Water Resources Scoping Report for Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, and Natural Bridges National Monument

48 Pages·1997·2.4 MB·English

by  Berghoff,K.,Vana-Miller,D.

VOKU ¥XPO"Y^v> Y<X^\
-g£-l\JrVe>"P-
CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK,
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, AND
NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL MONUMENT
WATER RESOURCES SCOPING REPORT
Kevin Berghoff and David Vana-Miller
Technical Report NPS/NRWRS/NRTR-97/94
WATER RESOURCES DIVISION
National Park Service-Departmentofthe Interior
Fort Collins-Denver-Washington
WAT&4^54SERVICfc-
United States Department of the Interior • National Park Service
The National Park ServiceWater Resources Division is responsible for providing water
resources management policy and guidelines, planning, technical assistance, training, and
operational support to units oftheNational Park System. Program areas include water
rights, water resources planning, regulatory guidance and review, hydrology, water
quality, watershed management, watershed studies, and aquatic ecology.
Technical Reports
The National Park Service disseminates the results of biological, physical, and social
research through the Natural Resources Technical Report Series. Natural resources
inventories and monitoring activities, scientific literature reviews, bibliographies, and
proceedings oftechnical workshops and conferences are also disseminated through this
series.
Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or
recommendation for use by the National Park Service.
Copies of this report are available from the following:
National Park Service [phone]
Water Resources Division
1201 Oak Ridge Drive, Suite 250
CO
Fort Collins, 80525
National Park Service [phone]
Technical Information Center
Denver Service Center
P.O. Box 25287
CO
Denver, 80225-0287
WATER RESOURCES SCOPING REPORT
for
CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, AND
NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL MONUMENT
Kevin Berghoff !
and
David Vana-Miller 2
Technical Report NPS/NRWRS/NRTR-97/94
January 1997
'Hydrologist, U.S. Department ofthe Interior, National Park Service,Glen Canyon
National Recreation Area, Page, Arizona
^ydrologist, U.S. Department ofthe Interior, National Park Service,Water Resources
Division, Lakewood, Colorado
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
WATER RESOURCES
DIVISION
FORTCOLLINS, COLORADO
RESOURCE ROOM PROPERTY
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation
http://archive.org/details/waterresourcesscOOberg
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List ofFigures ii
List of Tables ii
Executive Summary iii
INTRODUCTION
1
Park Locations and Descriptions 1
Land Use and Visitation 6
Legislation Affecting the Colorado River System 7
WATERSHED DESCRIPTION
8
Geology, Topography and Soils 8
Climate 9
Vegetation 10
Surface Water Hydrology 10
Colorado River
Green River
Seeps and Springs
Ephemeral Channels
Groundwater Hydrology 17
Water Quality 17
Aquatic Biology 19
Aquatic Invertebrates
Fish
WATER RESOURCE ISSUES 22
High Priority Issues 23
Seeps and Springs
Culinary Water
Threatened and Endangered Fish
Salt Creek
Medium Priority Issues 28
Water Rights
Mining
RECOMMENDATIONS
33
References 34
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. LocationofCanyonlands,ArchesandNaturalBridgesinrelationtothesurrounding
areaandmajorhydrography(modifiedfromLongandSmith, 1996) 2
Figure2. CanyonlandsNationalParkandassociatedhydrograpy(modifiedfromLongand
Smith, 1966) 3
Figure3 ArchesNationalParkandassociatedhydrography(modifiedfromLongand
.
Smith, 1966) 4
Figure4. NaturalBridgesNationalMonumentandassociatedhydrography(modifiedfrom
LongandSmith, 1966) 5
Figure5. AnnualpeakdischargeattheColoradoRiveratCisco,Utah, station 12
Figure6. Pre-andpost-1966flowdurationcurvesfortheColoradoRivernearCisco,Utah,
for 1930-1982(fromThompson, 1984a) 13
Figure7. AnnualpeakdischargeattheGreenRiveratGreenRiver,Utah,gagingstation.... 15
Figure8. Pre-andpost-1963 flowdurationcurvesfortheGreenRiveratGreenRiver,Utah
stationfor 1930-1982 (fromThompson, 1984b) 16
Figure9. WellandlandfilllocationsintheNeedlesDistrictofCanyonlandsNationalPark
(fromMesaStateCollege, 1996) 25
Figure 10. LocationoftheAtlas CorporationMillandtailingspileinrelationtoMoaband
ArchesNationalPark(fromUSNRC, 1996) 31
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. USGS longtermmonitoringstationsupstreamfromCanyonlandsNationalPark.
Parameterscollectedinclude: Discharge,variouswaterchemistryandsuspended
sediment 11
Table2. SuspendedsedimentloadinmillionsoftonsattheColoradoRivernearCisco,Utah
gagingstation 14
Table3 CommonandscientificnamesofthenativefishesoftheUpperColoradoRiverBasin
.
(modifiedfromBehnkeandBenson 1980) 21
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Canyonlands and ArchesNationalParks andNatural BridgesNational Monument,
collectively called the SoutheastUtah Group Parks, are located inthe high desert ofthe
Colorado Plateau in southeastUtah. All three parkunitswere established due to the
unique scenic, scientific, and archeological features found withintheirboundaries. Due to
the arid environment ofthe ColoradoPlateau, water resources are a critical concern of
NationalPark Service (NPS) management.
The Group Parks are located intheUpper Colorado RiverBasin as designated by the
Colorado River Compact of1922. The operation ofall reservoirs and apportionment ofall
waterthroughout the upperbasin is dictated in accordancewiththe "Law oftheRiver."
Legislation and operating criteria forthe water storage facilities inthe upperbasin have
significantly altered the flow regime ofthe Colorado and Greenrivers through
CanyonlandsNationalPark. Subsequent effects ofaltered flow regime include impacts on
water quality, endemic fishhabitat, adjacent riparian/wetland areas and associated biota.
The purpose ofthis scoping report isto describethe existing condition ofthe watershed,
identify specific water resource issues ofconcernto park management, and provide
recommendations on future actions. Initial meetingswith the Group ParksResource
Management staffidentified the following issues to address inthis report:
Water quality
Seeps and springs
Culinarywater
Threatened and endangered fish (Canyonlands)
Salt Creek (Canyonlands)
Waterrights
Mining (Canyonlands, Arches)
Water resource issues affecting the SoutheastUtah Group Parks are farreaching with
activity impacting parkresources often originating farbeyond the parkboundaries inthe
headwater areas ofthe Colorado and Greenriverbasins. The complexity ofthe issues
facing the Group Parks warrants the development ofa comprehensivewater resource
management plan. Since so many federal and non-governmental organizations have a
significant interest inthe upperbasin, input fromwaterresource professionals outside of
theNPS will be crucial for successful implementation ofawater resource management
plan.
111

