Discharge… such an impersonal and flatly technical term for something so dynamic. It’s really just a description of how much water flows in a channel. Flow expressed in CFS or cubic feet per second over a period of time can teach you a lot about a river, from how it swells during spring runoff to … Read more
Precipitation in the form of snowfall plays the dominant role in year-to-year streamflow variability in the Uncompahgre River Watershed, but air temperature also has a significant impact. In the spring, the air temperature rises, snowmelt begins, and streamflow increases. This generally begins when nighttime temperatures stay at or above freezing (see blue line in the … Read more
The most common instrument or gauge for measuring streamflow is one like that used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS stream gauge provides continuous measurements of streamflow in cubic feet per second (cfs), and stream height or stage in feet. Have you seen the type of equipment pictured below next to and in … Read more
