Publications
Below is a list of available Colorado Water Science Center publications and published products.
Filter Total Items: 765
Opportunities to improve water quality during abandoned mine-tunnel reclamation
In the western United States, bulkheads are constructed to limit drainage from abandoned, draining mine adits and to protect downstream resources from uncontrolled releases of degraded adit water. Although bulkheads improve safety and water-quality conditions at the mouth of the adit, elevated hydraulic pressure behind the bulkhead often causes continuing water-quality problems in new locations. S
Authors
Katherine Walton-Day, James J. Gusek, Connor P. Newman
Quality of groundwater used for public supply in the continental United States: A comprehensive assessment
The presence of contaminants in a source water can constrain its suitability for drinking. The quality of groundwater used for public supply was assessed in 25 principal aquifers (PAs) that account for 84% of groundwater pumped for public supply in the U.S. (89.6 million people on a proportional basis). Each PA was sampled across its lateral extent using an equal-area grid, typically with 60 wells
Authors
Kenneth Belitz, Miranda S. Fram, Bruce D. Lindsey, Paul Stackelberg, Laura M. Bexfield, Tyler D. Johnson, Bryant Jurgens, James A. Kingsbury, Peter B. McMahon, Neil M. Dubrovsky
Identifying nutrient sources and sinks to the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, Denver, CO, during low-flow conditions in 2019–2020
Elevated concentrations and loads of nutrients in the South Platte River and Cherry Creek in Denver, Colorado, may have adverse effects on those streams and downstream water bodies, including increased production of algae, eutrophication, and decreased recreational opportunities. This article describes streamflow and concentrations and loads of nutrients for the South Platte River and Cherry Creek
Authors
William A. Battaglin, Tanner William Chapin
Repeat bathymetric surveys and model simulation of sedimentation processes near fish spawning placements, Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, Michigan
Nine rock-rubble fish spawning placements, or artificial reef complexes, constructed in the
Detroit and St. Clair Rivers between 2004 to 2018 were surveyed periodically with multibeam
sonar. These serial bathymetric surveys, conducted in 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2022, identified
active sand bedform fields impinging two reef complexes: Fighting Island in the Detroit River
and Middle Channel in the
Authors
Paul J. Kinzel, Gregory W. Kennedy, Taylor Dudunake
Upper Rio Grande Basin water-resource status and trends: Focus area study review and synthesis
The Upper Rio Grande Basin (URGB) is a critical international water resource under pressure from a myriad of climatic, ecological, infrastructural, water-use, and legal constraints. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the spatial distribution and temporal trends of selected water-budget components (snow processes, evapotranspiration (ET), streamflow processes, a
Authors
Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin, Christine Rumsey, Graham A. Sexstone, Tamara I. Ivahnenko, Natalie Houston, Shaleene Chavarria, Gabriel B. Senay, Linzy K. Foster, Jonathan V. Thomas, Allison K. Flickinger, Amy E. Galanter, C. David Moeser, Toby L. Welborn, Diana E. Pedraza, Patrick M. Lambert, Michael Scott Johnson
Examination of dissolved uranium concentrations in regional shallow groundwater relative to Operable Unit 8 of the Denver Radium Superfund Site
A radium industry existed between about 1914 and 1920 in Denver, Colorado, with operations located along the South Platte River. Sites associated with that industry were contaminated with radium and uranium processing residues and were incorporated into clean-up efforts as Operating Units (OUs) of the Denver Radium Superfund Site. Concentrations of uranium exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protecti
Authors
Carleton R. Bern
Incorporating streambank wells in stream mass loading studies to more effectively identify sources of solutes in stream water
Stream synoptic sampling studies that include flow estimates derived from the stream tracer dilution method are now commonly performed to identify sources and processes controlling solute transport to streams. However, a limitation of this mass-loading approach is its inability to identify the side of the stream on which a source is located in the common case where loading is largely from groundwa
Authors
Andrew H. Manning, Robert L. Runkel, Jean Morrison, Richard Wanty, Katherine Walton-Day
Over a third of groundwater in USA public-supply aquifers is Anthropocene-age and susceptible to surface contamination
The distribution of groundwater age is useful for evaluating the susceptibility and sustainability of groundwater resources. Here, we compute the aquifer-scale cumulative distribution function to characterize the age distribution for 21 Principal Aquifers that account for ~80% of public-supply pumping in the United States. The aquifer-scale cumulative distribution function for each Principal Aquif
Authors
Bryant Jurgens, Kirsten Faulkner, Peter B. McMahon, Andrew Hunt, Gerolamo C. Casile, Megan B. Young, Kenneth Belitz
Characterization of and temporal changes in groundwater quality of the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Basin, El Paso County, Colorado, 2018–20
In 2018–20, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Upper Black Squirrel Creek Ground Water Management District, sampled 48 wells for Phase III of a multiphase plan investigating groundwater quality in the alluvial aquifer of the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Basin (UBSB), El Paso County, Colorado. Results for samples collected from October to December each year were used to assess spatial an
Authors
Zachary D. Kisfalusi, Nancy J. Bauch, Carleton R. Bern
Elevated nitrogen deposition to fire-prone forests adjacent to urban and agricultural areas, Colorado front range, USA
As humans increasingly dominate the nitrogen cycle, deposition of reactive nitrogen (Nr) will continue to have adverse consequences for ecosystems. In the Rocky Mountains, Nr deposition remains elevated and has become increasingly dominated by ammonium, despite efforts to reduce emissions. Currently, spatial models of Nr deposition do not fully account for urban and agricultural emissions, sources
Authors
Ruth C. Heindel, Sheila F. Murphy, Deborah A. Repert, Gregory A. Wetherbee, Alexander Liethen, David W. Clow, Toby A. Halamka
Geoenvironmental model for roll-type uranium deposits in the Texas Gulf Coast
Geoenvironmental models were formulated by the U.S. Geological Survey in the 1990s to describe potential environmental effects of extracting different types of ore deposits in different geologic and climatic regions. This paper presents a geoenvironmental model for roll-front (roll-type) uranium deposits in the Texas Coastal Plain. The model reviews descriptive and quantitative information derived
Authors
Katherine Walton-Day, Johanna Blake, Robert R. Seal, Tanya J. Gallegos, Jean Dupree, Kent D Becher
A novel method for conducting a geoenvironmental assessment of undiscovered ISR-amenable uranium Resources: Proof-of-concept in the Texas Coastal Plain
A geoenvironmental assessment methodology was developed to estimate waste quantities and disturbances that could be associated with the extraction of undiscovered uranium resources and identify areas on the landscape where uranium and other constituents of potential concern (COPCs) that may co-occur with uranium deposits in this region are likely to persist, if introduced into the environment. Pri
Authors
Tanya J. Gallegos, Victoria G. Stengel, Katherine Walton-Day, Johanna Blake, Andrew Teeple, Delbert G Humberson, Steven M. Cahan, Douglas Yager, Kent D Becher