Stream-Gage Database Development and Network Analysis Study Area Boundary

Oct 27, 2015
Created by SRLCC CPA Admin
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Description
Streamflow and basin-characteristic data are needed for a variety of scientific and managerial applications, including estimation of flow in ungaged basins and hydro-ecological classification of rivers. These data are collected by a variety of organizations, usually on a state-by-state basis. The existing network of streamflow gaging stations within the SRLCC provides much useful data. However, because it is not feasible to operate gaging stations at all locations where planning, structure design, or water-management decisions will be made, resource managers, scientists, and stakeholders need a reliable means to project information from gaged to ungaged locations using standard statistical techniques. The spatial distribution and the lengths-of-record of the existing streamflow-gaging stations can affect how well the information from the gaged locations can be assumed to represent similar ungaged locations. The quality of such projections, in turn, affects how well the stream-gage network can support important research and management needs within the SRLCC.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Colorado Water Science Center (CWSC) is developing a geospatial database of stream-gage locations, stream-gaging data, and ancillary basin characteristics to facilitate transfer of information from gaged to ungaged basins within the SRLCC. The database will be made available through an accompanying web-mapping interface. It will support analysis of the stream-gaging network (a separate, subsequent project) within the SRLCC, evaluating the adequacy of the network to:

  1. Transfer streamflow characteristics from gaged to ungaged locations for both current and future anticipated needs and
  2. Provide information critical to the applied science goals of the SRLCC partners and other water managing entities.
The study area will cover four major drainage basins of the geographically diverse terrain of the SRLCC, including large parts of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. The drainages proposed for inclusion in the study are the Green River, the Upper Colorado above the confluence with the Green, the San Juan, and the Little Colorado. The geospatial database will include all USGS stream gages within the study area as well as appropriate, quality-controlled gages from the included States. The upstream drainage area represented by each stream gage will be delineated, along with a suite of basin characteristics, which will facilitate a network analysis.

Once the database is complete, its utility will be demonstrated through an initial analysis of the stream-gaging network. Because there are many possible questions that might be addressed in an initial analysis, the SRLCC will identify current concerns and appropriate analysis. For each question addressed, the project will build on information from previous nationwide studies and from analyses performed within the study area. The initial network analysis, and subsequent analyses that similarly leverage the new geospatial database, will provide important guidance to future investments in the stream-gage network to ensure that it better meets the needs of resource managers.
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Tags
streamgage, upper colorado river basin, network analysis, little colorado river basin, streamflows, ungaged streams, san juan river basin, green river basin
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