With the onset of warm weather, field work activities in the watershed have really ramped up over the past month.  Both Berkeley Lab staff and our DOE-funded University and USGS cohort have been working at multiple sites to quantify the consequences of early snowmelt on ET tied to the manipulation experiments, install sap flow sensors on multiple tree species at multiple sites, examine shale bedrock properties, measure stream discharge and build new rating curves, and much, much more.  Additionally, members of the SLAC “Groundwater Quality” SFA — led by PI John Bargar — have greatly ramped up their research footprint in the Slate River valley.  We look forward to hearing an update from John this fall on their research progress.

Stream flows are now sufficiently low as to make wading and working within the stream corridor safe.  That said, workers crossing and working in streams are reminded to exercise care and to wear appropriate gear, such as waders, wading boots, and hiking pole(s).  A virtual site visit can be found here of my recent trip to the large, off-channel wetland complex upstream of the Pumphouse.  This site has been an important testbed for the DOE-funded research project led by Marty Briggs (USGS) and his co-investigators Fred Day-Lewis (USGS) and Lee Slater (Rutgers Univ.).  Marty will update us on this work during next week’s call.

Road access to Schofield Pass from Gothic via Emerald Lake is still not possible given persistence of the snow plug.  Access to the Paradise Divide and our alpine study site on Cinnamon Mountain is possible, however, lingering snow in the Paradise Basin and the approach to Schofield Pass from the north is still preventing vehicular travel at last report.  Below are two beautiful shots of Paradise Basin and the mineralized faces of Mt. Baldy and Cinnamon Mountain courtesy of Rosemary Carroll (DRI).

Wildflower season is at or near peak at many locations within the watershed.  For those who have recently been at East River or will be soon, it’s a glorious time to be working at the site.
With the flowers come the arrival of the nuisance flies, which aren’t a problem if you’re actively moving or it’s windy.  If it’s calm or you’re working in one place, I recommend lightweight, long-sleeve shirts and pants and possibly face netting.  We have had one instance in the past where bites from these flies triggered an allergic reaction, so definitely be mindful of their potential impact while you’re working.

The US Forest Service (USFS) has released a vegetation management plan for the Taylor River Basin that may be of considerable interest to members of our Science Community.  The plan can be found here and it may represent a strategic opportunity for catchment scientists on our extended team to investigate the impacts of forest management practices on flows of water and nutrients.  Interested individuals should feel free to reach out to me and I’m happy to help make arrangements to speak with USFS staff in person or remotely.  This could be a strategically important opportunity given our team’s current expansion into the Taylor River Basin tied to the NASA Airborne Snow Observatory data being collected there, as well as work led by David Gochis (NCAR) that he will describe during next Tuesday’s call.

Working with the USGS Colorado Water Science Center, we have submitted the Gunnison River Basin as one of four HUC-4 basins that headwater in the state as possible candidates for the next USGS Next-Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS).  The other candidate basins include the Colorado River main stem, the San Juan, and the upper Rio Grande.  The NGWOS program is designed to “provide high-fidelity, real-time data on water quantity and quality necessary to support modern water prediction and decision support systems for water emergencies and daily water operations” with the first NGWOS basin being the Delaware River. Should one of the Colorado basins be chosen, it would represent an excellent opportunity for further engagement between our Science Community, the two DOE SFA programs, and our University colleagues to participate in an important USGS-led national effort.  I will keep this group updated on the selection process as it proceeds.

Vehicular access to Snodgrass Mountain is currently not allowed.  RMBL is currently sorting out land ownership and access issues for the road used for servicing the RMBL weather station at the top of the mountain.  While this road has been used by our group in the past to ferry heavy equipment and would be needed for any future drilling activities in 2020 and beyond, no vehicular access is allowed until further notice.  Per my last message to the group, all Snodgrass research plans and activities must be clearly communicated with ample notice to Jennie Reithel (RMBL) and myself.

Restrictions are now in place for the Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) parking lot at their maintenance & operations building.  This lot is where our team parks, stages, and drives through en route to the Pumphouse site.  Outside of normal business hours for CBMR, which run 7 days a week, a locked red gate may now block vehicular access to Pumphouse.  Tied to our Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with CBMR, I do have the gate code and will provide it to those staff working at the Pumphouse site outside of normal business hours.  Please contact me in advance if there’s a likely need to work at times when the gate may be locked.  Note that with the recent purchase of CBMR by Vail Resorts, I am currently renewing the MOA and will plan to leave hard copies of it at the SFA Red Lady House for personnel to keep in their vehicles when accessing the site.  We’ve not had any issues to date, and I’d like to keep it that way given the importance of CBMR as a local stakeholder.

Field work activities have started to ramp up considerably within the watershed having been delayed by a cool, wet spring and persistent high elevation snow. The rivers in the greater East River watershed continue to run very high and cold and “in stream” work is still considered extremely hazardous and should be avoided for at least another couple of weeks.

To get a sense of the current river conditions at the Pumphouse and specifically “Meander A” you’ll find a July 1st Virtual Site Visit here:

Recent emails to the group and the last Science Community call highlighted the significant avalanche activity this winter / spring in the Elk Mountains. While some of you have now personally seen the outcome of such slides in the vicinity of Gothic and the Judd Falls trailhead, I wanted to share a drone video of debris associated with a truly massive avalanche on the north-facing side of the Elk Mountains in the Conundrum Creek drainage. For those with an interest in avalanches and forest (re)structuring, this video really highlights the connection between the two. It also presents the value of forward-thinking engineering design in avalanche country. Very impressive.