INTRODUCTION
Water is an important resource for areas administered bytheNational Park Service (NPS)
and is ofcritical concern forthose parks located in the arid environments ofthe
southwesternUnited States. Its scarce nature makes even small sources ofwater, such as
seeps and springs or ephemeral streams, potentially crucial to maintaining the riparian and
aquatic habitat that supports the local desert flora and fauna.
This WaterResources ScopingReport identifies a number ofwater related concerns for
CanyonlandsNationalPark, ArchesNationalPark, andNaturalBridgesNational
Monument. Existing resource status is discussed and a number ofwater resource issues
identified as key concerns by park management, are considered. These three parks share a
commonResourceManagementDivision and are collectively known as the Southeast
Utah Group. Information generated fromthis scoping report can be incorporated into the
parks' resource management plan and will provide necessary information for a
comprehensive water resources management plan.
PARKLOCATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS
All three parks are located in southeast Utah in the CanyonLands Section ofthe Colorado
Plateau Physiographic Province. Figure 1 shows the location ofthe Southeast Utah Group
Parks in relation to the surrounding states.
CanyonlandsNational Park (Figure 2) is the largest ofthe three, encompassing 337,570
acres. The confluence ofthe Green and Colorado rivers is located inthe heart of
Canyonlands. Enabling legislation for the park (PL85-590), established in 1964, states that
the purpose ofthe park is to preserve an area "... possessing superlative scenic, scientific,
and archeological features forthe inspiration and benefit ofthe public" (NPS, 1985).
Canyonlands is further divided into four management subunits based onthe boundaries
created by the rivers. The Island in the SkyDistrict lies onthe plateau area between the
Green and Colorado rivers and covers approximately 132,437 acres. The Maze District
(76,285 acres) includes theHorseshoe CanyonDetached Unit ofCanyonlands and is
located to the west and adjacent to the two rivers. TheNeedles District (128,848 acres) is
located east and adjacent to the Colorado River. TheRiverDistrict occupies a narrow
corridor along the two rivers and was established specifically to manage river activities.
ArchesNational Park (Figure 3) was originally established as a national monument in 1929
byPresidential Proclamation. The purpose was to "... protect extraordinary examples of
wind erosion in the form ofgigantic arches, natural bridges, 'windows', spires, balanced
rocks and otherunique wind-worn sandstone formations the preservation ofwhichis
desirable because oftheir educational and scenic value." Arches went through a number of
boundary changes and was designated as a national park in 1971 (PL92-155). The park
currently covers 73,379 acres (NPS, 1989).
Southeast Utah Group
Canyonlands, Arches, & Natural Bridges
Legend
NationalParkUnits
[ 1
[~1 Towns andCommunities
StateBoundaries
|—|
ParkRoads
BMilBes —
MajorRivers
=
2 4 6 8
Highways
Figure 1. Location ofCanyonlands,Arches andNaturalBridges inrelationtothe
surroundingareaandmajorhydrography (modifiedfromLongand Smith, 1996)