Rio Blanco Restoration Project
The Rio Blanco River originates in the San Juan Mountain range in southwestern Colorado, flows through Archuleta County and eventually enters the San Juan River approximately ten miles south of Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The headwaters of the Rio Blanco are located on the San Juan National Forest and the river can be seen from US Highway 84, between Pagosa Springs, CO and Chama, NM. Approximately 6 miles upstream from the US Highway 84 bridge across the Rio Blanco, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) operates a major trans-basin diversion, known as the San Juan/Chama Project. Since 1971, the San Juan/Chama Project has diverted water through a series of pipelines into the Rio Grande Basin. In the 1996-97 water year, the total project diversions (from various diversion points) totaled 93,000 acre feet of water. For the Rio Blanco, the diversions represent 70% of the historical flows. These reduced flows may cause poor water quality conditions and a reduction in fishery habitats. A report prepared by the US Forest Service (1990) suggests that the fish habitat in the lower Rio Blanco is poor due to the flow fluctuations which have resulted in streambank erosion and sediment loading. The streambank erosion, coupled with the reduction in flow, has caused relatively high water temperatures and produced a wide, shallow streambed with very little pool habitat and cover to support a coldwater fishery.
The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), in cooperation with local private property owners, the San Juan Water Conservancy District, and various state and federal agencies have been working together in a cooperative effort to improve and restore the streambed habitat along the lower Rio Blanco. Research since 1964 by various state and federal agencies has detailed 'pre-diversion' conditions, present hydrology and proposed solutions to improve the lower Rio Blanco habitat.
The focus of the lower Rio Blanco Habitat Restoration Project has been the 9 mile each of the Rio Blanco above its confluence with the San Juan River. Specifically, the demonstration restoration project is located just below the US Highway 84 bridge and encompasses about 2.1 miles of stream, terminating near the mouth of Archuleta Canyon. Fishery data would indicate that the lower Rio Blanco supported a fair to moderate fishery prior to the operation of the USBR in 1971. The purpose of the project is to modify the river channel to restore the fishery and river habitat. Concurrently, CWCB and the Colorado Division of Water Resources are working with the USBR to develop an operations plan that would assist in maintaining the state's in-stream flow water rights on the Rio Blanco, while ensuring the San Juan/Chama Project water yield. The ultimate goal of the project participants is improve the water quality and restore fishery benefits along the entire reach of the Rio Blanco from the US Highway 84 bridge to its confluence with the San Juan River.
Once the demonstration project is completed continued project phases will be highly dependent on future funding, continued commitment from participating agencies and ongoing local support for the river restoration project.
For more information, please contact:
Dan Merriman, (303) 866-3441
Colorado Water Conservation Board
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, CO 80203
Jack DeLange, (970) 731-2691
San Juan Water Conservancy District
Post Office Box 4632
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
Lynn Herkenhoff, (970) 247-1302
Southwestern Water Conservation District
Post Office Box 475
Durango, CO 81302