Arizona State University COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF EARTH AND SPACE EXPLORATION

Streamflow: Water in the Southwest

The 4-corners region of the U.S. is a very dry region. For example, 2005 annual precipitation in Shiprock, NM, is only 6.22 inches, in Phoenix, only 7.04 inches, Canyon de Chelly, 9.53 inches, Teec Nos Pos, 6.97 inches, Albuquerque only got 11.42 inches; this compared with 50.2 inches in Atlanta, GA, or 42.60 inches in Washington, DC.

You can imagine that water is a very important quantity around the 4-corners. For planning purposes, hydrologists periodically make predictions for streamflow for rivers that are important sources for water supplies. Streamflow at a certain point on a stream is the amount (volume) of water that flows by that point in a designated time period; this is sometimes measured in cubic feet per second, or cfs, but other units for volume or time can be used. The purpose of this module is to give an idea of how streamflow might be predicted. These exercises will work through predicting Streamflow for the Animas River, part of the Colorado River System.

KM#1: Streamflow for the Animas River (Level 1)

 

KM#3: Snow Melt and Stream Flow for the Animas River(Level 2)