This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more

San Juan River Walk

x
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
San Juan River Walk
Address:
Hot Springs Blvd, Pagosa Springs, CO

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 through the deserts of northern New Mexico and southeastern Utah to join the Colorado River at Glen Canyon. The river drains a high, arid region of the Colorado Plateau and along its length it is often the only significant source of fresh water for many miles. The San Juan is also one of the muddiest rivers in North America, carrying an average of 25 million US tons of silt and sediment each year.Historically, the San Juan formed the border between the territory of the Navajo in the south and the Ute in the north. Although Europeans explored the Four Corners region at least as early as the 1700s, it was not until the gold and silver booms of the 1860s when settlers arrived in large numbers from the eastern United States. After heated conflicts over land, the Native Americans were forced into reservations, where their descendants live today. During the 20th century, intensive drilling in the fossil fuel-rich San Juan Basin and uranium mining along the lower river in Utah generated serious concerns about water quality, particular in the Navajo Nation where the river is a crucial source of water for irrigation. Runoff from abandoned gold and silver mines is also a major issue, as occurred in the 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill into the Animas River, the main tributary of the San Juan. The U.S. federal government has built a number of large dams in the San Juan River system to control floods, and provide irrigation and domestic water supply. In addition, the lower part of the river is inundated by Lake Powell, one of the largest reservoirs in the United States. Efficient management is crucial to ensuring enough water supply for not just farms and urban areas, but also recreational boating, fisheries, and environmental restoration. However, heavy water use has significantly reduced the flow of the San Juan River, by as much as 25 percent since pre-development conditions; in addition, warming temperatures in the Rocky Mountains are projected to have a further negative effect on snowpack, and stream flow.
Continue reading...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Attraction Location



San Juan River Walk Videos

Shares

x

More Attractions in Pagosa Springs

x

Menu