structural control on megathrust rupture and slip behavior: Insights from the 2016 Mw 7.8 Pedernales Ecuador earthquake
The heterogeneous seafloor topography of the Nazca Plate as it enters the Ecuador subduction zone provides an opportunity to document the influence of seafloor roughness on slip behavior and megathrust rupture. The 2016 Mw 7.8 Pedernales Ecuador earthquake was followed by a rich and active postseismic sequence. An internationally coordinated rapid...
Soto-Cordero, Lillian; Meltzer, Anne; Bergman, Eric A.; Hoskins, Mariah; Stachnik, Joshua C.; Agurto-Detzel, Hans; Alvarado, Alexandra; Beck, Susan L.; Charvis, Philippe; Font, Yvonne; Hayes, Gavin P.; Hernandez, Stephen; Leon-Rios, Sergio; Lynner, Colton; Nocquet, Jean-Mathieu; Regnier, Marc; Rietbrock, Andreas; Rolandone, Frederique; Ruiz, Mario Mapping forested wetland inundation in the Delmarva Peninsula, USA: Use of deep learning model
The Delmarva Peninsula in the eastern United States is dominated by thousands of small, forested depressional wetlands that are highly sensitive to climate change and climate variability but provide critical ecosystem services. Due to the relatively small size of these depressional wetlands and occurrence under forest canopy cover, it is very...
Du, Ling; McCarty, Greg W.; Zhang, Xinhow; Lang, Megan W.; Vanderhoof, Melanie K.; Lin, Xian-Dan; Huang, Chengquan; Lee, Sangchul; Zou, ZhenhuaPhotos 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.
Reading stream stage at Bull Lake Creek above Bull Lake streamgage
The wire weight is lowered to determine stage of Bull Lake Creek above Bull Lake
Wire weight mounted on bridge crossing Blacks Fork, streamgage 0921920
Wire weight mounted on bridge crossing Blacks Fork, streamgage 09219200
Setting up to measure streamflow, Muddy Creek near Dad
Setting up to measure streamflow, Muddy Creek near Dad
Installing new radar sensor and staff plate, Big Sandy River
Installing new radar sensor and staff plate, Big Sandy River
Hydro Techs Perform Well Integrity Test
On September 19th, 2017 staff from the USGS NM WSC Albuquerque and Las Cruces offices visited a Climate Response Network (CRN) well just on the east side of the Organ Mountains outside of Las Cruces to receive training on integrity testing groundwater wells. What is integrity testing? Integrity testing involves adding a slug of clean water to a well and measuring how fast
...
Pipetting for DNA analysis - loop-mediated isothermal amplification
Pipetting for DNA analysis using loop-mediated isothermal amplification
Testing the feasibility of real-time eDNA monitoring
Elk are not concerned with our work. USGS and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute conducted tests of the feasibility of real-time eDNA monitoring at USGS streamgage 06190540 Boiling River at Mammoth,YNP, September 13, 2017.
Teton Fault
Mark, Nicole, Rich, Ryan, Dean taking out the "trash" from the base of the trench.
Excavating the Teton Trench September 2017 - Day 2
USGS scientists Rich Briggs, Ryan Gold, Chris DuRoss, and Jaime Delano spent September 5-21, 2017 outside of Jackson, Wyoming doing fieldwork at a site to collect paleoseismology data on a segment of the Teton Fault. This video shows the second day of the site excavation inside the flagged the boundaries set up by the group.
Excavating the Teton Trench September 2017 - Day 1
USGS scientists Rich Briggs, Ryan Gold, Chris DuRoss, and Jaime Delano spent September 5-21, 2017 outside of Jackson, Wyoming doing fieldwork at a site to collect paleoseismology data on a segment of the Teton Fault. This video shows the first day of the site excavation inside the flagged the boundaries set up by the group.
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.
Globally there were 14,588 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater in 2015. This worldwide number is on par with prior year averages of about 40 earthquakes per day of magnitude 4.0, or about 14,500 annually. The 2015 number may change slightly as the final results are completed by seismic analysts at the NEIC in Golden, Colorado.
The north arm of the Great Salt Lake (GSL) has reached a new historic low. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL), the lake's water level reached an elevation of 4,191.6 feet last month, one foot lower than the previous record.
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Ecosystem restoration is complex and requires an understanding of how the land, plants, and animals all interact with each other over large areas and over time. Today, the U.S. Geological Survey published part two of a three-part handbook addressing restoration of sagebrush ecosystems from the landscape to the site level.
A newly published, three-volume “Remote Sensing Handbook” is a comprehensive coverage of all remote sensing topics written by over 300 leading global experts.
According to the first-ever study of pesticide residues on field-caught bees, native bees are exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides and other pesticides. This report was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
On average, streams in the Niobrara-Mowry Play of eastern Wyoming, Fayetteville Play of Arkansas, and Barnett Play of Texas ranked most vulnerable to unconventional oil and gas development, but for different reasons, according to recent U.S. Geological Survey coauthored research.
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Genetic data show the grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has grown since the 1980s with no loss in genetic diversity, according to a report by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.
U.S. Geological Survey real-time monitoring captured flash flooding in southwest Utah that occurred as a result of intense thunderstorms with rainfall rates estimated as high as three inches per hour. Particularly hard hit was the town of Hildale, Utah and Zion National Park. The flash flood has resulted in 16 deaths.
Slowing fire-related population declines in greater sage-grouse in the Great Basin over the next 30 years may depend on the intensity of fire suppression efforts in core breeding areas and long-term patterns of precipitation, according to a just-published USGS-led study.
Although the Grand Canyon segment of the Colorado River features one of the most remote ecosystems in the United States, it is not immune to exposure from toxic chemicals such as mercury according to newly published research in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Newly released US Topo maps for Wyoming now feature more trails using data provided by the U.S. Forest Service such as the recreational trails in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
Three tiny fish larvae that were captured by U.S. Geological Survey scientists in May 2014 have just been confirmed to be pallid sturgeon. These new genetic identifications add to mounting evidence that critically endangered pallid sturgeon spawned successfully in the Lower Missouri River downstream of Gavins Point Dam, South Dakota.
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.