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Last modified
7/14/2009 5:02:33 PM
Creation date
5/20/2009 10:24:41 AM
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UCREFRP
UCREFRP Catalog Number
8157
Author
Pitlick, J., M. V. Steeter, B. Barkett, R. Cress and M. Franseen.
Title
Geomorphology and Hydrology of the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers and Implications for Habitats Used by Endangered Fishes.
USFW Year
1999.
USFW - Doc Type
\
Copyright Material
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Natural streamflows of the Colorado River and Gunnison River are affected by many dams and <br />diversions upstream. The dams in the upper Colorado River basin are not large in comparison to <br />dams such as Glen Canyon or Flaming Gorge- the total volume of water stored in reservoirs in the <br />upper basin is equal to only about half of the average annual streamflow at the Colorado-Utah state <br />line. However, the reservoirs in the upper Colorado River basin are near the source of runoff, and <br />they alter the annual hydrograph significantly (we pursue this point later; see also Liebermann et <br />al., 1989). The Colorado River and Gunnison River carry moderately high sediment loads of 105 <br />to 10' metric tons per year (Elliot and DeFeyter, 1986). Most of this sediment is deri ved from the <br />soft shale and sandstone formations that underlie much of western Colorado and eastern Utah <br />(Iorns et al., 1965; Liebermann et al., 1989). This area is drained by a handfull of relatively small, <br />mostly unregulated tributaries which join the main-stem channels downstream from the upper basin <br />reservoirs. The Colorado River and Gunnison River thus both have two separate sources of <br />runoff and sediment: most of the runoff is derived from high elevation basins underlain by resistant <br />crystalline rocks, and most of the sediment is derived from low elevation basins underlain by <br />erodible sedimentary rocks. In typical years the water and sediment are delivered out of phase, <br />resulting in higher suspended sediment concentrations on the rising limb of the hydrograph than on <br />the falling limb. This has probably always been the case, but streamflows are now regulated, <br />whereas sediment inputs are not (we pursue the implications of this in more detail later). <br />Our detailed studies of channel change and sediment transport focus on a 90-km reach of the upper <br />Colorado River between Palisade, CO and Westwater, UT (Fig. 2). This reach has been important <br />historically to the Colorado squawfish, and it marks the upstream limit of their range in the main <br />stem of the Colorado River. The study area is further subdivided into three contiguous subreaches: <br />The 15-mile reach extends from the eastern end of the Grand Valley, near Palisade, CO, to the <br />confluence with the Gunnison River in Grand Junction; the 18-mile reach covers the next 29 km of <br />river from the confluence with the Gunnison River to the western end of the Grand Valley, near <br />Loma, CO; and the Ruby-Horsethief Canyon reach extends another 39 km downstream from <br />Loma, CO to Westwater, UT (Fig. 2). <br />109°00' 108°30' <br />39°15 <br />39°00' <br /> DeBeque • <br /> <br />? a <br />g Grand Junction Study Area <br />a <br />5i9 70 <br />i U 9095500 <br /> 200 <br />i <br /> <br />140 Loma <br />• <br />1 <br /> <br />8°a Ru'6yCanyc)nS 190 <br />Palisade <br />9163500 <br /> <br />0°` <br />Westwater 13 7B <br /> <br />R <br />Grand <br />180 185 <br />1 W StudySitas ?h Junction Peace <br />70 <br />' <br />, o USGS Gauging Stations 170 ecd? <br />1 <br />P <br />0 <br />000 <br />0? 1 2s km <br />1 1 F 'i??l 175 <br />0` <br />eo o 1 20 m °n?o' 9152500 <br /> 9 9 <br />109°00' <br />108°30' <br />Figure 2. Detailed map showing study reaches near Grand Junction, Colorado. <br />3el5 <br />39°00' <br />5
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