Hydrogeology and Water Quality Studies in the Cache la Poudre Basin, Larimer and Weld Counties, Colorado

摘要

The Cache la Poudre basin, Larimer County, Colorado, provides an ideal laboratory for study and documentation of the causes and effects of water quality deterioration. It has been possible to correlate downstream changes in quality of surface water and groundwater to environmental factors including both natural and man-induced conditions. Approximately half of the basin lies in mountainous terrain on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains in northern Colorado. Here, the effects of man's activities on the movement and quality of water have been relatively minor. Applications of geophysics, analog modelling techniques and studies of clay mineralogy were used in defining the geologic framework in the basin and evaluating the effect of geology on the quality of ground water. (WRSIC abstract).