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28 THE GREEN RIVER AN-D ITS UTILIZATION The Price River rises in the angle formed by the intersection of t] Wasatch and Vest TavaputG Plateaus and receives tributaries fro both. The main stem of the stream is formed by the junction Fish and White Creeks at Colton, a station on the Denver & R Grande Western Railroad. Its course is southeasterly through deep rugged canyon to a point within a few miles of Price, where crosses the north end of Castle Valley, and thence it flows throul, broken country near the foot of the Book Cliffs, along the sout.he boundary of the West Tavaputs Plateau, to a point within 20 mi] of the Green River, cuts through these cliffs into the Beckwi Plateau, and joins the Green a few miles above the foot of Gr Canyon, 18 miles up the river from Green River, Utah. T principal source of the perennial flow of the Price River is Fish Cre; which with its tributaries drains the wooded slopes of the Was at Plateau in the northern part of the Manti National Forest. Ma. canons cut the south slopes of the West Tavaputs Plateau and op into Price River Canyon from the north all along its course. Oth+ drain the foothills to the east of the Wasatch Plateau and the brok region to the southeast and open into the main canyon from the w and south. In some of these canyons there` are small perenn streams; others are dry most of the year. All of them, however, i subject to floods from occasional thunderstorms, which are not unto mon during the summer. Fish Creek flows almost east for about 15 miles from its soul? then swings northward and joins White Creek at Colton to form l Price River. Gooseberry and Pleasant Creeks flow into Fish CA from the south about.3 miles and 8 miles respectively from its soux The Gooseberry Creek catchment basin.is-ediacent to that of Cott wood Creek," which flows down the west slopes of the Wasa Plateau into the San Pitch River, and a portion of the water froii is diverted across the divide into Cottonwood Creek for irrigation -.n Fairview. The Mammoth Reservoir was built on Gooseberry Cr _-{ store_water for irrigation_of lands near Price, but in 1917 the d failed, and it has not been rebuilt The San Rafael River drains the region to the south of the Pa River drainage basin. It has two principal branches-Hunting _ and Cottonwood Creeks, both of which rise in the Wasatch Play These streams fall rapidly in their upper courses and leave the plid -, thipugli rugged canyons opening into Castle -Valley, a long, nag depression 'lying between the eastern escarpment of the Wash d'Iata and-the San Rafael Swell. Castle Valley is nearly 60 ` an 1r north to >sout$ 'Phe reritral portion tis drain thb tranches-Of tRe San $afael, and the northern_portion by the mNot the Cottonwood Creek that joins Hantington'Creet to form the `Ban Rarest River. 'A - C cod ( x6 is -rery corm ao the Sian where s tf4aa'oa_._?W along so many of 6w LOWER GREEN RIVER BASIN 29 River. The San Rafael tributaries cross the valley at intervals of a few miles apart and unite about 8 miles southeast of Castle Dale. From this point the main stream cuts a deep, narrow canyon through the San Rafael Swell, then flows across a low broken country to its junction with the Green. Huntington Creek is about 40 miles long. It flows in a southeast- erl•.course. to the town of Huntington, bends southward, and joins Cottonwood Creek to form the San Rafael River a short distance southeast of Castle Dale. It rises on the south and east slopes of the V-nsatch Plateau directly south of the catchment area of Gooseberry Creel:, of the Price River system. The catchment basin consists of rugged mountains ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 feet in altitude. The canyon is narrow and is bordered by broken-down' bluffs cut: by numer- ot;s ravines. 2\1nnv springs scattered over the drainage basin supply 11,11:ch of the normal low-water flow of the creek. Cottonwood Creek, which is about 34 miles long, joins Huntington Creek near Castle Dale to form the San Rafael' River. It rises in two nu in tributaries-Lowry and Seely Creeks, which come from the north and west respectively and unite about 15 miles northwest of Castle Dale. The general course of the stream is southeast. The catchment basin lies on the high slopes of the Wasatch Plateau, from which the main stream descends to Ci! tle Valley through a narrow rocky canyon oalled Straight Canyon. At the head of this canyon Lower Joes Valley serves as a collecting basin which has its outlet through the canyon. No important tributaries enter the creek below this basin. Ferron Creek is about 30 miles long and flows in a southeasterly direction to Ferron, where it makes a turn to the north and enters the San Rafael River. The catchment basin is just south of that of Cottonwood Creek and eery similar to it. The creek leaves the higher plateau region tbrough a canyon about 8 miles long and enters Castle Valley near Ferron. Beside the two major tributaries, the Price and San Rafael Rivers, there are a number-of smaller streains flowing into the. Green River in its lower basin. With few exceptions, however, they are all wet- weather streams draining a portion of the bad lands that are char- ecteristic of this region. Those streams which have a perennial flow have their sources in small springs that yield alkaline water, or the water soon becomes lk-aline because of -the abundance of soluble salts along their channels. The large3t of these-smatter streams are ?Minnie Maud or Ninemile, Jack, Florence, and Range Creeks.