Rainfall, runoff, and water-quality data for the urban storm-water program in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metropolitan area, water year 2001

Abstract

Urbanization has dramatically increased precipitation runoff to the system of drainage channels and natural stream channels in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metropolitan area. Rainfall and runoff data are important for planning and designing future storm-water conveyance channels in newly developing areas. Storm-water quality also is monitored in accordance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority, the City of Albuquerque, and the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative program to collect hydrologic data to help assess the quality and quantity of surface-water resources in the Albuquerque area. This report presents water-quality, streamflow, and rainfall data collected from October 1,2000, to September 30, 2001 (water year 2001). Also provided is a station analysis for each of the 20 streamflow-gaging sites and 38 rainfall-gaging sites, which includes a description of monitoring equipment, problems associated with data collection during the year, and other information used to compute streamflow discharges or rainfall records. A hydrographic comparison shows the effects that the largest drainage channel in the metropolitan area, the North Floodway Channel, has on total flow in the Rio Grande.