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Watershed Description Watershed Description USGS HUC Code: 13020101 The greater Rio Grande is the fifth largest river in the United states. It is 1896 miles long and extends from southern Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. The Rio Grande runs through predominantly semi-arid to arid land and is a major water resource for Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. The Upper Rio Grande Watershed is located in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico in 9 counties. These include, Conejos and Costilla in Colorado, and Colfax, Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Santa Fe, and Taos Counties in New Mexico. The total area of the Upper Rio Grande watershed is 8339 sq km which is 2,060,781 sq acres. 1 Watershed Description 2 Watershed Description Physical Geography 3 Watershed Description Includes the Southern Rockies and the Arizona/New Mexico Plateau. Terrain transitions between flat, to rolling, to mountainous. It is predominatly sparsely-vegetated desert scrub with flat floodplain areas and some canyons adjacent to the Rio Grande. Beneficial Uses Beneficial uses in the Upper Rio Grande include domestic water supply, cold water aquatic life, wildlife habitat, livestock watering, primary contact, and irrigation. Conejos County, Colorado dominates irrigation use, accounting for 40% of the total water used for irrigation on the watershed. The Hueco-Mesilla Bolson is the major aquifer in the area. About 50% of the water supply comes from the aquifer and the other 50% from the Rio Grande. Salinity and bacteria are major concerns for water resource quality. Stream Characteristics Rosgen Stream Classification: The stream type of the Rio Grande River varies along the length of the watershed. Between the Red River at Questa, NM and the Colorado border, the classification on the upsteream segment is predominantly C4, transitioning into B4, and B3 farther downstream. According to Ward and Trimble, Type C streams have slight entrenching and meandering with a well-developed floodplain, typical riffle-pool bed form and large width relative to depth. Type B streams have a bed slope of 2 to 4%, with typical features of rapids, cascades, and scour pools. They are moderately entrenced with stable slopes and lack a developed floodplain because of valley confinement, as seen below. 4 Watershed Description 5 Watershed Description (Maps from "Upper Rio Grande Watershed, Rapid Assessment") 6 Watershed Description Soil and Resource Description Common Resource Area: Similar areas on the landscape that deal with conditions, soils, climate, human interaction with the environment, and other resource information. In the Upper Rio Grande, there are three common resource areas, mapped below. 7 Watershed Description CRA 36.2 - Southwestern Plateaus, Mesas, and Foothills: Warm Semiarid Mesas and Plateaus. This area encompasses the lower elevation mesas and plateaus. The temperature regime is mesic and the moisture regime is transitional from ustic to aridic. Vegetation is typically twoneedle pinyon, Utah juniper, and big sagebrush. Cropland is a significant land use in parts of this area, particularly on soils formed in thick deposits of eolian material. Precipitation ranges from 10 to about 16 inches. Elevations range from about 6000 to 7000 feet. CRA 48A.1 - Southern Rocky Mountains: High Mountains and Valleys. This area is best characterized by steep, high mountain ranges and associated mountain valleys. The temperature regimes are mostly frigid and cryic; moisture regimes are mainly ustic and udic. Vegetation is sagebrush-grass at low elevations, and with increasing elevation ranges from coniferous forest to alpine tundra. Elevations range from 6500 to 14,400 feet. CRA 51.1 - High Intermountain Valleys. This is an area of low relief composed of valley fill sediments from the surrounding mountains. The temperature regime is mainly frigid but includes mesic in the southern part. The moisture regime is aridic. Characteristic native vegetation is greasewood, fourwing saltbush, and alkali sacaton. ("Upper Rio Grande Watershed, Rapid Assessment") Gaging Stations 8 Watershed Description 9 Watershed Description Upper Rio Grande Watershed 1302101 · Rio Grande o Embundo, NM o Otowi Bridge, NM o Cerro, NM o Taos, NM · Costilla Creek o Garcia, CO o above Costilla Dam, NM o below Costilla Dam, NM o Costilla Reservoir; Costilla, NM o Costilla, NM · Embundo Creek o Dixon, NM · Santa Cruz River o Cundiyo, NM · Rio Nambe o Nambe Falls Reservor; Nambe, NM o below Nambe Falls Dam; Nambe, NM · Tesuque Creek o above diversions near Santa Fe, NM · Casias Creek o Costilla, NM · Santistevan Creek o Costilla, NM · Costilla Creek o Costilla Reservoir; Costilla, NM o below Costilla Dam, NM o near Costilla, NM 10 Watershed Description · Red River o Questa, NM o Below fish hatchery; Questa, NM · Rio Hondo o Valdez, NM · Rio Pueblo de Taos o Taos, NM · Rio Lucero 11.
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