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This data release contains time series and plots summarizing mean monthly temperature and total monthly precipitation, and runoff from the U.S. Geological Survey Monthly Water Balance Model at 115 National Wildlife Refuges within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain-Prairie Region (CO, KS, MT, NE, ND, SD, UT, and WY). The three variables are derived from two sets of statistically-downscaled general circulation models from 1951 through 2099. The three variables were summarized for comparison across four 19-year periods: historic (1951-1969), baseline (1981-1999), 2050 (2041-2059), and 2080 (2071-2089). For each refuge, mean monthly plots, seasonal box plots, and annual envelope plots were produced for each...
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This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides the data used to predict areas with the greatest probability of ephemeral stream channel instability on north side of the Grand Valley in western Colorado, during 2018-20. The USGS developed a method for automatically extracting channel cross-section geometry from existing remotely sensed terrain models. Based on estimated flood stage and surrogate streamflows, hydraulic characteristics were calculated. The channel geometries and hydraulic characteristics were used to estimate channel stability using a statistical model. Cross-section stabilities were determined from a stream channel stability assessment for a subset of 1,406 visited (field observed) locations...
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U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering Center conducted short-term aquifer tests at 11 wells to estimate hydraulic properties in the Fountain Creek alluvial aquifer, in El Paso County, Colorado. Data were collected in July 2019 over three days. Single-hole pumping and recovery tests were completed at five wells, and multiple single-hole displacement (solid slug) tests were conducted at all 11 wells. This data release contains water-level data collected at various time intervals (0.25 seconds, 0.5 seconds, and variable during a manual test with a stopwatch) and well-discharge rates for the aquifer tests in comma separated value (CSV) files for the 34 tests analyzed....
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The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Colorado Springs Utilities, has been collecting topographic data annually since 2012 at 10 study areas along Fountain Creek, Colorado. The 10 study areas are located along Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs and the confluence of Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River in Pueblo. This data release presents topographic survey data, Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) survey data, and elevation rasters collected or generated during 2020 as part of that monitoring effort. Topographic survey points were collected using real-time kinematic Global Navigation Satellite Systems (RTK-GNSS). These point data, along with lidar point clouds, were used to generate 2020 digital...
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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed a systematic, quantitative approach to prioritize candidate basins that can support the assessment and forecasting objectives of the major USGS water science programs. Candidate basins were the level-4 hydrologic units (HUC4) with some of the smaller HUC4s being combined (hereafter referred to as modified HUC4 basins). Candidate basins for the contiguous United States (CONUS) were grouped into 18 hydrologic regions. Thirty-three geospatial variables representing land use, climate change, water use, water-balance components, streamflow alteration, fire risk, and ecosystem sensitivity were initially considered to assist in ranking candidate basins for study. The two highest...
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Water availability for human and ecosystem needs is a function of both water quantity and water quality, as described in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science Strategy (Evenson and others, 2013). Recently, a quantitative approach to prioritize candidate watersheds for monitoring investment was developed to understand changes in water availability and advance the objectives of new USGS programs (Van Metre and others, 2020). In this study design, the contiguous United States (CONUS) was divided into 18 regions (referred to here as “hydrologic regions” or “HRs”) with relatively homogeneous hydrologic drivers and processes to represent the wide diversity in conditions that exist across the CONUS. The gap analysis...
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Ground-based discrete snowpack measurements were collected during winter field campaigns starting in 2020. These data were collected as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) Upper Colorado River Basin project focusing on the relation between snow dynamics and water resources. This data release consists of three child items. Each child item contains snow depth, snow density, snow temperature, or snow water equivalent values measured discretely in the field. The data are provided in comma separated value (CSV) files.
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These data represent a one-time synoptic survey of sampled soils, pavement dust, and stream sediment in 10 urban watersheds in three regions of the United States (Pacific Northwest, northeast, and southeast) to evaluate sources of sediment and two groups of common urban contaminants: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals. Analyses of samples from six of the watersheds included fallout radionuclides to facilitate identification of sediment sources to the streams. Scripts used in R to test selected explanatory variables for the urban contaminants using Generalize Additive Models (GAMs) are included. The data release also includes Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial layers that were developed for...
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This data release contains hourly means of climatological data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from 10/1/1991 to 9/30/2019 at three weather stations in the Loch Vale watershed in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Colorado. In order of increasing elevation, the three weather stations are Loch Vale meteorological station at RMNP, Colo. (Main weather station, USGS station 401719105394311) at an elevation of 2,925 meters (m) above North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88), Andrews Creek meteorological station at RMNP, Colo. (Andrews Creek weather station, USGS station 401723105400101) at an elevation of 2,990 m above NAVD 88 and Sharkstooth meteorological station at RMNP, Colo. (Sharkstooth weather...
