Publications
Below is a list of available Colorado Water Science Center publications and published products.
Filter Total Items: 762
Contaminants of emerging concern in the environment: Where we have been and what does the future hold?
In 1962, Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring alerted the nation to the dangers of manmade chemicals and indiscriminate use of pesticides. DDT was the culprit and its use threatened a variety of wildlife, including the national bird, bald eagles. In 1969, pressured by scientists and the public, the United States banned almost all uses of DDT; however, DDT was just the tip of the chemical iceberg. In
Authors
William A. Battaglin, Dana W. Kolpin, Edward T. Furlong, Susan Glassmeyer, Brett R. Blackwell, Steven Corsi, Michael T. Meyer, Paul M. Bradley
Estimating metal concentrations with regression analysis and water-quality surrogates at nine sites on the Animas and San Juan Rivers, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
The purpose of this report is to evaluate the use of site-specific regression models to estimate metal concentrations at nine U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations on the Animas and San Juan Rivers in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Downstream users could use these regression models to determine if metal concentrations are elevated and pose a risk to water supplies, agriculture, and re
Authors
Alisa Mast
Groundwater chemistry and water-level elevations in bedrock aquifers of the Piceance and Yellow Creek watersheds, Rio Blanco County, Colorado, 2013–16
The Piceance and Yellow Creek watersheds in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, are known to contain important energy resources (oil shale and natural gas) and mineral resources (nahcolite). The primary sources of fresh groundwater in the Piceance and Yellow Creek watersheds are bedrock aquifers in the Uinta and Green River Formations. The aquifers are divided into an upper and lower aquifer separated by
Authors
Judith C. Thomas, Peter B. McMahon
Reconnaissance of mixed organic and inorganic chemicals in private and public supply tapwaters at selected residential and workplace sites in the United States
Safe drinking water at the point-of-use (tapwater, TW) is a United States public health priority. Multiple lines of evidence were used to evaluate potential human health concerns of 482 organics and 19 inorganics in TW from 13 (7 public supply, 6 private well self-supply) home and 12 (public supply) workplace locations in 11 states. Only uranium (61.9 μg L–1, private well) exceeded a National Prim
Authors
Paul M. Bradley, Dana W. Kolpin, Kristin M. Romanok, Kelly L. Smalling, Michael J. Focazio, Juliane B. Brown, Mary C. Cardon, Kurt D. Carpenter, Steven R. Corsi, Laura A. DeCicco, Julie E. Dietze, Nicola Evans, Edward T. Furlong, Carrie E. Givens, James L. Gray, Dale W. Griffin, Christopher P. Higgins, Michelle L. Hladik, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Celeste A. Journey, Kathryn Kuivila, Jason R. Masoner, Carrie A. McDonough, Michael T. Meyer, James L. Orlando, Mark J. Strynar, Christopher P. Weis, Vickie S. Wilson
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, California Water Science Center, Central Midwest Water Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Kansas Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, National Water Quality Laboratory
Understanding the captivity effect on invertebrate communities transplanted into an experimental stream laboratory
Little is known about how design and testing methodologies affect the macroinvertebrate communities that are held captive in mesocosms. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a 32‐d test to determine how seeded invertebrate communities changed once removed from the natural stream and introduced to the laboratory. We evaluated larvae survival and adult emergence in controls from 4 subsequent s
Authors
Travis S. Schmidt, Holly Rogers, Janet L. Miller, Christopher A. Mebane, Laurie S. Balistrieri
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Energy Resources Program, Environmental Health Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Colorado Water Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Idaho Water Science Center
Satellite remote sensing estimation of river discharge: Application to the Yukon River Alaska
A methodology based on general hydraulic relations for rivers has been developed to estimate the discharge (flow rate) of rivers using satellite remote sensing observations. The estimates of discharge, flow depth, and flow velocity are derived from remotely observed water surface area, water surface slope, and water surface height, and demonstrated for two reaches of the Yukon River in Alaska, at
Authors
David M. Bjerklie, Charon M. Birkett, John Jones, Claudia C. Carabajal, Jennifer Rover, John Fulton, Pierre-Andre Garambois
Flood-inundation maps for the South Platte River at Fort Morgan, Colorado, 2018
In 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), studied floods in the historic record to produce a library of flood-inundation maps for the South Platte River at Fort Morgan, Colorado. Digital flood-inundation maps for a 4.5-mile (7.2-kilometers) reach of the South Platte River at Fort Morgan from Morgan County Road 16 to Morgan County
Authors
Michael S. Kohn, Thuy T. Patton
Linking transit times to catchment sensitivity to atmospheric deposition of acidity and nitrogen in mountains of the western United States
Transit times are hypothesized to influence catchment sensitivity to atmospheric deposition of acidity and nitrogen (N) because they help determine the amount of time available for infiltrating precipitation to interact with catchment soil and biota. Transit time metrics, including fraction of young water (Fyw) and mean transit time (MTT), were calculated for 11 headwater catchments in mountains o
Authors
David W. Clow, Alisa Mast, James O. Sickman
Pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides, and other bioactive contaminants in water, sediment, and tissue from Rocky Mountain National Park, 2012–2013
Pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides, and other bioactive contaminants (BCs) are commonly detected in surface water and bed sediment in urban and suburban areas, but these contaminants are understudied in remote locations. In Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Colorado, USA, BCs may threaten the reproductive success and survival of native aquatic species, benthic communities, and pelagic food w
Authors
William A. Battaglin, Paul M. Bradley, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Celeste A. Journey, Heather L. Walsh, Vicki S. Blazer
Cinnamon gulch revisited: Another look at separating natural and mining-impacted contributions to instream metal load
Baseline, premining data for streams draining abandoned mine lands is virtually non existent, and indirect methods for estimating premining conditions are needed to establish realistic, cost effective cleanup goals. One such indirect method is the proximal analog approach, in which premining conditions are estimated using data from nearby mineralized areas that are unaffected by mining. In this pa
Authors
Robert L. Runkel, Philip L. Verplanck, Briant Kimball, Katherine Walton-Day
Estimates of water use and trends in the Colorado River Basin, Southwestern United States, 1985–2010
The Colorado River Basin (CRB) drains 246,000 square miles and includes parts of California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, and all of Arizona (Basin States). This report contains water-use estimates by category of use for drainage basins (Hydrologic Unit Code 8; HUC‑8) within the CRB from 1985 to 2010, at 5-year intervals. Estimates for public supply, domestic, commercial, indus
Authors
Molly A. Maupin, Tamara I. Ivahnenko, Breton Bruce
Origin of methane and sources of high concentrations in Los Angeles groundwater
In 2014, samples from 37 monitoring wells at 17 locations, within or near oil fields, and one site >5 km from oil fields, in the Los Angeles Basin, California, were analyzed for dissolved hydrocarbon gas isotopes and abundances. The wells sample a variety of depths of an aquifer system composed of unconsolidated and semiconsolidated sediments under various conditions of confinement. Concentrations
Authors
Justin T. Kulongoski, Peter B. McMahon, Michael Land, Michael Wright, Theodore Johnson, Matthew K. Landon