Montezuma County is a county located in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,849. The county seat is Cortez.
Dolores County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,326. The county seat is Dove Creek.
Cortez is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 8,766 at the 2020 United States Census.
Dolores is a Statutory Town located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 885 at the 2020 United States Census.
Mancos is a statutory town in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,196 at the 2020 census, down from 1,336 in 2010.
The San Juan River is a major tributary of the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States, providing the chief drainage for the Four Corners region of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona. Originating as snowmelt in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, it flows 383 miles (616 km) through the deserts of northern New Mexico and southeastern Utah to join the Colorado River at Glen Canyon.
The Dolores River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 241 miles (388 km) long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah. The river drains a rugged and arid region of the Colorado Plateau west of the San Juan Mountains. Its name derives from the Spanish El Rio de Nuestra Señora de Dolores, River of Our Lady of Sorrows. The river was explored and possibly named by Juan Maria Antonio Rivera during a 1765 expedition from Santa Fe.
The Sevier River is a 400-mile (640 km)-long river in the Great Basin of southwestern Utah in the United States. Originating west of Bryce Canyon National Park, the river flows north through a chain of high farming valleys and steep canyons along the west side of the Sevier Plateau before turning southwest and terminating in the endorheic basin of Sevier Lake in the Sevier Desert. It is used extensively for irrigation along its course, with the consequence that Sevier Lake is usually dry.
Horsetooth Reservoir is a large reservoir in southern Larimer County, Colorado, in the foothills just west of the city of Fort Collins, Colorado. The reservoir runs north-south for approximately 6.5 miles (10 km) and is approximately one-half mile (1 km) wide. Its shape and orientation are the result of the fact that the main body of the reservoir is contained between several homoclinal ridges. A ridge composed of Dakota sandstone runs along the east side where gaps in the ridge are plugged by dams. On the west (uphill) side there are two prominent ridges topped by erosion-resistant sandstones of the Lyons and Ingleside formations. Gaps in these ridges have created a handful of bays and coves the largest of which is Inlet Bay, home to a marina and campgrounds.
The Dolores Project, located in the Dolores and San Juan River basins in southwestern Colorado, uses water from the Dolores River for irrigation, municipal and industrial use, recreation, fish and wildlife, and production of hydroelectric power. It also provides flood control and aids in economic redevelopment. The primary storage of Dolores River flows for all project purposes is provided by the McPhee Reservoir. Service is provided to the northwest Dove Creek area, central Montezuma Valley area, and south to the Towaoc area on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation. Irrigation water is available for 61,660 acres (249.5 km2).
Palisades Dam is an earth-fill dam in the western United States, on the upper Snake River in eastern Idaho. Located in Bonneville County near the Wyoming border, the dam was completed 67 years ago in 1957.
Hungry Horse Dam is an arch dam in the Western United States, on the South Fork Flathead River in the Rocky Mountains of northwest Montana. It is located in Flathead National Forest in Flathead County, about fifteen miles (24 km) south of the west entrance to Glacier National Park, nine miles (14 km) southeast of Columbia Falls, and twenty miles (32 km) northeast of Kalispell. The Hungry Horse project, dam, and powerplant are operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The entrance road leading to the dam is located in Hungry Horse.
The Central Utah Project is a US federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956, as a participating project. In general, the Central Utah Project develops a portion of Utah's share of the yield of the Colorado River, as set out in the Colorado River Compact of 1922.
The Trail of the Ancients is a collection of National Scenic Byways located in the U.S. Four Corners states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. These byways comprise:
McElmo Creek is a 70.1-mile-long (112.8 km) tributary that joins the San Juan River in San Juan County, Utah. The creek's source is just east of Cortez in Montezuma County, Colorado.
Lemon Dam is an earthen dam, and is a project of the United States Bureau of Reclamation. It was completed in 1963, at 284 feet (87 m) high and 1,360 feet (410 m) long at its crest. The dam impounds the Florida River for flood control and irrigation water storage, operated by the local Florida Water Conservancy District. 120 kW of hydroelectric power is generated here.
Crawford Dam impounds water for Crawford Reservoir in Delta County, Colorado about a mile south of the town of Crawford. The earthen dam was completed in 1962 by the United States Bureau of Reclamation with a height of 162 feet (49 m) and 580 feet (180 m) long at its crest. It impounds Iron Creek for irrigation flood control, one element of the Smith Fork Project. The dam is owned by the Bureau and operated by the local Crawford Water Conservancy District. When full, Crawford Reservoir has a water surface area of 406 acres (164 ha), about 7 miles (11 km) of shoreline, and a total capacity of 14,395 acre-feet (17,756,000 m3). The main purpose of the facility is to provide farm irrigation, and the size of Crawford Reservoir changes significantly with the seasons. In most years, the lake is full in late Spring and early Summer, but by early Fall, the water level drops enough to leave boat launches high and dry. The low water pool lasts through the Winter until Spring runoff begins to fill the water supply once again.
The reservoir is encompassed within Crawford State Park with Park Headquarters located on a peninsula along the northeastern shore. Recreation opportunities include fishing, boating, camping on 66 campsites, picnicking, swimming, and hiking.
Rifle Gap Dam is a dam in Garfield County, Colorado, about five and a half miles north of Rifle.
Platoro Dam is a dam in Conejos County, Colorado.
