Dolores River Adaptive Management Support Project: Defining the New Normal for the Dolores River
Jonathan Harvey1, Melissa Clutter1, Cynthia Dott1*, Alan Kasprak1, Joel Sholtes2*, Ryan Unterreiner3
1Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.
2Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, Colorado.
3Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Durango, Colorado
The Dolores River Adaptive Management Support project was initiated by a group of stakeholders interested in bringing more science to inform how flow releases (or lack thereof) and vegetation management influence fish and riparian habitat on the Dolores River below McPhee Reservoir, hereafter the Lower Dolores. Now in its third year, this project involves annual geomorphic, groundwater, vegetation, and fish surveys across five reaches spanning the approximately 200-mile length of the Lower Dolores. We present our findings to date related to geomorphic and vegetation responses in 2021 and 2022, which were low flow, monsoon-dominated years with no flow release, and we contrast these results with findings from 2023, a year with a high flow release. Geomorphic and vegetation response to the large and extended runoff and flow release of 2023 is compared to pre-existing conditions. Additionally, decadal trends in geomorphic changes are also presented. This study will inform how future releases can support geomorphic and vegetative processes to ultimately improve native fish habitat.