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These data were used to describe temporal trends in fish and invertebrate communities in the Scientific Investigators Report: Evaluation and Review of Ecology-Focused Stream Studies to Support Cooperative Monitoring, Fountain Creek Basin, Colorado. This data release consists of invertebrate data collected between 1985 and 2022, fish data collected between 2003 and 2022, and the input and output files from the trend analyses.
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Geospatial datasets were developed to estimate the altitude of the top of bedrock, altitude of the top of the Paradox salt, altitude of the water table in the alluvial aquifer, and the thickness and extent of saturated alluvium in the Paradox Valley in western Colorado. This study was completed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation for modeling of brine discharge to the Dolores River (Heywood and others, 2024; Paschke and others, 2024). One point dataset and 11 surfaces (shapefiles or rasters) are published in this data release. The point dataset (Paradox_well_data.zip) contains water-level and geologic data for groundwater, observation, test, and production wells in...
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The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Colorado Springs Utilities, has been collecting topographic data annually since 2012 at 10 study areas along Fountain Creek, Colorado. The 10 study areas are located along Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs and the confluence of Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River in Pueblo. This data release presents topographic survey data, Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) survey data, elevation rasters, and elevation-change rasters collected or generated in 2024 as part of that monitoring effort. Topographic survey points were collected using real-time kinematic Global Navigation Satellite Systems (RTK-GNSS). These point data, along with lidar point clouds, were used to...
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After wildfires occurred in the western United States during 2020, in-stream water quality monitors and automatic samplers were deployed in four burned watersheds and one unburned watershed. In-stream water temperature, turbidity, and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) were measured at high frequency, and the fDOM data were corrected for temperature and turbidity effects. Automatic samplers were triggered during storm events, which captured turbid conditions in the wildfire affected streams. Laboratory experiments with storm event samples informed site-specific turbidity correction coefficients for fDOM data. An iterative solver approach also was developed to verify turbidity correction coefficients. This...
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The U.S. Geological Survey Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) was used to assess the effects of changing climate and land disturbance on seasonal streamflow in the Rio Grande Headwaters (RGHW) region. Three applications of PRMS in the RGHW were used to simulate 1) baseline effects of climate, 2) effects of bark-beetle induced tree mortality, and 3) effects of wildfire, on components of the hydrologic cycle and subsequent seasonal streamflow runoff from April through September for water years 1980 through 2017. PRMS input files and select PRMS output variables for each simulation are contained in this data release to accompany the journal article.
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This data release includes raw and processed (inverted) data for three different geophysical methods, continuous resistivity profiles (CRP), direct current electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), and frequency domain electromagnetic induction (FDEM) data. These surface geophysical methods were used as a proxy for groundwater salinity in the Paradox Valley in western Colorado to investigate temporal and spatial variations in the position of brine-rich groundwater under the Dolores River. Continuous resistivity profile surveys along a 8-10 km reach of the Dolores River were conducted on March 7, May 16, and September 13 of 2017. The ERT surveys were conducted along 3 lines crossing the river and 1 line parallel to...
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These model archive summaries document the surrogate regression models developed to estimate 15-minute suspended-sediment concentrations at three streamgage sites in Colorado: Anthracite Creek above Mouth near Somerset, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) site number 09132095; Muddy Creek above Paonia Reservoir, USGS site number 385903107210800; and North Fork Gunnison below Raven Gulch near Somerset, USGS site number 385553107243301. The methods used follow USGS guidance as referenced in relevant Office of Surface Water Technical Memorandum (TM) 2016.07 and Office of Water Quality TM 2016.10, USGS Techniques and Methods, book 3, chap. C5 (Landers and others, 2016), and (or) USGS Techniques and Methods, book 3, chap....
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This dataset contains tabular data for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Watersheds Needs Survey (CWNS) wastewater treatment facility information. Literature-based average total nitrogen and total phosphorous concentrations were substituted for wastewater treatment levels reported for each facility because little or no concentration data is reported in the CWNS. Concentrations were based on the treatment levels of raw, primary, secondary, and advanced. Concentration and effluent flow-value data gaps were ‘filled in’ through simple linear assumptions, based on each facility’s responses to the survey in years bracketing the data gap or were based on an un-bracketed single year survey response. Unlike...
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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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Short-term aquifer tests were conducted to estimate hydraulic properties in an alluvial aquifer. Tests included eight single-hole pumping and recovery tests and three slug tests (in a single well). These investigations were conducted in the Wet Mountain Valley, in Custer and Fremont Counties, Colorado. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted aquifer tests in May, 2019. These aquifer tests inform the conceptual understanding of the valley-fill aquifer and serve as primary inputs to the numerical groundwater-flow model. Testing was completed in cooperation with the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District. This data release contains raw data from aquifer tests, water-level and pumping discharge rate measurements,...
