A Community Resource for Hydrologic Science Research

South Platte River Hydrologic Observatory

The planning team currently includes faculty from Colorado State University, University of Colorado, Colorado School of Mines, USGS, USDA-ARS, USFS. The original concept developed in February 2004 has evolved into the current concept as presented in the Prospectus.

Poster presented at Fall AGU meeting in San Francisco : The South Platte Basin Hydrologic Observatory

Climate
The basin has a continental-type climate modified by topography, in which there are large temperature ranges and irregular seasonal and annual precipitation. Mean temperatures increase from west to east and on the plains from north to south (Gaggiani and others, 1987). Areas along the Continental Divide average 30 in. or more of precipitation annually, which includes snowfall in excess of 300 in. In contrast, the annual precipitation on the plains east of Denver, Colorado, and in the South Park area in the southwest part of the basin, ranges from 7 to 15 in. Most of the precipitation on the plains occurs as rain, which typically falls between April and September, whereas most of the precipitation in the mountains occurs as snow, which typically falls between October and March.

Land Use
The three-State area of the South Platte River Basin has about 2.8 million people, over 95 percent of whom live in Colorado. The basin contains the most concentrated population density in the Rocky Mountain region, located along the Front Range urban corridor in Colorado where the mountains meet the plains. Population densities outside the urban corridor are small and centered in small towns located along the principal streams. The principal economy in the mountainous headwaters is based on tourism and recreation; the economy in the urbanized south-central region mostly is related to manufacturing, service and trade industries, and government services; and the economy of the basin downstream from Denver is based on agriculture and livestock production.

Land use and land cover in the South Platte River Basin during 1975-80 (Feagas, and others, 1983) is divided into: 41 percent rangeland, 37 percent agricultural land, 16 percent forest land, 3 percent urban or built-up land, and 3 percent other land. Rangeland is present across all areas of the basin except over the high mountain forests. Agricultural land is somewhat more restricted to the plains and the South Park area near Fairplay, Colo. Forest land occurs in a north-south band in the mountains. Urban or built-up land is present primarily in the Front Range urban corridor. The 'other land' category includes: water (110 mi2), barren lands (160 mi2), tundra (400 mi2), and perennial snow and ice (1 mi2). Barren lands primarily are areas under construction or are areas of strip mining, quarries, or gravel pits.

• Niwot Ridge/Green Lakes Valley: Niwot Ridge LTER
• Short Grass Steppe: SGS-LTER

CHILL

• CSU-CHILL National Radar Facility

CoAgMet

• COlorado AGricultural Meteorological nETwork -- COAGMET: CoAgMet

CoCoRaHS

• Community Collaborative Rain and Hail Study: CoCoRaHS: CoCORaHS

CIRA

• Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere

CWRRI

Water Center

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