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Last modified
7/14/2009 5:02:37 PM
Creation date
5/20/2009 10:24:26 AM
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UCREFRP
UCREFRP Catalog Number
9670
Author
Pitlick, J.
Title
Channel Monitoring To Evaluate Geomorphic Changes On The Main Stem Of The Colorado River.
USFW Year
n.d.
USFW - Doc Type
Boulder, CO.
Copyright Material
NO
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RESULTS <br />Summary of Streamflows, 1998-2004 <br />This study coincided with a period of sustained and severe drought that affected most of <br />the upper Colorado River basin. Hydrologists continue to discuss the significance and long-term <br />context of this drought, however, it appears that water years 2002-2004 were the lowest in the <br />upper Colorado River basin in at least the last 100 years (USGS Fact Sheet 2004-3062, August, <br />2004). The 7-year period of this study includes two extremely dry years (2002 and 2004) and <br />three other years (2000, 2001, and 2003) which were below average (Table 2). The 2002 water <br />year stands out as the most extreme of these years. In 2002 the Colorado River reached a peak <br />discharge of only 121 m3/s (Table 2) at the Cameo gauge (USGS station 09095500); this flow <br />ranks as the lowest instantaneous peak discharge in the 71-year period of record for this gauge. <br />The peak discharge of the Gunnison River at the Whitewater gauge (USGS station 09152500) <br />was only 82 m3/s (Table 2); this flow occurred in September, 2002, thus it was not associated <br />with snowmelt, and it ranks as the second lowest peak discharge in the 96-year period of record <br />for this gauge. Peak flows in 2004 were also very low; peak discharges in that year rank as the <br />third and fourth lowest peak flows at the Cameo and VWhitewater gauges, respectively. <br />The period from 1998-2004 was not only dry overall, but also characterized by an <br />unusual string of years starting in 1998 in which one year after another was followed by lower <br />and lower total runoff. Figure 9 shows trends in annual runoff at the two gauges upstream of the <br />15-mile reach (Palisade and Cameo, respectively). The record for the Palisade gauge is <br />relatively short (14 yr), however, it shows that prior to 1998 runoff was about equally divided <br />between above-average and below-average years (Fig. 9a). The record for the Cameo gauge is <br />much longer, going back to 1934 (Fig. 9b), and it shows that while the sequence of low-flow <br />23
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