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THE DOLOREt RIVER . Its fountainhead is in Colorado's San Juan l'':ountains. and most of its basin is in the canyonlands. It parallels the Lizzard Head Pass Road to the town of Dolores. and then turns to flow N.N.W. for 187 miles to the Colorado River. Below the town of Dolores. it enters a gorge which is in many places 2)00 feet deep, and covered with large Ponderosa Pines. Many wooded glades with lush green grass by fast moving white water make excellent camosites and exceptional scenery. . Below Dove Creek the canyon becomes more desert like in appearance. The walls begin to change to red sandstone, and vegetation changes to Pinon Pine. The rugged beauty of the section between Slickrock and Bedrock is strikin~ly reminiscent of the forever- lost Glen Canyon of the Colorado River. The river leaves the canyon briefly to cross Gypsum Valley, where ma~nifi- cent vistas of the white capped La Sal Mountains contrast the desert scene. The river carves a tortuous course through the canyonlands beyond. There are impressive walls, "goosenecks", interesting side canyons, primitive cliff dwellings, and pictographs. Deer, wild burros and numerous small animals complete the wilderness scene. In no canyon of the Colorado River System is there less evidence of the hand or presence of man. --:t~ ~ ................."'""'"':>->- \ ~~ t.4,~" .. .. u~ ,~., DAM PROPOSAL THREATENS! The Bureau of Reclamation's Colorado River Basin Plan calls for damming the Dolores at multiple levels. Of most concern at the pres- ent time is the McPhee Dam Proposal, which is now in advanced planning stages. The site is eleven miles below the town of Dolores. The dam is designated for storaee for summer irri- gation. The capacity of the reservoir is about equal to the average annual discharge of water by the Dolores River. In many years this dam would virtually dry up the stream for the re- maining 180 miles of its course to the Colorado River. '-'. 'I ,~l ~ ~~ , <~~ I I I ,I 5' =l , .. ... :~:"'I,. . . "\I "If" I _ t":.,.Wrl,,, I""".'iill ~tf";r' . :,'. I~ ,r:'~I~II' AMl .......... '-.,...." II .~' ! ,... In his "DamminE_of the West", Ralph Nader commented on this pro~ectl c~~ "'.....,) ~........ "N l'il.- V'~~.. "It is hip:hly dubious that any net benefit to the Nation will accrue from this mammoth poli- tical payoff. The five projects (includinf r,jcPhee) were intended to provide water for irriFatin~ short season hi~h altitude crop- land. The inefficiency of such irrif,ation led the BuHec to find that the orojects had direct benefit-cost ratios barely exceedml~O."