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Charles S. Howard

Publications and source records attributed to Charles S. Howard.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1955

Quality of water of the Colorado River, 1925-40

The study of the quality of water of the Colorado River and its tributaries has been a continuing one since 1925. The data so obtained have been useful in the planning and construction of dams and reservoirs, the utilization of the water within the basin, and in planning the economy of areas outside of the basin, partially or wholly dependent on the diversion or importation of water from the Colorado River or its tributaries. Much chemical quality data of the Colorado River and its tributaries collected during the period from 1925 to 1940 have not been published in detail. The purpose of this report is to make available for consultation and ready reference those previously unpublished data collected for the period 1925 to 1940, mainly between 1930 and 1940. Included among these data are many detailed chemical analyses of composites of daily samples and single samples of the Colorado River and its main tributaries and less detailed analyses of many other samples. In a few instances, for continuity of the record, analyses are included that have been published in Survey reports. Discussions of the quality of water of the Colorado River basin either in published reports or in mimeograph form are available; therefore, this report will include only tabulated data. Data obtained for the period 1925 to 1930 for the most part were published in three Geological Survey Water-Supply Papers, 596-B, 636-A, and 638-D, all out of print. Summary data for the streams in the Colorado River basin for the period 1925 to 1943 were published in U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 970, "Quality of surface waters of the United States, 1943". These summaries consist mainly of annual weighted averages of chemical analyses, dissolved-solids loads, and extremes of dissolved solids and hardness. Analyses of samples from Lake Mead are available in a series of reports, "Lake Mead Density Currents Investigations", by the Bureau of Reclamation /1937 -1940, Vols. I and ll; 1940 -1946; Vol. III/. Data on the suspended sediment in the Colorado River for the period 1925-1941 were published in 1947, in U.S. Geological Survey Water -Supply Paper 998. Since 1940 results of water-quality investigations in the Colorado River basin have been published in the annual U.S. Geological Survey reports, "Quality of surface waters of the United States".

Colorado River↗
USGS1947

Suspended sediment in the Colorado River, 1925-41

This report gives the results of sediment-sampling studies of the Geological Survey in the Colorado River basin for the period from October 1, 1925, to September 30, 1941. Records are given for the entire period for the Grand Canyon gaging station and for shorter periods at other stations in the basin. The results reported consist of the records of the mean daily concentrations.of sediment for all stations, and in addition, the mean daily discharge and daily load of sediment for many of the stations. The available records indicate that the runoff of the Colorado near Cisco, Utah, plus the runoff of the Green at Green River, Utah, plus the runoff of the San Juan near Bluff, Utah, amount to about 90 percent of the runoff at the Grand Canyon gaging station, but the sediment loads at the three upper stations amount to only about 60 percent of the sediment load at Grand Canyon. The Little Colorado River and two or three other unsampled tributaries probably are the major sources of the unmeasured sediment Information is given concerning the sizes of the particles of the sediment at the Grand Canyon, Willow Beach, and Bluff stations during periods of this investigation. The annual load at Grand Canyon during the 16 years ranged from 50,080,000 tons in 1933-34 to 480,000,000 tons in 1928-29, and the mean annual load at that station for the 16-year period was 200,200,000 tons. The mean annual runoff for the Grand Canyon station during the period was 12,640,000 acre-feet

Colorado River↗
USGS1928

Quality of water in Colorado River in 1925-1926

Most of the analyses given in this report represent composites of daily samples collected by the observers at United States Geological Survey gaging stations on Colorado River at Grand Canyon and Topock, Ariz. These stations are operated under the direction of W. E. Dickinson, district engineer of the Geological Survey at Tucson, Ariz., who personally collected some of the samples at other points and arranged for the collection of others.

Colorado River↗