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Research about Colorado, New Mexico, Utah

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Colorado, New Mexico, Utah.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2024

Translocation in a fragmented river provides demographic benefits for imperiled fishes

Fragmentation isolates individuals and restricts access to valuable habitat with severe consequences for populations, such as reduced gene flow, disruption of recolonization dynamics, reduced resiliency to disturbance, and changes in aquatic community structure. Translocations to mitigate the effects of fragmentation and habitat loss are common, but few are rigorously evaluated, particularly for fishes. Over six years, we translocated 1215 individuals of four species of imperiled fish isolated below a barrier on the San Juan River, Utah, USA, that restricts access to upstream habitat. We used re-encounter data (both passive integrated transponder tag and telemetry detections and physical recaptures) collected between 2016 and 2023, to inform a spatially explicit multistate mark–recapture model that estimated survival and transition probabilities of translocated and non-translocated individuals, both below and above the barrier. Individuals of all four species moved large (>200 km) distances upstream following translocation, with the maximum upstream encounter distance varying by species. Results from the multistate mark–recapture model suggested translocated fish survived at a higher rate compared with non-translocated fish below the barrier for three of the four species. Above the barrier, translocated individuals survived at similar rates as non-translocated fish for bluehead sucker ( Catostomus discobolus ) and flannelmouth sucker ( Catostomus latipinnis ), while survival rates of translocated endangered Colorado pikeminnow ( Ptychocheilus lucius ; mean, 95% CI: 0.75, 0.55–0.88) and endangered razorback sucker ( Xyrauchen texanus ; 0.86, 0.75–0.92) were higher relative to non-translocated individuals (Colorado pikeminnow: 0.52, 0.51–0.54; razorback sucker: 0.75, 0.74–0.75). Transition probabilities from above the barrier to below the barrier were generally low for three of the four species (all upper 95% CI ≤ 0.23), but they were substantially higher for razorback sucker. Our results suggest translocation to mitigate fragmentation and habitat loss can have demographic benefits for large-river fish species by allowing movements necessary to complete their life history in heterogeneous riverscapes. Further, given the costs or delays in providing engineered fish passage structures or in achieving dam removal, we suggest translocations may provide an alternative conservation strategy in fragmented river systems.

Colorado, New Mexico, Utah↗
USGS2018

Estimating metal concentrations with regression analysis and water-quality surrogates at nine sites on the Animas and San Juan Rivers, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah

The purpose of this report is to evaluate the use of site-specific regression models to estimate metal concentrations at nine U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations on the Animas and San Juan Rivers in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Downstream users could use these regression models to determine if metal concentrations are elevated and pose a risk to water supplies, agriculture, and recreation. Multiple linear-regression models were developed by relating metal concentrations in discrete water-quality samples to continuously monitored streamflow and surrogate parameters (specific conductance, pH, turbidity, and water temperature) collected at the U.S. Geological Survey stations. Models were developed for dissolved and total concentrations of aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, and zinc using water-quality samples collected from 2005 to 2017 by several Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies using different collection methods and analytical laboratories. Model performance varied but, in general, models for dissolved metals did not perform as well as those for total metals. Dissolved metals generally were correlated to specific conductance or streamflow and total metals generally were better correlated with turbidity. Explanatory variables in the models reflected hydrologic and geochemical processes within the basin. A larger number of regression models were statistically significant for the most upstream sites, where metal concentrations were elevated by drainage from abandoned mines and mineralized bedrock. Models generally did not perform as well at downstream sites, especially for dissolved metals, which occurred at lower concentrations than at the upstream sites. In the lower reaches of the rivers, the input of more alkaline water from tributaries and groundwater reduced metal solubility and diluted metal concentrations. The number and distribution of samples in the calibration datasets also may have been a factor in model development. At some sites on the San Juan River, calibration datasets were more limited and did not represent the full range of observed hydrologic and water-quality conditions, especially during storm events in summer and fall. Recommendations for model use are given based on estimates of model precision, biases, and adequacy of the calibration datasets in terms of the number of samples and representativeness of the observed range of streamflow and water-quality conditions.

Colorado, New Mexico, Utah↗
USGS1969

Geochemistry and hydrodynamics of the Paradox Basin region, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico

The Paradox Basin region is approximately bounded by the south flank of the Uinta Basin to the north, the Uncompahgre uplift and San Juan Mountains to the east, the Four Corners structural platform to the southeast, the north rim of the Black Mesa Basin and the Grand Canyon to the south and southwest, and the Wasatch Plateau and Hurricane fault system to the west. Some of these geologic features are areas of ground-water recharge or discharge whereas others such as the Four Corners platform do not directly influence fluid movement. The aquifer systems studied were: (1) Mississippian rocks; (2) Pinkerton Trail Limestone of Wengerd and Strickland, 1954; (3) Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation; (4) Honaker Trail Formation of Wengerd and Matheny, 1958; (5) Permian rocks. Recharge in the Paradox Basin occurs on the west flank of the San Juan Mountains and along the west side of the Uncompahgre uplift. The direction of ground-water movement in each analyzed unit is principally southwest-ward toward the topographically low outcrop areas along the Colorado River in Arizona. However, at any point in the basin, flow may be in some other direction owing to the influence of intrabasin recharge areas or local obstructions to flow, such as faults or dikes. A series of potentiometric surface maps was prepared for the five systems studied. Material used in construction of the maps included outcrop altitudes of springs and streams, drill-stem tests, water-well records, and an electric analog model of the entire basin. Many structurally and topographically high areas within the basin are above the regional potentiometric surface; recharge in these areas will drain rapidly off the high areas and adjust to the regional water level. With a few exceptions, most wells in formations above the Pennsylvanian contain fresh (< 1,000 mg/l T.D.S. 2 ) to moderately saline (< 10,000 mg/l T.D.S.) water. In only a few cases are true brines (> 35,000 mg/l T.D.S.) reported. Most water samples from strata below the Permian are brines of the sodium chloride type but with large amounts of calcium sulfate or calcium chloride type water commonly occurring. Because evaporite facies occur in the Paradox Member, this unit has brines with as much as 400,000 mg/l dissolved solids content. Previous analysis of the San Juan Basin has indicated the presence of an osmotic membrane system. The highly permeable Jurassic formations were postulated to be the outflow side of the membrane. It is also possible that the Upper Paleozoic units with known brines and with an otherwise inexplicably high potentiometric surface in the Four Corners area of New Mexico could be the outflow receptors of the San Juan membrane system.

Colorado, New Mexico, Utah↗