Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park comprises fourteen of the steepest and narrowest miles of the forty-eight-mile-long canyon in southwest Colorado. Some organism’s growth and maturity time is sped up to a mere 36 hours to allow for reproduction to ensure a continuation of the species. The Gunnison River is formed by the confluence of Taylor and East rivers at Almont in eastern Gunnison County. [14][15] Critical habitat for these species includes the lower Gunnison River. [25] Effects of high selenium concentrations in fish include reduced oxygenation rates and lowered total energy capacity used for movement and reproduction, with fitness consequences for migratory fish such as the Colorado pikeminnow. Monolithic walls of ebony schist, slashed by veins of granite, and carved to depths of more than 2,000 feet tell the tale of 2 million years of the mighty Gunnison relentlessly churning through mountains of stone. [7], Contamination of the Gunnison River with selenium and mercury results from irrigation of high-selenium soils derived from the Mancos Shale and from mineral mining. As the road is currently configured, motorists have to reduce their speeds to negotiate tight corners and cannot see far ahead. Autumn in Gunnison, Colorado is a special time for anglers. After being named America’s Most Endangered River® in 1991 and returning to the list at No. Learn more about the Colorado River in this article. Colorado River, major river of North America, rising in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, U.S., and flowing generally west and south for 1,450 miles (2,330 kilometers) into the Gulf of California in northwestern Mexico. It falls about 655 m (2,150 ft) from the canyon head at Sapinero to the mouth at the junction with North Fork, a distance of just 80 km (50 miles). Exploration reports and published maps of the 1850s and 1860s most commonly referred to the river as the Grand River. In the 1930's President Herbert Hoover designated the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River a national monument in order to protect "the roar of the river. In 2008 the Black Canyon Decree was passed which resolved legal disputes over water resources in Colorado and protect the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. [22] Agricultural areas in the Gunnison River Basin are heavily farmed and provide large amounts of sediment during the growing months. Once the route deposited us down by the roiling green Gunnison River. The Gunnison River is one of the major tributaries of the Colorado River – the principal water supply for many in the southwestern US. Gunnison shines in the winter, as well. At the time the Spanish name for the river was Rio de San Javier (Xavier); the Native American name was Tomichi. Three dams operated by the Bureau of Reclamation just upstream from the park have severely altered the natural flow of the river. The purpose of the Little Blue Canyon Project is to make the highway safer through a steep, narrow section where the roadway enters a canyon to climb out of the Gunnison River watershed and into the Cimarron River Valley. [26], Mercury in the Gunnison River comes from human activities including surface mining and burning fossil fuels such as coal. The Great Escape in Gunnison … The region surround the Gunnison River is also part of the Colorado Mineral Belt. Parts of the Black Canyon are non-navigable by any sort of craft because of giant cataracts. Please keep in mind, if you catch a rainbow trout you must release it immediately; do not bag it. It then empties out of the Dominguez Canyon into the Colorado River at Grand Junction, where some years it rivals the Colorado River for equal volume. But the actual cutting of the canyon started perhaps a scant 2 million years ago. When irrigators transport water to and through their farms in open canals, selenium dissolves in the water and either percolates into groundwater or gets carried into drainage ditches that discharge into the Gunnison. Fish and Wildlife Service", "Selenium Distribution for Soils Derived from Mancos Shale in Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basins, West-Central Colorado", "Assessment of dissolved-selenium concentrations and loads in the Lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, as part of the Selenium Management Program, 2011–17", "Prediction of Areas Where Irrigation Drainage May Induce Selenium Contamination of Water", "Selenium Concentrations in the Colorado Pikeminnow (, "Selenium Effects on Endangered Fish in the Colorado River Basin", "Field Assessment of Colorado pikeminnow Exposure to Mercury Within Its Designated Critical Habitat in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico", "The chemical cycle and bioaccumulation of mercury", "Long-term mark-recapture monitoring of a Colorado pikeminnow Ptychocheilus lucius population: assessing recovery progress using demographic trends", "Salinity & Selenium Control | Colorado Basin Roundtable", "Gunnison River, with elevated selenium levels, faces review for reclassification", "Salinity Control in the Gunnison and Colorado River Basins", "EPA awards Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment $1,170,000 to improve water quality in the Lower Arkansas and Lower Gunnison River basins", "Gunnison River Information and Fishing Report", International Boundary and Water Commission, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gunnison_River&oldid=1001425458, Tributaries of the Colorado River in Colorado, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, USGS Station 09152500 GUNNISON RIVER NEAR GRAND JUNCTION, CO, This page was last edited on 19 January 2021, at 16:47. For now though, the resilient river endures. PMD's, Yellow Sallies, caddis, annelids and sow bugs. In subsequent years, however, the river was renamed for U.S. Army Captain John W. Gunnison of the Topographic Engineers, who was ambushed and killed by Pahvant Utes while mapping a trail west in Utah Territory in 1853. According to a progress report from 2019, the Gunnison Basin Selenium Management Program continues its efforts to “develop and implement a Selenium Management Program (SMP), in cooperation with the State of Colorado and Gunnison River basin water users to reduce adverse effects of selenium on endangered fish species in the Gunnison and Colorado rivers."[13]. Mountain Meadow Restoration in California, Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care Products in Our Water, Integrated Water Management Resource Center, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The Gunnison River is one of the last major sub-basins in Colorado that has not been diverted to provide water to ballooning Front Range communities, marking it as a potential target for the future. A major diversion out of the basin would have severe impact on fish, wildlife, agriculture and a growing recreation economy. The river starts in the mountains north of Grand Junction, Colorado, gets drained right away into various canals, and what's left runs from there into a … [36] In addition, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund has awarded the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment almost $13 million dollars for future research and development along with pollution control and mitigation attempts. When irrigators transport water to and through their farms in open canals, selenium dissolves in the water and either percolates into groundwater or gets carried into drainage ditches that discharge into the Gunnison. 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