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<br />The streamflow of the northern part of Lower Fountain Creek has been <br />gaged at sites F17 and F27 (station 07105800 Fountain Creek at Security) <br />(fig. 1) and is summarized in figures 4 and 5, Generally, streamflows at <br />sites F17 and F27 are smallest during fall and winter (fig, 4); larger stream- <br />flows occur during spring from snowmelt runoff and during summer from thunder- <br />storms. The streamflow-duration curves shown in figure 5 indicate that mean <br />daily streamflow has been less than 28 ft3/s at site F17 and has been less <br />than 45 ft3/s at site F27 about 50 percent of the time. The slope of the <br />curves indicates that the streamflow varies substantially, and flow is largely <br />from runoff, Except at extreme streamflows, figure 5 also indicates that <br />instantaneous streamflow measured when water-quality samples were collected <br />compares favorably with the frequency distribution of mean daily streamflow <br />at site F17, Therefore, water-quality samples collected at site F17 should <br />characterize the water-quality conditions that occur approximately 98 percent <br />of the time, <br /> <br />Downstream from the town of Fountain, streamflows vary considerably from <br />the northern part of Lower Fountain Creek due to numerous diversions for <br />agricultural use, Except for Pueblo, the remaining 30 mi of stream traverse <br />irrigated agricultural lands. Periods of no streamflow have occurred during <br />the summer months of many years, Water enters the stream as irrigation-return <br />flow, ground-water discharge, and from ephemeral tributaries that predomi- <br />nately drain rangelands, <br /> <br />Streamflow downstream from Fountain has been gaged at site F53 (station <br />07106300 Fountain Creek near Pinon) (fig. 1) and site F66 (station 07106500 <br />Fountain Creek at Pueblo); streamflow at these sites is summarized in figures <br />6 and 7, Streamflows are much larger during the winter at sites F53 and F66 <br />than in the northern part of Lower Fountain Creek due to lack of winter <br />diversions for irrigation, The largest flows in the southern part of Lower <br />Fountain Creek occur during the summer as a result of thunderstorms, However, <br />during dry summers when irrigation demands are large and runoff is small, <br />Fountain Creek may be dry at sites F53 and F66. The streamflow-duration <br />curves shown in figure 7 indicate that streamflows vary substantially and are <br />greatly affected by direct runoff and upstream diversions, The mean daily <br />streamflows are less than 41 ft3/s at site F53 and less than 17 ft3/s at site <br />F66 about 50 percent of the time, Frequency curves of instantaneous stream- <br />flows made when water-quality samples were collected at sites F53 and F66 are <br />considerably different than the mean daily streamflow-duration curves (fig, 7), <br />Therefore, the summary statistics of water-quality constituents measured at <br />sites F53 and F66 that are affected by streamflow may be somewhat biased <br />toward larger streamflows. <br /> <br />Upper Monument Creek <br /> <br />upper Huuwnent Creek comprises approximately a 3-mi stream segment down- <br />stream from the national forest boundary and V,S, Defense Department property <br />to the outlet of Monument Lake, which is located at Monument (fig, 2), This <br />stream segment has been classified for class 2 recreation, class 2 warm-water <br />aquatic life, domestic water supply, and agricultural uses, Numeric water- <br />quality standards associated with these classifications are listed in table 1, <br /> <br />10 <br />