For our long-standing Rifle community members, I wanted to pass along a recent story in the New York Times that highlights some of the recent work of Prof. Derek Lovley’s lab. It’s quite well done and it’s great to see that work highlighted nationally. Derek and his partners from Innosense, LLC are currently engaged at East River tied to a DOE SBIR project developing novel biosensors, so the NYTimes piece is both timely and a nice way to remind the Science Community of his ongoing role in the watershed.

Lastly, I wanted to send a reminder about the critical importance of running field experimental plans through both Jennie Reithel the RMBL Science Director, and myself well in advance of undertaking them. While we’ve generally done a good job with this, it’s imperative to remember that should your planned field dates shift, you need to notify Jennie (and myself) of this shift, as it may impact other field projects or overlap with periods of time in the East River that are heavily impacted by tourists etc. This is especially true this year, as persistent snow in the high country is consolidating visitors to a handful of lower elevation sites, such as Snodgrass. Our Science Community is part of a much bigger community of East River stakeholders — including local citizens and visitors — and we need to be cognizant of how our activities are perceived beyond just our immediate team. Jennie is a critical component for ensuring we present the best version of ourselves as scientists to this broader community, so again please do run all planned field activities through her in advance and notify her of dates changes in your plans should they occur.

As it’s been some time since my last email update with news, updates, and safety reminders, I wanted to get a condensed version out as we move into the busy field season.

• Following what was a big snow year for Colorado and Crested Butte, we’ve had a relatively cold and wet May that has suppressed melt and runoff.  From a water perspective, this is very good news, with the exception of runoff forecasting, which has been hampered by the unseasonably cool weather.  From a field access perspective, however, it’s proving to be challenging.  We anticipate that the County Road out to Gothic will be open soon, although vehicular access won’t be possible past RMBL for the foreseeable future.  Those with field sites upstream of Gothic will need to be prepared to hike, ski, snowshoe, as warranted.
• We successfully completed the first Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO) flight of the year during the so-called “Peak Snow Water Equivalent” period in early April.  For those who haven’t yet enjoyed the opportunity to dig snow pits tied to these ASO overflights, I wanted to provide two short “virtual site visits” depicting both pit digging and snow sampling.  I hope you enjoy and can envision yourselves helping out next year!  A second ASO flight is being used to evaluate regions of preferential snow retention within the Ohio Creek-East River-Taylor River study area; it’s planned for this Sunday-Monday (weather allowing).
• Snow conditions at the higher elevations are still quite deep for this time of year.  Indeed, for those with field sites at higher elevations, access will be challenging for quite a while to come. Courtesy of Wendy and Tony Brown, photos of current conditions at the Lower Subalpine and Upper Subalpine field sites along the Washington Gulch elevation gradient will give you a virtual sense of what can be expected if you’re planning to head up soon.  For those on Kate Maher’s (Stanford) team, it might be worth looking at those from the Upper Subalpine site, as that’s the approach area for your Rock Creek study area.
• Snow conditions at the two SNOTEL stations (Butte and Schofield) tell a similar story.  Below is a very nice figure prepared by Rosemary Carroll that depicts a variety of recent snow years for comparison with 2019 along with corresponding river discharge for the East River at Almont.  The aforementioned cool, wet weather in May has suppressed runoff of late; however, a lot of snow-bound water remains, and if we get a sustained warm up period, this melt could make for some very abrupt increases in discharge and flooding / over-banking along the river bottoms.
• Related to these large increases in discharge, please use EXTREME caution when working along the river corridor.  Indeed, unless absolutely essential and your training permits working within the river during the rising and falling limbs of the hydrograph, please stay out of the rivers at this time.  Given her depth of knowledge and involvement with the stream gauging network, please reach out to Rosemary Carroll (Rosemary.Carroll@dri.edu) should you have specific questions about river conditions and whether access is (un)safe.
• In April, we had an exciting field deployment of a novel electrochemical monitoring system performed as part of DOE’s Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program.  The project, led by Dr. Don Nuzzio, is described more fully in this new “Meet the Scientist” video.  In brief, it uses a submerged electrode system to electrochemically quantify a variety of aqueous metals and compounds in various streams within the watershed.
• Field teams from the SLAC SFA led by John Bargar are currently in the field.  Additionally, various members of our collaborating groups from Stanford, UMASS, Univ. Illinois – Chicago, and elsewhere are arriving daily and starting up the field work season.  Stay safe, warm, and dry out there folks!
• With the incredible help of Chelsea Wilmer, Amanda Henderson, and Tony Brown, we’ve had tremendous success this year with the early snowmelt manipulation experiments.  Snowmelt tarps have been removed at both the Lower and Upper Montane sites with significant advancement of the first snow-free day at both locations.  The tarps are still deployed at the Lower Subalpine site with roughly 40-50 cm of snow still remaining underneath the tarped areas; un-tarped control areas have 100 cm remaining.  Tarps have yet to be deployed at the Upper Subalpine site given >240 cm of snow still remaining at that elevation.
• As food for thought, I wanted to share a well-produced, short video describing ranching-related research activities pursued by the Archbold Biological Station (Florida) at their Buck Island Ranch   Along with my fellow RMBL Board members, I had the opportunity to visit Buck Island recently and I couldn’t have been more inspired by their studies investigating the many positive benefits of well managed land use on both hydrologic and biogeochemical processes.  Given the strong legacy of ranching and irrigated agriculture in the East River and Ohio Creek drainages, the Buck Island model might potentially represent an interesting one with which to engage local ranchers in our watershed.  For those with an interest in such topics or with faculty friends working in this space, I might suggest reaching out to myself and Ian Billick (ibillick@gmail.com), Executive Director of RMBL.
• Lastly, I wanted to share a photo forwarded to me yesterday by Rosemary that highlights the beauty of the site this time of year.  It was taken by Connor Scalbom, who is doing some amazing photographic work in the valley.