Yampa River
| Yampa River | |
| River | |
 The Yampa River Valley, seen from a high overlook.
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Colorado |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Bear River, Williams Fork |
| - right | Elk River, Little Snake River |
| Cities | Steamboat Springs, Craig |
| Source | Rocky Mountains |
| - elevation | 7,833 ft (2,387 m) [1] |
| - coordinates | 40°9′30″N 106°53′59″W / 40.15833°N 106.89972°W [2] |
| Mouth | Green River |
| - location | Dinosaur National Monument |
| - elevation | 5,080 ft (1,548 m) [1] |
| - coordinates | 40°31′44″N 108°59′3″W / 40.52889°N 108.98417°W [2] |
| Length | 250 mi (402 km) [3] |
| Basin | 7,660 sq mi (19,839 km2) [4] |
| Discharge | for Deerlodge Park |
| - average | 2,069 cu ft/s (58.59 m3/s) [4] |
| - max | 33,200 cu ft/s (940.12 m3/s) |
| - min | 1.9 cu ft/s (0.05 m3/s) |
 The Yampa River is shown on this map of the Green River watershed
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The Yampa River is a tributary of the Green River, approximately 250 mi (402 km) long, in the U.S. state of Colorado. It's located in the Southwestern United States. The Yampa is the second-largest watershed in the state of Colorado.[citation needed]
It rises in the Flat Tops in northwestern Colorado, in the Routt National Forest in southeastern Garfield County, and flows northwest, past Yampa, and north to Steamboat Springs, where it turns abruptly west. It then receives its chief tributary, the Elk River, near the small town of Milner. It continues west in the plateau region along the north side of the Williams Fork Mountains, past the town of Craig. It is joined by the Little Snake River in Moffat County, just east of Dinosaur National Monument. Inside Dinosaur National Monument, it joins the Green near the border with Utah.
The Yampa forms a noticeably wide, shallow stream throughout much of its course. The lower three fourths of the Yampa, from the Elk river down, are navigable by small craft. However the meandering, shallow nature of the river can render the river unnavigable during late summer in low water years. The discharge of the Yampa varies from about 600 ft³/s (17 m³/s) during low water summers to 20,000 ft³/s (600 m³/s) in spring runoff. Average flow at its confluence with the Green is about 2500 ft³/s (71 m³/s).
[edit] Proposal to pump water to the Front Range
In December, 2006, a report came out on a proposal to pump water from the Yampa 200 miles east, and under the Continental Divide, to the cities of the Front Range. The diversion would start near Maybell, Colorado, 20 miles downstream of Craig, Colorado[5][6] . The proposal faces widespread opposition because it could lower river flows in late summer due to the diversion.[citation needed] The Yampa is one of the West's last wild rivers since it has only a few small dams and diversions.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates.
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Yampa River, USGS GNIS.
- ^ Yampa River, The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. 2000.
- ^ a b Water Data Report, Colorado 2003, from Water Resources Data Colorado Water Year 2003, USGS.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