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This data release includes simulation output from SnowModel (Liston and Elder, 2006), a well-validated process-based snow modeling system, and supporting snow, meteorological, and streamflow observations from the water years 2011 through 2015 (October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2015) across a 3,600 square kilometer model domain in the north-central Colorado Rocky Mountains. For each water year, SnowModel simulations were completed for a (1) baseline simulation, (2) bark-beetle disturbance condition simulation, (3) 2016 - 2035 future climate condition simulation (S1), and (4) 2046 - 2065 future climate condition simulation (S2). Sexstone and others (2018) provide details and summarize findings from each of the...
map background search result map search result map National USEPA Clean Watershed Needs Survey WWTP nutrient load data 1978 to 2012 SnowModel simulations and supporting observations for the north-central Colorado Rocky Mountains during water years 2011 through 2015 Continuous resistivity profiling, direct current resistivity, and frequency domain electromagnetic data for the Dolores River, Paradox Valley, Colorado, 2017 Minnesota Mine Shaft Tracer Data, Lion Creek Watershed near Empire, Colorado, July-November, 2017 Model input and output for hydrologic simulations in the Rio Grande Headwaters, Colorado, using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) Climatological data for the Loch Vale watershed in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, water years 1992-2019 Water-level and well-discharge data related to aquifer testing in Fountain Creek alluvial aquifer, El Paso County, Colorado, 2019 Water-level and well-discharge data related to aquifer testing in Wet Mountain Valley, Colorado, 2019 Surrogate regression models for computation of time series suspended-sediment concentrations at Muddy Creek above Paonia Reservoir, Anthracite Creek above mouth near Somerset, and North Fork Gunnison below Raven Gulch near Somerset, Colorado Elevation Data from Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs and the Confluence of Fountain Creek at the Arkansas River, Colorado, 2020 (ver 2.0, May 2021) Mapped sealed and unsealed pavement and concentrations of metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and radionuclides for soils, pavement dust, and stream sediment for 10 urban watersheds Geospatial datasets developed for a hydrogeologic conceptual model of brine discharge to the Dolores River, Paradox Valley, Colorado NGWOS Ground Based Discrete Snowpack Measurements Hydroclimate Projections for Select U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Properties - Mountain-Prairie Region, 1951-2099 Geospatially derived environmental characteristics to prioritize watersheds for research and monitoring needs within 18 hydrologic regions across the United States Data used to prioritize the selection of river basins for intensive monitoring and assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey Ephemeral Stream Channel Stability Data from the Grand Valley, Western Colorado, 2018-21 Datasets for Evaluation and Review of Ecology-Focused Stream Studies, Fountain Creek Basin, Colorado In-stream and laboratory fDOM data from wildfire affected streams of the western United States, 2021-22 Elevation Data from Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs and the Confluence of Fountain Creek at the Arkansas River, Colorado, 2024 Minnesota Mine Shaft Tracer Data, Lion Creek Watershed near Empire, Colorado, July-November, 2017 Climatological data for the Loch Vale watershed in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, water years 1992-2019 Water-level and well-discharge data related to aquifer testing in Fountain Creek alluvial aquifer, El Paso County, Colorado, 2019 Continuous resistivity profiling, direct current resistivity, and frequency domain electromagnetic data for the Dolores River, Paradox Valley, Colorado, 2017 Geospatial datasets developed for a hydrogeologic conceptual model of brine discharge to the Dolores River, Paradox Valley, Colorado Water-level and well-discharge data related to aquifer testing in Wet Mountain Valley, Colorado, 2019 Ephemeral Stream Channel Stability Data from the Grand Valley, Western Colorado, 2018-21 Elevation Data from Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs and the Confluence of Fountain Creek at the Arkansas River, Colorado, 2020 (ver 2.0, May 2021) SnowModel simulations and supporting observations for the north-central Colorado Rocky Mountains during water years 2011 through 2015 Datasets for Evaluation and Review of Ecology-Focused Stream Studies, Fountain Creek Basin, Colorado Elevation Data from Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs and the Confluence of Fountain Creek at the Arkansas River, Colorado, 2024 Model input and output for hydrologic simulations in the Rio Grande Headwaters, Colorado, using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) NGWOS Ground Based Discrete Snowpack Measurements Surrogate regression models for computation of time series suspended-sediment concentrations at Muddy Creek above Paonia Reservoir, Anthracite Creek above mouth near Somerset, and North Fork Gunnison below Raven Gulch near Somerset, Colorado Hydroclimate Projections for Select U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Properties - Mountain-Prairie Region, 1951-2099 In-stream and laboratory fDOM data from wildfire affected streams of the western United States, 2021-22 National USEPA Clean Watershed Needs Survey WWTP nutrient load data 1978 to 2012 Mapped sealed and unsealed pavement and concentrations of metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and radionuclides for soils, pavement dust, and stream sediment for 10 urban watersheds Geospatially derived environmental characteristics to prioritize watersheds for research and monitoring needs within 18 hydrologic regions across the United States Data used to prioritize the selection of river basins for intensive monitoring and assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey