WSP02811 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

002336 The Uncompahgre River between Colona and Montrose supports trout, suckers, and fathead minnows. A large number of trout are present in the river at Montrose, but many of the trout came from the Gunnison River through the Gunnison Tunnel and the South Canal. Downstream from Montrose, the primary fish in the Uncompahgre River are carp, suckers, and roundtail chub. Two reservoirs are located in the Uncompahgre River basin. Sweitzer Lake is used by fishermen in the summer and by waterfowl hunters in the fall. The lake supports large populations of green sunfish and carp and a small popu- lation of channel catfish. Ridgway Reservoir (fig. 1) was constructed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1987 and is managed by the Colorado Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation. The reservoir supports a cold-water trout fishery and is a popular area for boating, fishing, and camping. The Federally endangered Colorado squawfish and the razorback sucker, a candidate species for listing as endangered, have been identified from the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers downstream from the Uncompahgre Project area. Those species possibly could be present upstream in the study area, but their presence has not been documented. Other endangered species, such as the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, and whooping crane, may visit the area seasonally. Bald eagles are common winter visitors and can be observed roosting near open water. Peregrine falcons are known to nest near the study area and could pass through the area while hunting or migrating. Whooping cranes pass through the area during spring and fall migration and commonly are mixed with flocks of sandhill cranes. Cranes are known to stop at small stock ponds and agricul- tural fields in the Uncompahgre Valley during their migration; however, the cranes apparently use the area only for brief periods, and there has never been a documented nesting attempt by cranes in the Uncompahgre Valley. HYDROLOGIC SETTING The hydrologic system in the study area consists of the Gunnison and Uacompahgre Rivers and their tributaries, Sweltzer Lake, the irrigation system of the Uncompahgre Project, and upstream reservoirs (figs. 1 and 3). Ground water also is a component of the hydrologic system; shallow aquifers may discharge to streams, canals, and Sweitzer Lake. Streams The Gunnison River, which drains about 8,000 miz, is formed by the confluence of the East and Taylor Rivers at Almont, flows south and then west to northwest to Delta, aad then northwest from Delta to its confluence with the Colorado River at Grand Junction (fig. 1). Headwaters of the Gunnison River are in the Elk Mountains (fig. 1). Most of the irrigated land in the study area is drained by the Uncompahgre River (fig. 2). The headwaters of the Uncompahgre River are in the San Juan Mountains south of Ouray (fig. 1); the river flows north to northwest to its confluence with the Gunnison River at Delta. The river drains 1,115 miz; about 60 percent of the drainage basin is between Colona and Delta. Stream discharge from the Uncompahgre River, part of which is 11 ~