Water Data for Colorado and the San Juans

GIS Watershed data for the San Juans on the MSI website

Download National Hydrography Datasets for the watersheds in the San Juan Mountains. These datasets require GIS software.

Animas River Stakeholders Group

The Animas River Stake Holders Group has a mission of improving water quality and aquatic habitats in the Animas watershed through a collaborative commonity based process. The group meets monthly in Silverton, Colorado and is focused on water quality problems originating from historical mining and natural mineralization. Extensive water quality monitoring & some mine site reclamation has been done to date. This site has extensive water monitoring data for the Animas River available for download in Excel format.

Real-time Water Data for Colorado from USGS

Get streamflow, precipitation, ground water, reservoir and water quality data in real-time. Real-time data typically are recorded at 15-60 minute intervals, stored onsite, and then transmitted to USGS offices every 1 to 4 hours, depending on the data relay technique used. Recording and transmission times may be more frequent during critical events. Data from real-time sites are relayed to USGS offices via satellite, telephone, and/or radio and are available for viewing within minutes of arrival.

Colorado River Watch

The Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) developed this exciting and far-reaching program that involves volunteers in protecting the quality of Colorado rivers. Called "Rivers of Colorado Water Watch Network" (ROCWWN), or "River Watch", the program links environmental protection with education in a meaningful, hands-on project for Colorado residents. Participants currently are made up of middle and high school students, their teachers, watershed management groups and stakeholders. Search to find water quality data on San Juan Mountain Rivers

Colorado Division of Water Resources Streamflow Data Retrieval

A very easy to use site with comprehensive streamflow data on Colorado rivers. There are both current and historical data for the major rivers in the San Juan Mountains.

USGS Water Resources for Colorado

This resource has online current and historical water information, including real-time surface water conditions, ground water, water-quality for Colorado.

USGS NWISWeb (National Water Information System Web) Data for Colorado

NWISWeb system is a new system that was based on the effort/development from several other USGS water related web systems: the national system for historic streamflow data (NWIS-W) , and the real-time streamflow data system; as well as several development efforts. this site provides real-time data as well as surface data, ground water data and water quality data for the rivers in Colorado.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) - SNOTEL Data

The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment. This resource provides current and historical water information, including real-time surface water conditions, ground water, and water-quality as well as SNOTEL data which is available for the San Juans.

Western Regional Climate Center Summaries for Towns in Colorado

This site provides detailed summaries of daily and monthly precipitation data from 1960 to the present. Summaries are provided in graphical and tabular formats. A great resource!

The NRCS PRISM Climate Mapping Project Dataset for Colorado

PRISM (Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model) was developed by Dr. Christopher Daly of Oregon State University, and is a hybrid statistical-geographic approach to mapping climate. PRISM uses point measurements of climate data and a digital elevation model (DEM, a digital, gridded version of a topographic map) to generate estimates of annual, monthly and event-based climatic elements. PRISM is not a static system of equations; rather, it is a coordinated set of rules, decisions and calculations designed to mimic the decision-making process an expert climatologist would invoke when creating a climate map. Shapefile format.

Real-time Precipitation Gages on Missionary Ridge

These gauges were installed after the Missionary Ridge Fire to warn property owners in high risk areas of impending debris flows. This site shows a shaded relief map with gauage locations. Downloadable tabular data is available for download for each of the gauages.

USGS National Drought Page

The USGS provides a lot of comparative water data on this site as a way to guage drought conditions. Current year stream flows are compared to historical streamflows. Tabular data is available for download.

Links to Other Water Resources

Colorado Drought Watch from USGS

Animas-La Plata Water Project

The Animas-La Plata Project (ALP), located in La Plata and Montezuma Counties in southwestern Colorado and in San Juan County in northwestern New Mexico, was authorized by the Colorado River Basin Project Act of September 30, 1968 (Public Law 84-485). It provided for a multi-purpose project primarily for irrigation and municipal and industrial uses.

USGS Water Resources for the US

The U.S. Geological Survey has the principal responsibility within the Federal Government to provide the hydrologic information and understanding needed by others to achieve the best use and management of the Nation's water resources.