Water quality in the upper Colorado River basin, Colorado, 1996-98

Spahr, Norman E.; Apodaca, Lori E.; Deacon, Jeffrey R.; Bails, Jeffrey B.; Bauch, Nancy J.; Smith, C. Michelle; Driver, Nancy E.

doi:10.3133/cir1214

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…First, differential C-Q metrics showed increasing concentration of trace metal (Fe and Mo) and nutrients (P and DOC) as the water flowed in the floodplain (downstream) section of the East River. Herein, median concentration of total P (446 ppb) was found to be higher when compared to other similar headwater streams (Spahr, 2000), and exceeding the state limit of 110 ppb (Colorado Water Quality Control Commission, 2012). Further increase in recreation activities and urbanization of these mountainous watersheds can significantly add to the concentrations of both P and N. However, the downstream reach seems to be adequate in reducing instream N concentration.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Differential C-Q Analysis: A New Approach to Inferring Lateral Transport and Hydrologic Transients Within Multiple Reaches of a Mountainous Headwater Catchment

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Differential C-Q Analysis: A New Approach to Inferring Lateral Transport and Hydrologic Transients Within Multiple Reaches of a Mountainous Headwater Catchment

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Flow alteration and changes to the temperature and sedimentation regimes induced by these control structures have severely impacted the biological communities (Osmundson, Ryel, Lamarra, & Pitlick, ; Rader & Ward, ). Additional anthropogenic impacts include urban runoff, agricultural return flows, and mine drainage; in general, salinity, sediments, nutrients, and heavy metal concentrations increase along the river (Spar et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating spatiotemporal variation in water chemistry of the upper Colorado River using longitudinal profiling

Hensley

Spangler

DeVito

et al. 2020

Hydrological Processes

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stream water chemistry is traditionally measured as variation over time at fixed sites, with sparse sites providing a crude understanding of spatial heterogeneity. An alternative Lagrangian reference frame measures changes with respect to both space and time as water travels through a network. Here, we collected sensor-based measurements of water chemistry at high spatial resolution along nearly 500 km of the Upper Colorado River. Our objective was to understand sources of spatiotemporal heterogeneity across different solutes and determine whether longitudinal change manifests as smooth gradients as suggested by the River Continuum Concept (RCC) or as abrupt changes as suggested by the Serial Discontinuity Concept (SDC). Our results demonstrate that Lagrangian sampling integrates spatiotemporal variation, and profiles reflect processes that vary in both space and time and over different scales.Over each day of sampling, water temperature (T) and dissolved oxygen (DO) varied strongly in response to diel solar cycles, with most of the variation driven by sampling time rather than sampling location. Equilibration of T and DO with the atmosphere limited small scale spatial heterogeneity, with variation at the entire profile scale driven by regional climate gradients. As such, T and DO profiles more closely approximated the smooth gradients of the RCC (though including temporal sampling artefacts). Conversely, variation in specific conductance and nitrate (NO 3 -N) was largely driven by spatial patterns of lateral inflows such as tributaries and groundwater. This resulted in discrete shifts in the profiles at or downstream of discontinuities, appearing as the profiles expected with the SDC. The concatenation of spatiotemporal variation that produces observed Lagrangian profiles presents interpretive challenges but also augments our understanding of where, how, and critically why water chemistry changes in time and space as it moves through river networks.

show abstract

“…Analysis of salt concentration and flow in the Colorado River found that there was some decrease in salt load due to salinity control projects from 1986 to 1993. However, it was not clear whether the salinity project was exclusively responsible for such reductions as salinity trends in the Colorado River has decreased upstream and downstream of salinity control projects (Spahr et al, 2000;Vaill and Butler, 1999;Butler, 1996). Climate, as well as other natural or anthropogenic factors has masked change due to the salinity control projects (Butler, 1996).…”

Section: Impact Of Climate On Salt Mobilisationmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Irrigated agriculture in this region contributes 11% of salt load in the Colorado River at the US/Mexico border and has been targeted for salinity control projects since 1979 (Spahr et al, 2000). Channel lining and farm irrigation efficiency improvements at full implementation aim to reduce salt mobilised by groundwater seepage by 7 and 5 t/ha/yr respectively (Butler, 1996).…”

Section: Reducing Deep Percolationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management of salt mobilisation in the irrigated landscape – A review of selected irrigation regions

Duncan¹,

Bethune

Thayalakumaran³

et al. 2008

Journal of Hydrology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Water quality in the upper Colorado River basin, Colorado, 1996-98

Cited by 13 publications

References 12 publications

Differential C-Q Analysis: A New Approach to Inferring Lateral Transport and Hydrologic Transients Within Multiple Reaches of a Mountainous Headwater Catchment

Differential C-Q Analysis: A New Approach to Inferring Lateral Transport and Hydrologic Transients Within Multiple Reaches of a Mountainous Headwater Catchment

Evaluating spatiotemporal variation in water chemistry of the upper Colorado River using longitudinal profiling

Management of salt mobilisation in the irrigated landscape – A review of selected irrigation regions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About