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Show PART IV SURFACE WATER Stream Gaging Stations Systematic collection of streamflow data began as early as 1894 with the establishment of gaging stations on the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers at Grand Junction, Colorado, the Green River at Green River, Utah, and the Price River at Wellington, Utah. Since that time the stream gaging program has been expanded to include a network of about 322 gaging stations on streams throughout the region. The daily records obtained at these stations are published annually in water supply papers of the United States Geological Survey. The network of stations include 13 stations basic to this study located at or near points of outflow from each of nine major areas. These 13 base stations are listed in table 1 on the following page. Estimated and recorded annual discharge at the 13 outflow stations are listed in table 2. Listed also in table 2 is the combined dis- charge of the Colorado River at Lees Ferry and the Paria River thereby deriving the discharge at Lee Ferry, the compact point. The daily discharge data are furnished in the United States Geological Survey Water Supply papers. Records for 4 of these stations are detailed further in a graphical format that indicates the variability characteristics. Refer to the following three figures. These graphs demonstrate the erratic runoff experienced in the Upper Colorado Region. The flow duration graphs indicate the percent of time that any given discharge was equaled or exceeded during the period, without reference to chronolog- ical sequence. The monthly distribution graphs show the average, the maximum, and the minimum of the monthly mean flows. The histograms of annual discharge show the annual total flows in acre-feet, along with a graph indicating the 10-year moving averages. In addition to the quantitative records of surface discharges, the U. S. Geological Survey publishes data on water quality. The quality aspect of surface water is contained in Appendix XV, "Water Quality, Pollution Control, and Health Factors." 13 |
