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r' <br />We have not seen another floodplain area with more <br />outstanding flood functions then this area. Since the U.S. Fish <br />and Wildlife Service manages this area for waterfowl, they build <br />and maintain dikes along the river and restrict this flooding on <br />the west side of the river. <br />GeolocTy <br />The site occurs in a broad valley cut by the Green River <br />into a shale bedrock formation which outcrops on both sides of <br />the valley and most likely underlies the river as well. Due to <br />this geologic confinement groundwater input appears limited. No <br />natural surface tributaries or groundwater inputs were seen. One <br />irrigation return flow ditch occur in the southwestern portion of <br />the property and is known to contain high selenium <br />concentrations. <br />Site History <br />This site has been incorporated as the Ouray National <br />Wildlife Refuge since the 1960's. The refuge goals are the <br />creation and maintenance of habitat for migratory waterfowl. To <br />fulfill these goals, the Green River has been diked off in many <br />areas and the natural lakes and bottoms have been divided into <br />units separated from each other by berms. These units are then <br />filled with water pumped from the Green River. Flooding destroys <br />these constructed berms and all attempts are made to keep the <br />river inside of its dikes. The main managed water bodies are <br />Johnson, Leota and Sheppard Bottoms. Leota is highly managed, <br />and is the largest wetland in the study area. It's stable water <br />levels have allowed bulrush and cattail to invade, expand and <br />completely vegetate most units within Leota. Habitat diversity <br />is very limited because of the explosive expansion of these <br />extremely dominant and fast growing emergent wetland plants. <br />5 <br />