Colorado River Basin Natural Flow and Salt Data

This documentation supports the Current Natural Flow and Salt Data for the Colorado River found on this web site.

NOTE: Several of these files are extremely large, and are best accessed by downloading before reading. To do so, "right click" on the link and select "Save Target As" to save the file to your hard drive.

Natural Flow and Salt Data Index

Current Natural Flow and Salt Data
      Documentation
      Natural Flow Supporting Data
      Natural Salt Supporting Data

Previous Natural Flow and Salt Data
1971-2018
  • Historical total dissolved salt data (Excel, 2.7 MB) as computed by the USGS. The SLOAD program (PDF, 3.5 MB) used by the US Geological Survey provides continuous total dissolved solids data based on continuous EC and multiple grab samples.

  • Annual salt load (tons) contributed by the irrigated agriculture as provided by previous studies. Reclamation is actively exploring the origination of these data and research has begun to improve these estimates. Further information regarding this work is available from the Water Quality Group of the Upper Colorado Regional Office.

  • Monthly salt load (tons) removed by exports are calculated as the historic diversion times a representative concentration for each individual diversion. Further information is available from the Water Quality Group of the Upper Colorado Regional Office.


Contact: bcoowaterops@usbr.gov
Last Updated: 15NOV2022