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24 <br />Water Analyses <br />Water samples were collected occasionally during this study from <br />various localities in the lower Gunnison River drainage. Main River <br />stations (Appendix I) were: below each of the three Curecanti dams <br />(Blue Mesa, Morrow Point and Crystal); above the North Fork junction; <br />at the Highway 50 bridge in Delta and above the Escalante Creek confluence. <br />Some additional samples (Appendix II) were procured from the other major <br />lower Gunnison River tributaries: Cimarron River, North Fork of Gunni- <br />son and the Uncompahgre River. <br />Most determinations were done by technicians at the Colorado Division <br />of Wildlife Laboratory in Fort Collins, Colorado. The pH and specific <br />conductance of the water was determined in some cases by project members <br />with meters available in Montrose and/or Fort Collins. Determinations <br />of dissolved solids, alkalinity, total hardness and sulfates were made <br />in accordance with standard methods used by the DOW laboratory in Fort <br />Collins. A Hellige turbidimeter was used to determine turbidity on some <br />of the water samples by project personnel. The low level values (ug/1) <br />determined for some of the metals in 1974 samples were analyzed by Mr. <br />Patrick Davies of the DOW Fort Collins office using atomic absorption <br />procedures on extracted samples. Other values for the metals were deter- <br />mined by laboratory technicians at Fort Collins using flame atomic <br />absorption techniques with a Perkin-Elmer Model 303 spectrophotometer. <br />Bottom Fauna Collection and Identification <br />Occasionally samples of the stream bottom fauna were taken from <br />various localities between Morrow Point Dam and the Escalante confluence <br />(Appendix III for main Gunnison River samples and Appendix IV for <br />tributary samples). At each sampling station a standard 1-sq ft Surber