Gunnison River
| Gunnison River | ||
 The Gunnison River |
||
| Data | ||
| Water code | US : 201748 | |
| location | Colorado (USA) | |
| River system | Colorado River | |
| Drain over | Colorado River → Gulf of California | |
| origin | The confluence of the East River and Taylor River at Almont in Gunnison County 38 ° 39 ′ 49 ″ N , 106 ° 50 ′ 50 ″ W |
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| Source height | 2442 m | |
| muzzle | in the Colorado River coordinates: 39 ° 3 '42 " N , 108 ° 34' 42" W 39 ° 3 '42 " N , 108 ° 34' 42" W. |
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| Mouth height | 1389 m | |
| Height difference | 1053 m | |
| Bottom slope | 3.6 ‰ | |
| length | 290 km | |
| Catchment area | 20,535 km² | |
| Drain |
MQ |
122 m³ / s |
| Left tributaries | Tomichi Creek , Lake Fork Gunnison River, Cimarron River , Uncompahgre River | |
| Right tributaries | Smith Fork, North Fork Gunnison River | |
| Reservoirs flowed through | Blue Mesa Reservoir , Morrow Point Reservoir , Crystal Reservoir | |
| Small towns | Gunnison , Grand Junction | |
 The Gunnison River at dusk in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park |
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The Gunnison River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the US state of Colorado . Its length is about 290 km. The catchment area of the Gunnison River covers 20,535 km². In terms of average outflow, it is the fifth largest tributary of the Colorado River.
course
The Gunnison River is formed by the confluence of the East River and Taylor River near Almont in Gunnison County . It then flows westward through the 20 km long Blue Mesa Reservoir , Morrow Point Reservoir and Crystal Reservoir , which together form the Curecanti National Recreation Area and lie in the upper part of the canyon that gave the national park its name. The three reservoirs are used to generate electricity using hydropower . From Cimarron on, the Gunnison River follows a northwesterly direction through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Gunnison Gorge.
East of Montrose , part of the river water is diverted to irrigate the Uncompahgre Valley . For this, the 8 km long Gunnison Tunnel was built between 1905 and 1909, which was included in the list of National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as a unique engineering achievement of its time and is recorded in the National Register of Historic Places .
At the confluence of the Gunnison River near Grand Junction with the Colorado River, it carries almost as much water as the Colorado River itself.
The width of the Gunnison River varies from 30 to 300 meters and the depth varies between one and fifteen meters. The strong current and many rapids make a trip upstream almost impossible. However, the river can be navigated along its entire length with small vehicles, although individual sections are not passable due to the rapids.
The left tributaries include: Tomichi Creek (near Gunnison), Lake Fork (in the Blue Mesa Reservoir), Uncompahgre River (near Delta), Escalante Creek, Big Dominguez Creek.
Right tributaries are: Smith Fork, North Fork, Tongue Creek (near Delta).
The river was named after Captain John Williams Gunnison , who crossed Lake Fork des Gunnison in September 1853, but considered the Black Canyon to be impassable. John Gunnison was killed by Indians the following year with seven other members of his expedition group in Utah.
Hydrology
The United States Geological Survey operates a gauge near Grand Junction . The annual average flow rate is 122 m³ / s. The highest value was registered on May 23, 1920 with 999 m³ / s, the lowest observed flow rate was 3 m³ / s on July 20, 1934.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gunnison River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
- ↑ Gunnison River ( November 26, 2005 memento in the Internet Archive ), The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. 2000.
- ↑ United States Geological Survey : Water Data Report, Colorado 2003 (PDF; 4.0 MB), accessed April 22, 2008.
- ↑ USGS : Water Data Report: 09152500 GUNNISON RIVER NEAR GRAND JUNCTION . 2005 (PDF; 97 kB), accessed on April 22, 2008.