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<br />Section 3 <br />Physical Environment of the Rio Grande Basin <br />IJ 1111 <br /> <br />laden waters (including dissolved aluminum, copper, <br />iron, manganese, and zinc) into the Wightman Fork of <br />the Alamosa River, significantly impacting aquatic life <br />downstream of the mine for many miles. CDPHE is <br />overseeing a project, begun in 1999, to revegetate the <br />mine site and improve stormwater controls (CDPHE <br />2002). Other areas that have been impacted from mining <br />include Willow Creek near Creede, Kerber Creek above <br />Bonanza, and the Conejos River within the Platoro <br />mining district (CDPHE 2000). <br /> <br />3.2.9 Areas of Environmental Concern <br />, <br /> <br />Special Attention Areas, and <br />Threatened and Endangered <br />Species <br /> <br />In addition to the acid mine drainage due to closed or <br />abandoned mines, threatened and endangered species <br />and areas of high environmental or recreational value <br />require special attention when evaluating water supply <br />projects and water use in the basin. For a complete list of <br />federal and/or state listed threatened and endangered <br />fish and other species in the Rio Grande Basin, see <br />Appendix C in the SWSI Report. <br /> <br />CDIVI <br /> <br />3-4 <br /> <br />Figure 3-8 shows the locations of some of the basin's <br />key aquatic species habitat. <br /> <br />An area with high recreational value in the Rio Grande <br />Basin that has been designated as a Gold Medal fishery <br />is the reach of the Rio Grande from the Highway 149 <br />Bridge at South Fork downstream to the Rio Grande <br />Canal diversion structure at Del Norte. <br /> <br />Other areas of high recreational value in the basin, <br />including the Great Sand Dunes National Park and the <br />Weminuche Wilderness, are discussed Section 6. <br /> <br />3.2.10 Energy and Mineral Resources <br /> <br />There are no hydroloelectric plants in the Rio Grande <br />Basin. Like many of Colorado's mountainous areas, <br />portions of the basin were historically mined heavily in <br />search of the area's vast mineral resources. These <br />historic mining activities continue to have water quality <br />implications today in areas such as the Town of Creede. <br /> <br />S:\1177\Basin Reports\Rio Grande\S3_Rio Grande.doc <br />