From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
While there are numerous stream gauges on the Arkansas River and large tributaries like Fountain Creek and the Purgatoire River, there is little specific information about what happens along smaller feeders, said Tim Gates, a Colorado State University-Fort Collins researcher. “The focus of this work is to fill the gaps left by the absence of data in the Upper Arkansas Basin,” Gates told the Arkansas Basin Roundtable last week.
Gates and other CSU researchers have spent 10 years studying broad irrigation districts in the Lamar and La Junta areas to try to understand how irrigation affects water tables and salinity. Using a $600,000 grant obtained through the roundtable, the CSU team looked at 17 wells in the Upper Arkansas, along with about 200 wells it already was monitoring in the Lower Arkansas farming regions in order to track water movement year-around…
The team also looked at surface flows in the area, in an attempt to reconcile how much water flows back to the river, how much soaks into the ground and how long it takes the groundwater to return to the river. “We’re trying to get a basic understanding of how much water is being contributed on the tributaries, many of which may not be gauged,” Gates said. “We also did seepage tests on ditches in the upper basin to determine just how much is making its way back to the river.”
The study also is tracking the loading of solids, salt and contaminants like selenium or uranium, Gates said. One preliminary finding, for instance, was a hot spot for uranium near Brown’s Creek south of Buena Vista . Levels were below clean water thresholds, Gates said.
More IBCC — basin roundtables coverage here.