|
|
The Eagle River drains approximately 970 square miles (sq mi) west of the Continental Divide in central Colorado before flowing into the Colorado River. The Eagle River watershed (ERW) is located primarily within Eagle County and includes the towns of Vail, Minturn, Avon, Edwards, Eagle, and Gypsum. The eastern boundary of the ERW is drained by Gore Creek, located at Vail Pass. Gore Creek flows along I-70 through the town of Vail before its confluence with the main stem Eagle River near the town of Minturn. The Eagle River continues to flow along I-70 to its western boundary near Dotsero. Increased tourism and development in Eagle County is in part due to the high mountain environment and accessible location within...
The UYRW is undergoing increasing land and water development to support growing municipal, industrial, and recreational needs. As development proceeds, there is the potential for short- and long-term changes in the quantity and quality of surface-water and groundwater resources. Water-quality data currently are stored in disparate formats among numerous Federal, State, and local agencies, private consulting firms, universities, and stakeholder groups. Development of a publically-accessible water-quality database (Data Repository) standardizes and unifies data from the numerous sources. These data can be used to assess water quality in the UYRW and develop a water-quality monitoring plan by identifying data gaps...
The Blue River drains approximately 680 square miles west of the Continental Divide in central Colorado before flowing northward into the Colorado River near Kremmling, Colorado. The Blue River watershed (BRW) is almost entirely located in Summit County and includes the towns of Breckenridge, Dillon, Frisco, Montezuma, and Silverthorne. Dillon Reservoir and Green Mountain Reservoir are major water storage facilities in the watershed. The BRW upstream from Dillon Reservoir is in the Colorado Mineral Belt, a zone of economically significant metals deposits. Hard-rock mining was the major industry in this area from 1859 through the first half of the 1900s. With the development of ski areas beginning in 1945 and the...
The Upper Gunnison River Watershed, located in the Rocky Mountains 150 miles southwest of Denver, Colorado, drains approximately 3,965 square miles. Forest and rangeland comprise 89 percent of land within the watershed, but the traditional western ranching economy is increasingly supplemented through a tourism economy centered around Crested Butte Mountain Resort and the Curecanti National Recreation area. Recreational development and population growth in recent years have the potential to affect both the quantity and quality of water.
The Roaring Fork Watershed, located in the Rocky Mountains 150 miles west of Denver, Colorado, has seen rapid development and population growth in recent years. Water-quality data for the Roaring Fork Watershed have been gathered together so that interested citizens can evaluate historical changes and current quality of stream water and well water within the watershed.
|
|
