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At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources
USGS2010

Classification of the hydrologic settings of lakes in the north central United States

The hydrologic settings of 150 lakes in the north central United States were investigated by principal component analysis as a first attempt to develop a general classification of the hydrologic settings of lakes. Precipitation-evaporation balance and the water quality variables have high loadings on the first principal component. Highest loadings on component 2 are for streamflow in and out of the lakes. Components 3 and 4 are characterized by geologic and groundwater flow variables. The drainage basin area/lake area ratio, the overland runoff variable, has the highest loading on component 5. The stability of the principal components was tested by randomly splitting the data and comparing a principal component analysis of each subsample. This showed the first two principal components to be the most stable. The components described by the groundwater variables are less stable, but there is justification for using them with caution. Of the variables examined in this study the distribution of dissolved solids of groundwater is most closely related to the distribution of lake types as determined by other limnological typologies in the north central United States. The study indicates that the following are the most important variables to be considered in classifying the hydrologic settings of lakes: dissolved solids concentration of groundwater, precipitation-evaporation balance, streamflow inlet and outlet, the ratio of drainage basin area to lake area, and lake depth. Of the groundwater variables, local relief and regional slope are more important than is regional position. Texture of the drift and bedrock, which is related to hydraulic conductivity of the rocks, is very important.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2019

Calibration of Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) to simulate prefire and postfire hydrologic response in the upper Rio Hondo Basin, New Mexico

The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) is widely used to simulate the effects of climate, topography, land cover, and soils on landscape-level hydrologic responses and streamflow. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, developed procedures to apply the PRMS model to simulate the effects of fire on hydrologic responses. A PRMS model was built of the upper Rio Hondo Basin from the headwaters to approximately 19 miles downstream from the USGS streamgage Rio Hondo above Chavez Canyon near Hondo, New Mexico, by using 24 hydrologic response units (HRUs), or hydrologically similar subareas, from the National Hydrologic Model. A quasi-graphical user interface was created to easily query and analyze published PRMS sensitivity-analysis data. Simulation of mean daily streamflow was most sensitive to parameters related to snowmelt or infiltration throughout the upper Rio Hondo Basin. In the basin’s eastern and northern HRUs, flashiness and timing of streamflow were most sensitive to interflow; in many western-basin HRUs (higher elevations), flashiness of streamflow was most sensitive to soil moisture parameters, and timing of streamflow was most sensitive to infiltration and evapotranspiration parameters. The PRMS model was calibrated for the fire-affected North Fork Eagle Creek subwatershed by comparing modeled to observed daily streamflow for the nonfrozen (May through October) period for a prefire and postfire time period. The prefire model was calibrated for the period 2007–12 before the 2012 fire, and the postfire model was calibrated for a 2-year (2014–15) period after the fire. Model parameterization combined manual adjustment of 8 parameters on the basis of prior knowledge and automated adjustment of the most sensitive parameters by using the Let Us Calibrate interface. A gridded, daily precipitation dataset that captured the spatial heterogeneity across the study watershed was used as the precipitation input for calibration. Model performance was assessed as satisfactory by using standard statistical measures for prefire and postfire periods. The calibrated model was run by using data from a single precipitation gage to better represent the effect of localized, extreme storms on postfire hydrologic response. The calibrated models for prefire and postfire conditions simulated streamflows with greater consistency than the uncalibrated model for the corresponding (prefire or postfire) period of hydrographic record. The effect of fire on streamflow was found to be primarily a shift from streamflow dominated by base flow prior to fire to streamflow dominated by surface runoff after fire.

New Mexico↗
USGS1925

Variation in annual run-off in the Rocky Mountain region: Chapter A in Contributions to the hydrology of the United States, 1923-1924

Records of run-off in the Rocky Mountain States since the nineties and for a few stations since the eighties afford a means of studying the variation in the annual run-off in this region. The data presented in this report show that the variation in annual run-off differs in different areas in the Rocky Mountain region, owing to the differences in the sources of the precipitation in these areas. Except in the drainage basins of streams in northern Montana the year of lowest run-off shown by the records was 1902, when the run-ff at one station was only 36 per cent of the mean run-ff for the periods covered by the several records available. The percentage variation of run-ff for streams in different parts of Colorado is less for any one year than that for streams in the mountain region as a whole, and for streams in the same major drainage basin the annual variation is markedly similar. The influence of topography upon variation in annual run-ff for streams in Colorado is marked, the streams that rise in the central mountain region having a smaller range in variation than the streams that rise on the eastern or western edges of the central mountain mass. The streams that rise on the plains just east of the mountains have a greater variation than those of any of the mountain groups. The ratio of any 10-year mean to the mean for the entire period covered by the records ranges from 72 to 133 per cent. For the South Platte, Arkansas, and Rio Grande the run-off during the nineties was below the normal, but since about 1903 it has been above normal. For the Cache la Poudre low-water periods occurred during the eighties and from 1905 to 1922, but during the nineties the run-off was above the normal.

Colorado;Montana;Wyoming↗
USGS1925

Power resources of Snake River between Huntington, Oregon and Lewiston, Idaho: Chapter C in Contributions to the hydrology of the United States, 1923-1924

Thousands of people are familiar with that part of Snake River where it flows for more than 300 miles in a general westward course across the plains of southern Idaho, but few have traversed the river where it flows northward and for 200 miles forms the boundary between Idaho and Oregon and for 30 miles the boundary between Idaho and Washington. Below the mining town of Homestead, Oreg., which is the end of a branch line of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, Snake River finds its way through the mountain ranges that seem to block its way to Columbia River in a canyon which, though not so well known, so majestic, nor so kaleidoscopic in color, is in some respects worthy of comparison with the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, for at some places it is deeper and narrower than the Grand Canyon at El Tovar. The Snake, unlike the Colorado, can be reached at many points through the valleys of tributary streams, and the early prospectors no doubt thoroughly explored all parts of the canyon. To traverse the river between Homestead, Oreg., and Lewiston, Idaho, is, however, a difficult undertaking and there are only a few records of boat journeys through the entire stretch. It has long been known that this portion of Snake River contains large potential water powers, but until recently no detailed surveys or examinations covering the entire stretch of the river had been made to determine their location or extent. A railroad has been proposed between Homestead and Lewiston which would provide a direct connection between the railroad systems of northern and southern Idaho. One function of the Geological Survey is to determine the possible interface between transportation routes on land and potential water-power development, and the information set forth in this paper has a bearing on that problem.

Idaho;Oregon↗
USGS1925

Some floods in the Rocky Mountain region: Chapter G in Contributions to the hydrology of the United States, 1923-1924

In 1923 severe floods occurred on the larger streams in Wyoming and a number of cloudburst floods on small streams in Wyoming and especially in Colorado. An investigation of the principal floods in each State was made, and the results are given in this paper, together with descriptions of two Colorado floods of 1922. In addition a study was made of all cloudburst floods to determine the areas chiefly subject to them.

Colorado;Wyoming↗