Comparison of 2002 Water Year and
Historical Water-Quality Data,
Upper Gunnison River Basin, Colorado
By N.E. Spahr
Data Series 101
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The citation for this report, in USGS format, is as follows:
Spahr, N.E., 2004, Comparison of 2002 Water Year and Historical Water-Quality
Data,
Upper Gunnison River Basin, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series
101, 70 p.
Introduction
Population growth and changes in land-use practices have the potential
to affect water quality and quantity in the upper Gunnison River basin.
In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with local
sponsors—City of Gunnison, Colorado River Water Conservation District,
Crested Butte South Metropolitan District, Gunnison County, Mount Crested
Butte Water and Sanitation District, National Park Service, Town of Crested
Butte, and Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District—established
a water-quality monitoring program in the upper Gunnison River basin to
characterize current water-quality conditions and to assess the effects
of increased urban development and other land-use changes on water quality.
The monitoring network has evolved into two groups of stations—stations
that are considered as long term and stations that are rotational. The
long-term stations are monitored to assist in defining temporal changes
in water quality (how conditions have changed over time). The rotational
stations are monitored to assist in the spatial definition of water-quality
conditions (how conditions differ throughout the basin) and to address
local and short term concerns. Another group of stations (rotational group
2) will be chosen and sampled beginning in water year 2004. Annual summaries
of the water-quality data from the monitoring network provide a point
of reference for discussions regarding water-quality sampling in the upper
Gunnison River basin.
This summary includes data collected during water year 2002. The introduction
provides a map of the sampling locations, definitions of terms, and a
one-page summary of selected water-quality conditions at the network stations.
The remainder of the summary is organized around the data collected at
individual stations. Data collected during water year 2002 are compared
to historical data (data collected for this network since 1995), state
water-quality standards, and federal water-quality guidelines. Data were
collected during water year 2002 following USGS protocols (U.S. Geological
Survey, variously dated).
Contents
Introduction
Location of sites
Definition of terms
Summary
Water-quality sampling stations
Slate River above Coal Creek, near Crested Butte
Coal Creek at mouth near Crested Butte
Washington Gulch below Woods Creek at Mount Crested Butte
Slate River near Crested Butte
East River above Crested Butte
East River above Slate River
East River below Cement Creek
East River at Almont
Ohio Creek above Mouth near Gunnison
Gunnison River near Gunnison
Quartz Creek below Pitkin
Tomichi Creek below Cochetopa Creek
Tomichi Creek at Gunnison
Gunnison River at County Road 32 below Gunnison 65
References
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