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Person

Robert L Runkel

Hydrologist (Res)
Email: runkel@usgs.gov
Office Phone: 303-541-3013
Fax: 303-541-3084
ORCID: 0000-0003-3220-481X

Location
Box 25046
Denver Federal Center
Denver , CO 80225-0046
US
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Slug additions are often the most accurate method for determining discharge when traditional current meter or acoustic measurements are unreliable because of high turbulence, rocky streambed, shallow or sheet flow, or the stream is physically inaccessible (e.g., under ice or canyon walls) or unsafe to wade (Zellweger et al., 1989, Kilpatrick and Cobb 1984, Ferranti 2015). The slug addition method for determining discharge requires an injection of a known amount of a single salt and high-frequency downstream measurement of solute concentration to capture the response curve (Kilpatrick and Cobb 1984). A new slug method was developed to determine stream discharge utilizing specific conductance and ionic molal conductivities...
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On July 26, 2017, a solution containing approximately 200 kilograms of dissolved sodium bromide was added to the the flooded underground shaft of the Minnesota Mine, near Empire, Colorado. This addition was conducted as part of an effort to determine the degree to which the mine shaft is hydrologically connected to a series of downgradient seeps and springs. These seeps and springs discharge from the hillside and enter Lion Creek, an acidic, metal-rich stream that lies immediately to the west of the Minnesota Mine. A water quality sonde and pressure transducer deployed within the shaft recorded temperature, specific conductance, and stage before, during, and after the addition. The downgradient seeps and springs...
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The U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the Department of Energy, University of Montana, Northern Arapaho Tribe, and Liverpool John Moores University, is studying the interaction of a contaminated groundwater plume enriched in uranium and other trace elements with water, sediment, and biota along a 3 km reach of the Little Wind River in central Wyoming. The source of the contaminants is from a reclaimed uranium mill site near Riverton, Wyoming. This Data Release makes available data collected from June to September, 2016 and August to September, 2017. Data collected during these time periods include: (1) radon, major-ion, and trace-element concentrations in surface-water, groundwater, and pore-water samples;...
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Multiple sampling campaigns were conducted near Boulder, Colorado, to quantify constituent concentrations and loads in Boulder Creek and its tributary, South Boulder Creek. Diel sampling was initiated at approximately 1100 hours on September 17, 2019, and continued until approximately 2300 hours on September 18, 2019. During this time period, samples were collected at two locations on Boulder Creek approximately every 3.5 hours to quantify the diel variability of constituent concentrations at low flow. Synoptic sampling campaigns on South Boulder Creek and Boulder Creek were conducted October 15-18, 2019, to develop spatial profiles of concentration, streamflow, and load. Numerous main stem and inflow locations...
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Two synoptic sampling campaigns were conducted near Breckenridge, Colorado, to quantify metal loading to Illinois Gulch, a tributary of the Blue River. The first campaign, conducted in August 2016, was designed to determine the degree to which Illinois Gulch loses water to the underlying mine workings, and to determine the effect of these losses on observed metal loads. The second campaign, conducted in September 2017, was designed to evaluate metal loading within Iron Springs, a subwatershed that was responsible for the majority of the metal loading observed in 2016. A continuous, instream injection of a sodium bromide (NaBr) tracer was initiated at the head of the respective study reaches several days prior to...
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