Water-quality assessment and macroinvertebrate data for the Upper Yampa River watershed, Colorado, 1975 through 2009

Bauch, Nancy J.; Moore, Jennifer L.; Schaffrath, Keelin R.; Dupree, Jean A.

doi:10.3133/sir20125214

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…It is for this reason that we used the in‐stream SC data during low‐flow conditions, when snowmelt was not contributing to stream discharge, to characterize the baseflow end‐member. In a survey of 815 samples collected from 328 groundwater wells located in a variety of geological formations and along different flow paths in the Yampa River watershed, SC ranged from 50 to 15,900 µS/cm, with a median concentration of 1170 µS/cm [ Bauch et al ., ]. This large range in SC concentrations serves as an example of the within‐watershed variability in groundwater SC concentrations that are present in large watersheds, such as those included in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuous estimation of baseflow in snowmelt‐dominated streams and rivers in the Upper Colorado River Basin: A chemical hydrograph separation approach

Miller

Susong

Shope

et al. 2014

Water Resources Research

108

171

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Effective science-based management of water resources in large basins requires a qualitative understanding of hydrologic conditions and quantitative measures of the various components of the water budget, including difficult to measure components such as baseflow discharge to streams. Using widely available discharge and continuously collected specific conductance (SC) data, we adapted and applied a long established chemical hydrograph separation approach to quantify daily and representative annual baseflow discharge at 14 streams and rivers at large spatial (> 1000 km 2 watersheds) and temporal (up to 37 years) scales in the Upper Colorado River Basin. On average, annual baseflow was 21-58% of annual stream discharge, 13-45% of discharge during snowmelt, and 40-86% of discharge during low-flow conditions. Results suggest that reservoirs may act to store baseflow discharged to the stream during snowmelt and release that baseflow during low-flow conditions, and that irrigation return flows may contribute to increases in fall baseflow in heavily irrigated watersheds. The chemical hydrograph separation approach, and associated conceptual model defined here provide a basis for the identification of land use, management, and climate effects on baseflow.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuous estimation of baseflow in snowmelt‐dominated streams and rivers in the Upper Colorado River Basin: A chemical hydrograph separation approach

Miller

Susong

Shope

et al. 2014

Water Resources Research

108

171

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Multiple subsurface flow paths contribute to streamflow at any point in time, and each of these flow paths has a unique chemical signal. For example, Bauch et al (2012) reported that SC ranged from 50 to 15,900 mS/cm among 815 samples collected from 328 groundwater wells in the Yampa River watershed. Given the variability in the chemical composition of groundwater, the use of well measurements as representative end-member concentrations can be problematic.…”

Section: Hydrograph Separationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Discharge and Nonpoint Source Nitrate Loading to Streams From Three End‐Member Pathways Using High‐Frequency Water Quality Data

Miller

Tesoriero

Hood

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

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The myriad hydrologic and biogeochemical processes taking place in watersheds occurring across space and time are integrated and reflected in the quantity and quality of water in streams and rivers. Collection of high‐frequency water quality data with sensors in surface waters provides new opportunities to disentangle these processes and quantify sources and transport of water and solutes in the coupled groundwater‐surface water system. A new approach for separating the streamflow hydrograph into three components was developed and coupled with high‐frequency nitrate data to estimate time‐variable nitrate loads from chemically dilute quick flow, chemically concentrated quick flow, and slowflow groundwater end‐member pathways for periods of up to 2 years in a groundwater‐dominated and a quick‐flow‐dominated stream in central Wisconsin, using only streamflow and in‐stream water quality data. The dilute and concentrated quick flow end‐members were distinguished using high‐frequency specific conductance data. Results indicate that dilute quick flow contributed less than 5% of the nitrate load at both sites, whereas 89 ± 8% of the nitrate load at the groundwater‐dominated stream was from slowflow groundwater, and 84 ± 25% of the nitrate load at the quick‐flow‐dominated stream was from concentrated quick flow. Concentrated quick flow nitrate concentrations varied seasonally at both sites, with peak concentrations in the winter that were 2–3 times greater than minimum concentrations during the growing season. Application of this approach provides an opportunity to assess stream vulnerability to nonpoint source nitrate loading and expected stream responses to current or changing conditions and practices in watersheds.

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“…The Yampa River is located in northwest Colorado and flows primarily to the west from its headwaters in the Flat Tops Wilderness to the Green River near the Colorado/Utah border (Figure 1a). Geologic composition underlying the Yampa River is diverse (Figure 1b), and this may be reflected in water chemistry which ultimately affects the chemical composition of fish otoliths [50][51][52]. It is largely free flowing, with extreme changes in flow being driven by snowmelt [50].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Geologic composition underlying the Yampa River is diverse (Figure 1b), and this may be reflected in water chemistry which ultimately affects the chemical composition of fish otoliths [50][51][52]. It is largely free flowing, with extreme changes in flow being driven by snowmelt [50]. Flows generally begin increasing in April, with maximum flows in May and June, and then decreasing flows beginning in July.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Isotopic Data to Evaluate Esox lucius (Linnaeus, 1758) Natal Origins in a Hydrologically Complex River Basin

Fitzpatrick

Winkelman

Johnson

2021

Fishes

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Otolith microchemistry has emerged as a powerful technique with which to identify the natal origins of fishes, but it relies on differences in underlying geology that may occur over large spatial scales. An examination of how small a spatial scale on which this technique can be implemented, especially in water bodies that share a large proportion of their flow, would be useful for guiding aquatic invasive species control efforts. We examined trace isotopic signatures in northern pike (Esox lucius) otoliths to estimate their provenance between two reservoirs in the Upper Yampa River Basin, Colorado, USA. This is a challenging study area as these reservoirs are only 11-rkm apart on the same river and thus share a high proportion of their inflow. We found that three isotopes (86Sr, 137Ba, and 55Mn) were useful in discriminating between these reservoirs, but their signatures varied annually, and the values overlapped. Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) were different between sites and relatively stable across three years, which made them an ideal marker for determining northern pike provenance. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of otolith microchemistry for natal origin determination within the same river over a relatively small spatial scale when there are geologic differences between sites, especially geologic differences underlying tributaries between sites.

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Water-quality assessment and macroinvertebrate data for the Upper Yampa River watershed, Colorado, 1975 through 2009

Cited by 5 publications

References 9 publications

Continuous estimation of baseflow in snowmelt‐dominated streams and rivers in the Upper Colorado River Basin: A chemical hydrograph separation approach

Continuous estimation of baseflow in snowmelt‐dominated streams and rivers in the Upper Colorado River Basin: A chemical hydrograph separation approach

Estimating Discharge and Nonpoint Source Nitrate Loading to Streams From Three End‐Member Pathways Using High‐Frequency Water Quality Data

Using Isotopic Data to Evaluate Esox lucius (Linnaeus, 1758) Natal Origins in a Hydrologically Complex River Basin

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