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rado River near Cisco, Utah) indicated a decrease in
<br />dissolved-solids load associated with initiation of the Alva
<br />B. Adams Tunnel/Lake Granby exports, and annual mono-
<br />tonic trends indicated a recent decrease in median annual
<br />flow-adjusted dissolved-solids concentration, which may be
<br />related to the trends in the Eagle and Gunnison Rivers.
<br />Green Region
<br />Most of the flow of the Green River in the Green region
<br />originates on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains in
<br />Colorado and Wyoming. The drainage area of the Green
<br />region is about 45,000 mil and occupies parts of Colorado,
<br />Wyoming, and Utah (pl. 1). The Green region contains about
<br />41 percent of the total drainage area of the Upper Colorado
<br />River Basin and contributes 39 percent of the streamflow and
<br />34 percent of the dissolved-solids load. Compared to the
<br />streamflow at Lees Ferry, Ariz., water of the Green region
<br />has relatively high concentrations of dissolved magnesium
<br />and bicarbonate and low concentrations of dissolved chloride,
<br />resulting from the predominance of Tertiary rocks. The major
<br />tributaries in the Green region are the New Fork, Big Sandy,
<br />Yampa, Duchesne, White, Price, and San Rafael Rivers, and
<br />the Blacks Fork and Henrys Fork.
<br />Data for 36 sites were evaluated in the Green region
<br />(pl. 1). Long-term mean annual runoff, streamflow,
<br />dissolved-solids concentrations and loads, and major-
<br />constituent loads were determined at each of these sites
<br />(table 7). The chemical composition of streamflow at selected
<br />sites in the Green region is shown in figure 14. Selected
<br />annual monotonic-trend-analysis results for the Green region
<br />are listed in table 8. For purposes of discussion, the Green
<br />region was divided into four subregions: the upper Green,
<br />the middle Green, the White, and the lower Green (pl. 1).
<br />Upper Green Subregion
<br />The upper Green subregion includes all of the drainage
<br />area upstream from the streamflow-gaging station on the
<br />Green River near Greendale, Utah, exclusive of the Great
<br />Divide basin. The major drainages in the upper Green
<br />subregion include the New Fork and Big Sandy Rivers, and
<br />Blacks Fork, Hams Fork, and Henrys Fork and tributaries.
<br />About 200,000 acres is irrigated upstream from La Barge,
<br />Wyo., including large tracts along the Green River in the
<br />vicinity of Pinedale, Wyo., along the New Fork River
<br />(62,000 acres), and in the Piney Creek basin. A number of
<br />small reservoirs store water in the New Fork River basin.
<br />The Big Sandy River begins in the southern Wind River
<br />Range, in central Wyoming, but most of its drainage basin
<br />is very arid. The Eden Valley Project to supply irrigation
<br />water was begun in 1950 and completed in 1960. Some
<br />20,000 acres is irrigated in the basin, and water is stored
<br />in Big Sandy and Eden Valley Reservoirs. The average grow-
<br />ing season lasts only 90 days. The agricultural area is
<br />underlain by the Laney Member of the Green River Forma-
<br />tion. Shallow aquifers annually discharge an estimated
<br />116,000 tons of dissolved solids from saline seeps into the
<br />Big Sandy River (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1985).
<br />About 76,000 acres is irrigated in the Blacks Fork
<br />basin. The basin contains numerous reservoirs. The largest
<br />is Viva Naughton Reservoir on Hams Fork, with a capacity
<br />of about 42,000 acre-ft. Most of the irrigated land is on the
<br />Blacks Fork and Smiths Fork, upstream from site 31. About
<br />9,000 acres is irrigated in the Henrys Fork basin, which con-
<br />tains numerous small lakes and reservoirs. In the Blacks Fork
<br />and Henrys Fork basins, irrigation is on alluvium underlain
<br />by the Tertiary Bridger Formation.
<br />Fontenelle Reservoir, on the Green River between the
<br />towns of La Barge and Fontenelle, Wyo., was built to pro-
<br />vide storage for irrigation water; however, the purpose of
<br />the reservoir was changed to supply water for the anticipated
<br />energy development in the area. The reservoir has inundated
<br />outcrops of the Laney Member and the Wilkins Peak Member
<br />of the Green River Formation. In 1960, substantial deposits
<br />of trona (sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate) were
<br />found in the area later inundated by the reservoir. In 1983,
<br />the reservoir was drained because of concern caused by
<br />observations of unstable conditions, including seepage around
<br />the left abutment caused by cavernous dissolution.
<br />Flaming Gorge Reservoir was completed in 1964 and
<br />has a capacity of 3.8 million acre-ft. It is the second largest
<br />reservoir in the Upper Colorado River Basin and is located
<br />on the Green River between Green River, Wyo., and Green-
<br />dale, Utah. Filling began in November 1962, and very little
<br />water was released from the reservoir during the 1963 water
<br />year. The reservoir was two-thirds full by the end of 1965,
<br />but it did not reach 90 percent of capacity until 1972. Flam-
<br />ing Gorge Reservoir also has inundated outcrops of the Laney
<br />Member of the Green River Formation. A chemocline
<br />developed during the first few years of operation, produc-
<br />ing a stable saline layer in the bottom of the reservoir. The
<br />chemocline began to diminish following the conversion to
<br />a selective withdrawal operation in 1978 (Miller and others,
<br />1983). During the high-flow year of 1983, the low gates were
<br />opened, and the saline water was flushed out of the reservoir.
<br />Green River at Warren Bridge, near Daniel, Wyo. (site 22)
<br />The streamflow hydrograph for site 22 (table 3, pl. 1)
<br />shows a well-defined snowmelt-runoff peak during June and
<br />a period of steady base flow (fig. 15A). The predominant
<br />ions are calcium and bicarbonate during the snowmelt-runoff
<br />season and calcium and sulfate during the base-flow season.
<br />Mean annual runoff averages 15.3 in., and the mean annual
<br />flow-weighted dissolved-solids concentration is 147 mg/L
<br />(table 7). During 1962-82, annual monotonic-trend analyses
<br />indicated a significant decrease in median annual dissolved-
<br />solids load of 615 tons/yr (table 8), mostly as a result of
<br />decreases in dissolved calcium and bicarbonate. During the
<br />Upper Green Subregion 33
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