Skip to main content

Peter Molnar

River systems in semiarid regions are susceptible to rapid and dramatic channel erosion and arroyo formation. Climate plays an important role in arroyo development through changes in precipitation intensity, seasonality, and variability. Here, trends in precipitation and streamflow at the annual, monthly, and daily timescales for the last 50 yr are analyzed for the Rio Puerco Basin in northwestern New Mexico, and connections with recent watershed and channel changes are examined. The increasing trend in annual precipitation in the basin is shown to be part of larger-scale climatic variability that affects the U.S. Southwest region, which is associated with climatic anomalies in the northern Pacific. Results of hydroclimatic...
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.