9520 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

INTRODUCTION The White River drains 13,260 km2 in northwest Colorado and northeastern Utah and is the second largest tributary entering the Green River. As with most intermountain rivers of the west, the hydrology of the White River is characterized by high spring flows caused by runoff from snow melt followed by low, relatively stable, base flows between August and February. Compared to many western rivers, water depletions from the White River have been minor, approximately 5% of the annual basin yield (Lenstch et al. 2000). Although the hydrology of the White River is relatively unaltered, a mainstem impoundment, Taylor Draw Dam, was constructed in 1985 near Rangely, Colorado, at river mile (RM) 105. Although Taylor Draw Dam is a barrier to upstream fish passage, the dam operates under the guidelines ofa Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permit requiring "run of the river" management. Under this management, the water volume leaving the reservoir must equal the volume entering the reservoir, with minor adjustments permitted for minimal electrical generation (Ann Brady, Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District, personal communication). Thus, the water yield and hydrograph ofthe White River have not been greatly altered. As part of the Recovery Implementation Program for the Endangered Fishes of the Upper Colorado River Basin (RIP), instream flow requirements for endangered fishes need to be determined. . In the Green River system, recommendations for the mainstem were defined by Muth et al. (1999), and for the Yampa River by Modde et al. (1999), and recommendations for the Duchesne and Price rivers are currently being reviewed by the RIP. This study was conducted in tandem with the accompanying study by Schmidt and Orchard (2002), "Geomorphic analysis in 1