A Brief Overview of the Dolores River Dialogue

The Dolores River Dialogue (DRD) is a collaborative group of conservation, water management, land management, recreational and governmental representatives working since January of 2004 to explore opportunities to manage McPhee Reservoir to improve downstream ecological conditions while honoring water rights, protecting agricultural and municipal water supplies and the continued enjoyment of rafting and fishing.

The DRD in keeping with a Plan to Proceed has completed a Hydrology Report and a Core Science Report addressing the geomorphology, riparian ecology and warm and cold water fisheries on the Dolores River below McPhee Reservoir. The integration of information from the hydrology and core science reports into a Correlation Report is being used to evaluate strategies involving spill and base flow management and enhancement as well as in-channel restoration efforts. The DRD is committed to the systematic monitoring and evaluation of ecological benefits and water management parameters to support good decision making and the efficient allocation of resources. Opportunities for ecological improvements within water management parameters are being explored using the DRD Flow Options Opportunity and Constrains Matrix which is currently under development.

The Big Gypsum field site is being used to evaluate the ecological response of the Dolores River to various flow, spill management and restoration opportunities resulting from a combination of weather conditions, water management decisions and restoration experiments.

To download draft documents from the DRD process click on the Resources tab in the sidebar menu where you will find the following documents:

DRD Foundation Documents

1. Milestones in the Flow of the Dolores River Dialogue
2. Plan to Proceed
3. Core Science Report
4. Correlation Report
5. Big Gypsum Field Study Plan
6. Fish Data
7. Flow Options Opportunity and Constraints Matrix

Access documents here >>