Discharge and Physical-Property Measurements from Virgin River Narrows, AZ, to Lake Mead, NV, February 12, 2003

Physical-Property Measurements

Water samples were collected from the 14 Virgin River sites and from Beaver Dam Wash at the beginning, midpoint, and end of the synoptic-measurement period. Water temperatures were measured at the beginning and end of the first discharge measurement and at the end of each subsequent discharge measurement. Water samples were analyzed for specific conductance at the USGS laboratory in Henderson, Nev. For this report, measurement errors for water temperature and specific conductance are based on criteria described in the USGS National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data (U.S. Geological Survey, variously dated). Temperature measurements for liquid-in-glass thermometers should agree within 1 percent of full scale or 0.5°C, whichever is less. Specific conductance should agree within 3 percent at conductivity greater than 100 µS/cm. Mean values of water temperature (rounded to the nearest 0.5°C) and specific conductance (reported to three significant figures) were computed for each site and are listed in table 1. Plots of mean water-temperature and specific-conductance values for each site are shown in figure 3.

Table 1. Index to discharge and physical-property measurement sites from the Virgin River Narrows, Arizona, to Lake Mead, Nevada, February 12, 2003

[Note: Site elevation: elevation, in feet, above mean sea level (sea level in this report refers to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1988); NAD88, North American Datum of 1988. Specific conductance: µS/cm at 25°C, microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius. Abbreviations: ft³/s, cubic feet per second; °C, degrees Celsius]

Site number (see fig. 1 for site location)	Site name	Coordinates NAD27		Distance downstream, in miles	Site elevation, in feet	Discharge, in ft³/s			Water temperature¹, in °C	Specific conductance², water unfiltered, in µS/cm at 25°C
Site number (see fig. 1 for site location)	Site name	Latitude	Longitude	Distance downstream, in miles	Site elevation, in feet	Mean	Maximum	Minimum	Water temperature¹, in °C	Specific conductance², water unfiltered, in µS/cm at 25°C
09413700³	Virgin River above the Narrows near Littlefield, Arizona	36°55'16''	113°49'52''	1.0	2,000	90.5	95.1	86.7	7.5	2,850
09414975	Beaver Dam Wash at Mouth near Beaver Dam, Arizona	36°53'40''	113°55'09''	8.5	1,790	6.37	6.60	6.08	8.0	721
365338113551001	Littlefield Diversion Channel	36°53'38''	113°55'10''	8.5	1,795	0.45	0.46	0.45
09415000 ³	Virgin River at Littlefield, Arizona	36°53'30''	113°55'25''	9.0	1,765	158	160	154	13.0	2,980
09415020	Virgin River above Big Bend Wash near Littlefield, Arizona	36°50'41''	113°57'51''	14.0	1,700	148	151	144	13.0	2,960
09415058	Virgin River above Mesquite Diversion near Mesquite, Nevada	36°48'48''	114°00'11''	17.8	1,640	144	145	141	12.5	2,990
364842114001601	Mesquite Diversion	36°48'42''	114°00'16''	17.8	1,640	27.3	28.1	26.5
09415089	Virgin River above Bunkerville Diversion near Mesquite, Nevada	36°47'44''	114°04'09''	22.1	1,560	128	134	124	12.5	3,000
364744114040901	Bunkerville Diversion	36°47'44''	114°04'09''	22.1	1,560	103	103	103
09415105	Virgin River at Bunkerville, Nevada	36°46'47''	114°08'02''	26.3	1,510	128	132	121	13.0	3,150
09415120	Virgin River above Toquop Wash near Riverside, Nevada	36°44'52''	114°10'52''	30.0	1,460	120	127	110	11.0	3,260
09415180	Virgin River above Riverside Diversion near Riverside, Nevada	36°44'23''	114°11'33''	31.0	1,445	128	131	127	11.5	3,280
364422114113701	Riverside Diversion	36°44'22''	114°11'37''	31.0	1,445	32.1	35.1	30.8
09415190	Virgin River at Riverside, Nevada	36°43'26''	114°13'40''	34.2	1,410	132	138	126	11.0	3,340
09415198	Virgin River below Meadowland Farms near Riverside, Nevada	36°41'45''	114°15'31''	37.4	1,360	135	140	132	11.0	3,390
09415235	Virgin River above Confluence with Halfway Wash near Riverside, Nevada	36°39'42''	114°18'42''	41.6	1,305	123	130	119	10.5	3,380
09415238	Virgin River 2.3 mi below Halfway Wash near Riverside, Nevada	36°37'42''	114°18'54''	44.0	1,280	124	127	118	10.5	3,380
09415240³	Virgin River near Overton, Nevada	36°34'59''	114°19'27''	47.4	1,230	116	120	110	9.0	3,430
09415250	Virgin River above Lake Mead near Overton, Nevada	36°30'50''	114°20'08''	52.8	1,150	133	137	129	9.0	3,410

¹Mean value (rounded to nearest 0.5°C).

²Mean value (rounded to three significant figures).

³U.S. Geological Survey surface-water gaging station.

Figure 2. Computed mean, and maximum and minimum discharge measurements for selected sites from the Virgin River Narrows, Arizona, to Lake Mead, Nevada, February 12 and March 27, 2003. See table 1 for site information.

Figure 3. Mean water-temperature and specific-conductance measurements from selected sites from the Virgin River Narrows, Arizona, to Lake Mead, Nevada, February 12, 2003. See table 1 for site information.

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