7285

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7285
• Author: Stewart, J. M.
• Title: Summary of Water-Resources Activities of the U.S. Geological Survey in Colorado, Fiscal Year 1987.
• USFW Year: 1987.
• USFW - Doc Type: Open-File Report 87-388,
• Copyright Material: NO

Surface-Water Data

Surface-water di scharge (streamflow), stage (water 1 eve 1), and water-
quality data are collected for general hydrologic purposes, such as assessment
of water resources, areal analysis, determination of long-term trends,
research and speci a 1 studi es, or for management and ope rat i ona 1 purposes.
Data-collection platforms (DCP's), used for the transmission of satellite-
telemetered river-stage information, have been installed at many sites
throughout the State. Satellite-telemetry acquisition of the information is
essential to many agencies for operating reservoirs, predicting river stage
and flood conditions, and optimizing the use of water resources. DCP infor-
mation is transmitted to the GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellite) and received at the U.S. Geological Survey DRGS (Direct Readout
Ground Station) located in Denver, where it is processed and made available to
other agencies.

Periodic water-quality data (common ions, nutrients, and(or) trace
metals) are obtained at 99 of the surface-water stations listed in table 1.
Six of these stations are part of a U.S, Geological Survery nationwide network
known as NASQAN (National Stream Quality Accounting Network) and two are part
of the nationwide Benchmark network, that provides data used in the evaluation
of trends in stream quality.

Daily water-quality monitoring for water temperature, specific
conductance, and (or) turbi dity is bei ng conducted at 41 sites. Automatic
instruments measure the characteristic of interest continuously during the
day, enabling the information to be summarized for the day, such as the daily
maximum, minimum, and mean.

Information from water-quality stations is used to monitor the quality of
surface water in Colorado. The frequency of sample collection can vary from
daily for some of the physical data to annual for pesticide or radiochemical
data. In addition to the water-quality data collected at the aforementioned
stations, a variety of information is collected at miscellaneous sites as part
of interpretive hydrologic studies. This information also is available from
the U.S. Geological Survey files.

Ground-Water Data

Water levels in wells are key characteristics for monitoring ground-water
trends; however, they must be integrated with other observations and ground-
water investigations to have the most relevance and usefulness. A network of
about 141 observation wells is maintained in eastern Colorado for monitoring
fluctuations in water levels, in cooperation with various eastern-slope water-
conservancy di stri cts and water-management di stri cts. Other wells, known as
"project wells", are used for specific (generally short-term) investigations;
although these wells are not part of the observation-well networks, data
obtained from them also are available.

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