Publications
Below is a list of available Colorado Water Science Center publications and published products.
Filter Total Items: 765
Assessment of historical surface-water quality data in southwestern Colorado, 1990-2005
The spatial and temporal distribution of selected physical and chemical surface-water-quality characteristics were analyzed at stream sites throughout the Dolores and San Juan River Basins in southwestern Colorado using historical data collected from 1990 through 2005 by various local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies. Overall, streams throughout the study area were well oxygenated. Values of p
Authors
Lisa D. Miller, Keelin R. Schaffrath, Joshua I. Linard
Characterization and data-gap analysis of surface-water quality data in the Piceance study area, western Colorado, 1959–2009
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Federal, State, county, and industry partners, developed a Web-accessible common data repository to provide access to historical and current (as of August 2009) water-quality information (available on the Internet at http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/cwqdr/Piceance/index.shtml). Surface-water-quality data from public and private sources were compiled for the
Authors
Judith C. Thomas, Jennifer L. Moore, Keelin R. Schaffrath, Jean A. Dupree, Cory A. Williams, Kenneth J. Leib
Web-based flood database for Colorado, water years 1867 through 2011
In order to provide a centralized repository of flood information for the State of Colorado, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation, created a Web-based geodatabase for flood information from water years 1867 through 2011 and data for paleofloods occurring in the past 5,000 to 10,000 years. The geodatabase was created using the Environmental Syste
Authors
Michael S. Kohn, Robert D. Jarrett, Gary S. Krammes, Amanullah Mommandi
Overview of groundwater quality in the Piceance Basin, western Colorado, 1946--2009
Groundwater-quality data from public and private sources for the period 1946 to 2009 were compiled and put into a common data repository for the Piceance Basin. The data repository is available on the web at http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/cwqdr/Piceance/index.shtml. A subset of groundwater-quality data from the repository was compiled, reviewed, and checked for quality assurance for this report. The res
Authors
J.C. Thomas, P. B. McMahon
Effect of power plant emission reductions on a nearby wilderness area: a case study in northwestern Colorado
This study evaluates the effect of emission reductions at two coal-fired power plants in northwestern Colorado on a nearby wilderness area. Control equipment was installed at both plants during 1999–2004 to reduce SO2 and NOx emissions. One challenge was separating the effects of local from regional emissions, which also declined during the study period. The long-term datasets examined confirm tha
Authors
M. Alisa Mast, Daniel Ely
Characterization of streamflow, water quality, and instantaneous dissolved solids, selenium, and uranium loads in selected reaches of the Arkansas River, southeastern Colorado, 2009-2010
As a result of continued water-quality concerns in the Arkansas River, including metal contamination from historical mining practices, potential effects associated with storage and movement of water, point- and nonpoint-source contamination, population growth, storm-water flows, and future changes in land and water use, the Arkansas River Basin Regional Resource Planning Group (RRPG) developed a s
Authors
Tamara Ivahnenko, Roderick F. Ortiz, Robert W. Stogner, Sr.
Prediction of suspended-sediment concentrations at selected sites in the Fountain Creek watershed, Colorado, 2008-09
In 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, Colorado Water Conservation Board, Colorado Springs City Engineering, and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, began a small-scale pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of a computational model of streamflow and suspended-sediment transport for predicting suspende
Authors
Robert W. Stogner, Sr., Jonathan M. Nelson, Richard R. McDonald, Paul J. Kinzel, David P. Mau
Estimates of gains and losses from unmeasured sources and sinks for streamflow and dissolved-solids load in selected reaches of the Arkansas River, southeastern Colorado, 2009-2010
The Arkansas River is an important municipal water supply and is the primary supply for about 400,000 acres of irrigated land in southeastern Colorado. The suitability of this water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use is affected by high salinity in parts of the Arkansas River. There is a need to quantify mass loading of dissolved solids (DS) in the Arkansas River. In 2009, the U.S. Geo
Authors
Roderick F. Ortiz
Estimated anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the land surface of the conterminous United States--1992, 1997, and 2002
Anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus to each county in the conterminous United States and to the watersheds of 495 surface-water sites studied as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program were quantified for the years 1992, 1997, and 2002. Estimates of inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus from biological fixation by crops (for nitrogen only), human consum
Authors
Lori A. Sprague, Jo Ann M. Gronberg
Biogeochemistry of beetle-killed forests: Explaining a weak nitrate response
A current pine beetle infestation has caused extensive mortality of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) in forests of Colorado and Wyoming; it is part of an unprecedented multispecies beetle outbreak extending from Mexico to Canada. In United States and European watersheds, where atmospheric deposition of inorganic N is moderate to low (<10 kg⋅ha⋅y), disturbance of forests by timber harvest or violent
Authors
Charles C. Rhoades, James H. Jr McCutchan, Leigh A. Cooper, David W. Clow, Thomas M. Detmer, Jennifer S. Briggs, John D. Stednick, Thomas T. Veblen, Rachel M. Ertz, Gene E. Likens, William M. Jr Lewis
Application of sediment characteristics and transport conditions to resource management in selected main-stem reaches of the Upper Colorado River, Colorado and Utah, 1965-2007
The Colorado River Basin provides habitat for 14 native fish, including 4 endangered species protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. These endangered fish species once thrived in the Colorado River system, but water-resource development, including the building of numerous diversion dams and several large reservoirs, and the introduction of non-native fish, resulted in large red
Authors
Cory A. Williams, Keelin R. Schaffrath, John G. Elliott, Rodney J. Richards
2011 monitoring and tracking wet nitrogen deposition at Rocky Mountain National Park
No abstract available.
Authors
Kristi Morris, Alisa Mast, Greg Wetherbee, Jill Baron, Curt Taipale, Tamara Blett, David Gay, Jared Heath