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Research about Chaffee County, Colorado

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Chaffee County, Colorado.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2021

Living with wildfire in Chalk Creek, Chaffee County, Colorado: 2019 data report

Wildfire affects many types of communities and is a particular concern for communities in the wildland urban interface (WUI), such as Chalk Creek in Chaffee County. The core intent of this project was to provide evidence to support Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) Salida Field Office’s wildfire mitigation and education program. This report analyzes existing wildfire risk data collected in late 2017 through 2019 and pairs it with social data collected in the summer of 2019, in order to better understand Chalk Creek residents’ knowledge, experiences, and perceptions about wildfire risk. This greater understanding will help CSFS focus its programs and outreach and ultimately promote increased mitigation and reduced wildfire risk in Chalk Creek.

Colorado↗
USGS2018

Estimating the probability of movement and partitioning seasonal survival in an amphibian metapopulation

Movement of individuals has been described as one of the best studied, but least understood concepts in ecology. The magnitude of movements, routes, and probability of movement have significant application to conservation. Information about movement can inform efforts to model species persistence and is particularly applicable in situations where specific threats (e.g., disease) may depend on the movement of hosts and potential vectors. We estimated the probability of movement (breeding dispersal and permanent emigration) in a metapopulation of 16 breeding sites for boreal toads ( Anaxyrus boreasboreas ). We used a multi‐state mark–recapture approach unique in its complexity (16 sites over 18 yr) to address questions related to these movements and variation in resident survival. We found that individuals had a 1–2% probability of dispersing in a particular year and that approximately 10–20% of marked individuals were transient and observed in the metapopulation only once. Resident survival probabilities differed by season, with 71–90% survival from emergence from hibernation through early post‐breeding and >97% survival from mid‐/late active season through hibernation. Movement‐related probabilities are needed to predict species range expansions and contractions, estimate population and metapopulation dynamics, understand host–pathogen and native–invasive species interactions, and to evaluate the relative effects of proposed management actions.

Colorado↗
USGS2017

Bathymetry of Clear Creek Reservoir, Chaffee County, Colorado, 2016

To better characterize the water supply capacity of Clear Creek Reservoir, Chaffee County, Colorado, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pueblo Board of Water Works and Colorado Mountain College, carried out a bathymetry survey of Clear Creek Reservoir. A bathymetry map of the reservoir is presented here with the elevation-surface area and the elevation-volume relations. The bathymetry survey was carried out June 6–9, 2016, using a man-operated boat-mounted, multibeam echo sounder integrated with a Global Positioning System and a terrestrial survey using real-time kinematic Global Navigation Satellite Systems. The two collected datasets were merged and imported into geographic information system software. The equipment and methods used in this study allowed water-resource managers to maintain typical reservoir operations, eliminating the need to empty the reservoir to carry out the survey.

Colorado↗
USGS2014

Groundwater and surface-water interaction and potential for underground water storage in the Buena Vista-Salida Basin, Chaffee County, Colorado, 2011

By 2030, the population of the Arkansas Headwaters Region, which includes all of Chaffee and Lake Counties and parts of Custer, Fremont, and Park Counties, Colorado, is forecast to increase about 73 percent. As the region’s population increases, it is anticipated that groundwater will be used to meet much of the increased demand. In September 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District and with support from the Colorado Water Conservation Board; Chaffee, Custer, and Fremont Counties; Buena Vista, Cañon City, Poncha Springs, and Salida; and Round Mountain Water and Sanitation District, began a 3-year study of groundwater and surface-water conditions in the Buena Vista-Salida Basin. This report presents results from the study of the Buena Vista-Salida Basin including synoptic gain-loss measurements and water budgets of Cottonwood, Chalk, and Browns Creeks, changes in groundwater storage, estimates of specific yield, transmissivity and hydraulic conductivity from aquifer tests and slug tests, an evaluation of areas with potential for underground water storage, and estimates of stream-accretion response-time factors for hypothetical recharge and selected streams in the basin. The four synoptic measurements of flow of Cottonwood, Chalk, and Browns Creeks, suggest quantifiable groundwater gains and losses in selected segments in all three perennial streams. The synoptic measurements of flow of Cottonwood and Browns Creeks suggest a seasonal variability, where positive later-irrigation season values in these creeks suggest groundwater discharge, possibly as infiltrated irrigation water. The overall sum of gains and losses on Chalk Creek does not indicate a seasonal variability but indicates a gaining stream in April and August/September. Gains and losses in the measured upper segments of Chalk Creek likely are affected by the Chalk Cliffs Rearing Unit (fish hatchery). Monthly water budgets were estimated for selected segments of five perennial streams (Cottonwood, North Cottonwood, Chalk, and Browns Creeks, and South Arkansas River) in the Buena Vista-Salida Basin for calendar year 2011. Differences between reported diversions and estimated crop irrigation requirements were used to estimate groundwater recharge in the areas irrigated by water supplied from the diversions. The amount of groundwater recharge in all the basins varied monthly; however, the greatest amount of recharge was during June and July for Cottonwood, North Cottonwood, and Chalk Creeks and South Arkansas River. The greatest amount of recharge in 2011 in Browns Creek occurred in July and August. The large seasonal fluctuations of groundwater near irrigated areas in the Buena Vista-Salida Basin indicate that the increased groundwater storage resulting from infiltration of surface-water diversions has dissipated by the following spring. Areas within the Buena Vista-Salida Basin with the potential for underground storage were identified using geographic information system data, including topographic, geologic, and hydrologic data, excluding the mountainous areas that border the Buena Vista-Salida Basin and igneous and metamorphic rock outcrop areas. The areas that met the selection criteria for underground water storage are located on terrace deposits near the Arkansas River and adjacent to its major tributaries. The selected areas also contain much of the irrigated land within the basin; consequently, irrigation ditches and canals could provide a means of conveying water to potential recharge sites.

Colorado↗
USGS2006

Estimation of temporary emigration in male toads

Male boreal toads (Bufo boreas) are thought to return to the breeding site every year but, if absent in a particular year, will be more likely to return the following year. Using Pollock's robust design we estimated temporary emigration (the probability a male toad is absent from a breeding site in a given year) at three locations in Colorado, USA: two in Rocky Mountain National Park and one in Chaffee County. We present data that suggest that not all male toads return to the breeding site every year. Our analyses indicate that temporary emigration varies by site and time (for example, from 1992 to 1998, the probability of temporary emigration ranged from 10% to 29% and from 3% to 95% at Lost Lake and Kettle Tarn, respectively). Although the results provide weak evidence that males are more likely to return after a year's hiatus, a general pattern of state-dependent temporary emigration was not supported. We also hypothesized relationships between temporary emigration and a number of weather variables. While some competitive models included weather covariates, imprecise and variable estimates of the effects of these covariates precluded fully defining their impact on temporary emigration. ?? 2006 by the Ecological Society of America.

Colorado↗