Skip to main content

Person

Erich R Mueller

Geomorphic response in the limitrophe region of the Colorado River to the 2014 delta pulse flow, United States and Mexico On March 23, 2014, a portion of the Colorado River bypassed Morelos Dam, the last dam on the river, and flowed into the dry river channel of the Colorado River delta. This “pulse flow” was the result of an international agreement, Minute 319, which allowed Colorado River water to be stored and released for environmental restoration. The U.S. Geological Survey participated in monitoring effects of the pulse flow, with particular emphasis on the limitrophe reach of the river, which represents the international border for 30 km between Yuma, Arizona, USA and San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, MX. Our...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Reach 1, Reach 2, USGS
The Colorado River delta is a dramatically transformed landscape. Major changes to river hydrology and morpho-dynamics began following completion of Hoover Dam in 1936. Today, the Colorado River has an intermittent and/or ephemeral channel in much of its former delta. Initial incision of the river channel in the upstream ∼50 km of the delta occurred in the early 1940s in response to spillway releases from Hoover Dam under conditions of drastically reduced sediment supply. A period of relative quiescence followed, until the filling of upstream reservoirs precipitated a resurgence of flows to the delta in the 1980s and 1990s. Flow releases during extreme upper basin snowmelt in the 1980s, flood flows from the Gila...
thumbnail
These data were compiled from sampling pre-dam flood terraces and sand bar deposits of the Colorado River in Glen Canyon between Glen Canyon Dam and the Paria River confluence. This includes sand deposits from the 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014 high flow experiments (HFE) in Marble Canyon. Sand sources from these locations were sampled in September/October of 2013 and 2014. Also, samples of suspended sediment from a selection of Paria River flash floods that preceded the 2013 and 2014 high flow experiments were collected. The suspended sediment samples were wet sieved to separate the <63-micron fraction at the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center. A Niton XL3-t 955 portable XRF was used to measure the elemental...
thumbnail
These data are a compilation of the characteristics of eddy sandbars, eddy sandbar areas and volumes measured between 1990 and 2015, and longitudinal metrics of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. These data were used to evaluate the response of sandbars to controlled floods implemented in 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, and 2014. These data were also used to characterize the variability in response among the monitoring sites and classify those monitoring sites into six characteristic groupings. These data were used to show that the characteristics of channel width, water-surface-elevation (stage) change between normal flows and controlled floods, and amount of vegetation cover are correlated...
thumbnail
These data provide a comprehensive survey of peak-stage indicators along the Colorado River corridor between river mile (RM) 0 and RM 87 (see Figure 1 in the associated USGS-SIR). In 2008, the locations of peak-stage indicators in three short reaches downstream from RM 87 were measured using a handheld GPS unit (see Appendix 1 in the associated USGS-SIR). Total-station measurements were made using an established network of survey control that references the 2011 realization of NAD83 (NAD83 (2011)) (Kaplinski and others, 2017). The measurements were projected into the State Plane Coordinate System of 1983, Arizona central zone (FIPS zone 0202). Vertical positions are provided in both NAD83 ellipsoid heights and in...
ScienceBase brings together the best information it can find about USGS researchers and offices to show connections to publications, projects, and data. We are still working to improve this process and information is by no means complete. If you don't see everything you know is associated with you, a colleague, or your office, please be patient while we work to connect the dots. Feel free to contact sciencebase@usgs.gov.