American Whitewater Releases Decision Making Tool for Gunnison River (CO)

This Spring, American Whitewater released an interactive web tool that analyzes how flows in the lower Gunnison River meet environmental and recreational flow needs. The goal of the tool is to create a better understanding of the relationship between recreational and environmental flow needs in the Gunnison River and to inform reservoir releases when there is flexibility in the system. 

The lower Gunnison River between the Aspinall Unit (Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, and Crystal Dams) and Grand Junction is a highly managed river, governed by some of the oldest agricultural water rights in Colorado, flow directives for endangered fish, the Black Canyon Water Right held by the National Park Service, and other operational directives. Flows in the river also support outstanding whitewater kayaking, rafting, and float fishing opportunities in the Black Canyon, Gunnison Gorge, and Dominguez-Escalante Canyon. The timing and quantity of flows released from the Gunnison River dams directly affects the quality of these recreational experiences and at the same time affects the aquatic life and vegetation in the river corridor. 

Development of the tool took time and collaboration. Lotic Hydrological built the web tool, which was informed by prior studies and reports by American Whitewater, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service. American Whitewater led a series of discussions with numerous recreation and environmental stakeholders in the lower Gunnison River to help determine which environmental and recreational factors to include in the web tool. 

With the tool complete, we aim to work with both river managers and the general public to ensure that the tool is used effectively to help educate river users and inform river management. If you are interested in learning more about the tool and how to use it or if you have feedback about the tool, please reach out to Kestrel Kunz at kestrel@americanwhitewater.org.