Project 2:

Streamflow,Water QualitySediment Tranand Sand Bud

in the ColoradRiver Ecosyste
The USGS team

• David Topping, GCMRC• Ron Griffiths, GCMRC• Nick Voichick, GCMRC• Tom Sabol, GCMRC• Dave Dean, GCMRC

• Nancy Hornewer, AZ Water Science Center

• Jon Mason, AZ Water Science Center

• Joel Unema, AZ Water Science Center

• Brad Garner, AZ Water Science Center• Dave Sibley, CIDA• Megan Hines, CIDA
How do operations at Glen Canyon Dam affec

water quality, sediment transport, and sedi

resources in the Colorado River Ecosystem

• Continued development of database and website wi

interactive tools for data visualization and download

• Publication of 6 peer‐reviewed interpretive papers a

abstracts presented at AGU

• Real‐time to monthly posting of all discharge, qw, an

sediment data on WEBSITE

• Monthly updates of the mass‐balance sand budgets 

WEBSITE
Monitoring project with some rese

We collect, post, and analyze the following data at 

located through the Colorado River Ecosystem, incl

key tributaries...

• Stage• Discharge• Water temperature• Salinity (specific conductance)

• Turbidity• Dissolved Oxygen• Suspended‐ and bed‐sediment data

• Sediment loads (silt and clay loads and sand loads)

• User‐interactive sand budgets in 6 reaches from Lees Ferry to Lake 

Virtually all other projects funded by the GCDAMthese data!
We have continued to add new dataset

make improvements to the new databas

website.

http://www.gcmrc.gov/discharge_qw_sedim

http://cida.usgs.gov/gcmrc/discharge_qw_sed

The user‐interactive tools available at 

website to visualize and operate on the d

unique in the world, and more tools are 

developed during the 2015‐2017 work
Colorado R

Grand Ca

2014

‐
Q

Stage, Discharge,

Sediment Transport

Q 

Q 

QQQ

Q

QQ

Q

Q

Q

Q 

Q 

Q 
T 

T

T

T 

T T

T 

T

T 

T

T 

T

T T

T

T 

T 

T 

T 

Water Temperature

T(at Lava Cliff)
S

Specific Conductance,

Dissolved Oxygen,

Turbidity

SC

S

SC, DO, Turb 

SC, DO, Turb 

SC, DO, Turb
Data used to inform and verify m

• Wright, S. A., C. R. Anderson, and N. Voichick (2008), A simplified wate

temperature model for the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam, R

Research and Applications, 25(6), 675‐686.

Turbidity duration curves
Temperature duration curves
2015 July-October Paria River sand inputs 

the 7th largest since 1996 
Sand budgets for the last 5‐year peri

Uppe

Marbl

Canyo

E

G

C

East Central

Grand Canyon

West Central

Grand Canyon

Western Grand

Canyon and the

Lake Mead Delta
Upper Marble Canyon

1‐1‐2011 through 1‐6‐2016
Lower Marble Canyon

1‐1‐2011 through 1‐6‐2016
Eastern Grand Canyon

1‐1‐2011 through 1‐6‐2016
East Central Grand Canyon

1‐1‐2011 through 8‐25‐2015
West Central Grand Canyon

1‐1‐2011 through 8‐25‐2015
Western Grand Canyon and the Lake Me

1‐1‐2011 through 1‐4‐2016
2011 – 2015 change in sand thickness by 

assuming sand covers 1/3 of bed (in c

‐1

+13±28

+8±23

+28±6
July 2012 – Dec 2015 change in sand thick

reach assuming sand covers 1/3 of bed (

‐5

+36±19

‐10±13

+90±5
Although sandbars have generally been built in 

reach during the 2012, 2013, and 2014 HFEs...

These 3 controlled floods have had

different systematic effects on the

sand budget in each reach
Upper Marble Canyon Lower Marble 
Over the flood hydrographs of each of the 201

and 2014 HFES, the following occurred...

Erosion

E

Deposition

Erosion
Over the flood hydrographs of the 2004 and 20

the following occurred...

Erosion

E

Deposition

(no 2004 data)

No change

(no 2004 data)
Conclusions

• Duration‐curve tool being developed will allow eas

comparison of flow, water‐quality, and sediment‐t

data between years

• Sand resources (amount) appear to be sustainable 

long‐reach scale except in higher release years

• Eastern Grand Canyon?

• Systematic response of reach‐scale sand budgets d

HFEs appears to be emerging under the HFE Proto

• This systematic response is different from that obs

during the 2004 and 2008 HFEs likely because of th

differing longitudinal distribution of the anteceden

supply (small, all upstream in 2004; fine sand mostdownstream in 2008)
Thank you