Selected hydrologic data, Kolob-Alton-Kaiparowits coal-fields area, south-central Utah

Abstract

The Kolob-Alton-Kaiparowits coal-field area (pi. 1) includes about 4,500 square miles in parts of the Colorado River Basin and the Great Basin. The area varies in altitude from less than 4,000 to more than 10,000 feet, and is comprised chiefly of plateaus, benches, and terraces that are dissected by deep, narrow canyons. Principal streams draining the area are the Virgin, Sevier, Escalante, and Paria Rivers, and Coal, Kanab, and Wahweap Creeks. Most of the data included in this report were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from October 1980 to September 1982. They were collected as part of a hydrologic study in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to evaluate potential impacts of coal mining on the area's water resources. The results of that study are to be published in a separate report. Several earlier coal-related hydrologic studies have been made in the Alton and Kolob coal-fields area. Hydrologic data collected during those studies may be found in the following reports: Goode (1964, 1966), Sandberg (1979), and Cordova (1981). Data collected at the streamflow-gaging stations shown on plate 1 are published separately in annual reports of the U.S. Geological Survey. Information about the availability of these data is given in table 8. The writer extends thanks to Judy Steiger and Dave Darby (former employees of the U.S. Geological Survey) for their contribution to this report. Officials of the following companies and agencies also were helpful and cooperative in providing data: Utah Power & Light Co.; El Paso Natural Gas Co.; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; and U.S. Bureau of Land Management.