Introduction to the Dolores River
The Dolores River rises near 12,500 feet elevation in the San Juan mountains of Colorado and flows 241 miles to its confluence with the Colorado River in eastern Utah. The 4,600 square mile watershed is the ancestral and modern homeland of many indigenous peoples, including the Nuchu (Ute) and others. McPhee Dam was completed in 1985, impounding McPhee Reservoir, as part of the Dolores Project, which is operated by the US Bureau of Reclamation and provides irrigation water to farmers in the neighboring San Juan River basin.
Dolores River Adaptive Management Support (DRAMS) Project
A team of FLC faculty and students, in collaboration with several partners, are working on a 5-year monitoring effort to understand how Dolores River channel below McPhee Reservoir is responding to changes in streamflow and sediment. For more information about this collaborative effort, explore the story map below or visit the story map site here.
The protocol for the 5-year geomorphic and vegetation monitoring effort is a living document and can be explored here.