|
<br />the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, Vail
<br />Associates, and the Upper Eagle Regional Water
<br />Authority created the Gore Creek Watershed
<br />Management Program in 1996. The goal of this
<br />program is to provide information for the manage-
<br />ment and protection of water quality and aquatic
<br />life in the watershed.
<br />The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooper-
<br />ation with the Town of Vail, the Eagle River Water
<br />and Sanitation District, and the Upper Eagle Regional
<br />Water Authority, compiled and analyzed the available
<br />information on the historical and current (1998) water
<br />quantity, water quality, and aquatic ecology in the
<br />Gore Creek watershed. These data were analyzed to
<br />assess the effects of human and natural factors on the
<br />surface- and ground-water resources in the watershed.
<br />
<br />Purpose and Scope
<br />
<br />This report presents the available historical
<br />and current (1998) water-quantity, water-quality, and
<br />aquatic-ecology information for the Gore Creek water-
<br />shed. Surface-water data are available for locations
<br />throughout the watershed but are limited for long-term
<br />analysis. Ground-water data are available only for the
<br />alluvial aquifer that underlies the Town of Vail. Based
<br />on available data in the Gore Creek watershed, specific
<br />objectives of this report are to: (1) characterize
<br />existing water-resources data; (2) analyze historical
<br />data and assess the broad-scale spatial and seasonal
<br />variability in water quantity, water quality, and stream
<br />biota; and (3) summarize the environmental setting
<br />and identify, describe, and explain, where possible, the
<br />major natural and human factors that affect observed
<br />water-quantity, water-quality, and aquatic-ecology
<br />conditions in the Gore Creek watershed.
<br />Available physical, chemical, and biological
<br />data useful for characterizing factors affecting water-
<br />quantity, water-quality, and aquatic-ecology condi-
<br />tions were compiled for 66 surface-water sites within
<br />the Gore Creek watershed. These data were collected
<br />from 1968 to 1997. Some of the categories of data
<br />include major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesti-
<br />cides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and
<br />algae, macroinvertebrate, and fish communities. In
<br />addition, results from regional and national studies
<br />were compiled for comparison of surface-water
<br />nutrient concentrations in the Gore Creek watershed
<br />with other urban areas.
<br />
<br />Ground-water-quality data were available
<br />from six sites in the alluvial aquifer. These ground-
<br />water data were limited to periodic trace-element
<br />samples collected from the Town of Vail water-supply
<br />well field during 1988-89, a sample collected from
<br />a single well from the well field in 1997, and two
<br />samples collected from each of five alluvial moni-
<br />toring wells within the Town of Vail during 1997.
<br />The 1997 well-field and monitoring-well data, though
<br />limited, provided valuable new information about the
<br />age of ground water and a variety of inorganic and
<br />organic constituents such as nutrients, trace elements,
<br />pesticides, VOCs, bacteria, and radon.
<br />
<br />Acknowledgments
<br />
<br />The authors thank the many individuals and
<br />agencies that provided data for the Gore Creek water-
<br />shed. Special thanks to Russell Forrest, Town of Vail;
<br />Caroline Byus, Eagle River Water and Sanitation
<br />District; Joe Macy, Vail Associates; Bill Andree,
<br />Colorado Division of Wildlife; Robert Ray, Northwest
<br />Colorado Council of Governments; and Dennis
<br />Anderson, Colorado Department of Public Health
<br />and Environment. The authors thank Ken Neubecker
<br />for providing most of the photographs for this report.
<br />We also thank Cory Stephens, USGS, and David K.
<br />Mueller, USGS, for their assistance in generating
<br />some of the figures for this report, Janet S. Heiny,
<br />USGS, for reviewing the manuscript, and Stephen D.
<br />Porter, USGS, for his assistance with the interpretation
<br />of the ecological data and for reviewing the manu-
<br />script. The authors also thank Mary Kidd for editorial
<br />review of this report, Joy Monson for manuscript prep-
<br />aration, and Sharon P. Clendening for producing the
<br />illustrations.
<br />
<br />DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA
<br />
<br />The Gore Creek watershed, located
<br />in the Southern Rocky Mountains physiographic
<br />province (Apodaca and others, 1996), lies in a
<br />narrow valley surrounded by high mountains
<br />and drains an area of about 102 mil. Gore Creek
<br />originates in pristine alpine headwaters of the Gore
<br />Range and flows through the Town of Vail before
<br />joining the Eagle River. Land-surface elevation
<br />
<br />4 Gore Creek Watershed, Colorado-Assessment of Historical and Current Water Quantity, Water Quality,
<br />and Aquatic Ecology, 1968-98
<br />
|