Blue River (Colorado)

Blue River (Colorado)
Blue River (Colorado)
	The Blue River near Kremmling, Colorado
	Map of the Blue River drainage basin
Location
Country	United States
State	Colorado
Physical characteristics
Source	Tenmile Range
• location	Near Blue River, Summit County
• coordinates	39°23′27″N 106°01′12″W / 39.39083°N 106.02000°W / 39.39083; -106.02000
• elevation	12,800 ft (3,900 m)
Mouth	Colorado River
• location	Kremmling, Grand County
• coordinates	40°02′33″N 106°23′48″W / 40.04250°N 106.39667°W / 40.04250; -106.39667
• elevation	7,342 ft (2,238 m)
Length	65 mi (105 km)
Basin size	680 sq mi (1,800 km2)
Discharge
• location	0.3 mi (0.48 km) below Green Mountain Dam
• average	447 cu ft/s (12.7 m3/s)
• minimum	0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
• maximum	4,040 cu ft/s (114 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• right	Snake River

The Blue River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 65 miles (105 km) long,^[5] in the U.S. state of Colorado.

It rises in southern Summit County, on the western side of the continental divide in the Ten Mile Range, near Quandary Peak. It flows northwards past Blue River and Breckenridge, then through the Dillon Reservoir near Dillon. The west portal for the "Roberts Tunnel" is at the base of Dillon Reservoir. The Roberts Tunnel is a trans-basin diversion, built by Denver Water in 1962, that diverts water under the Continental Divide from the Colorado River basin into the South Platte River Basin. The east portal is approximately one mile upstream of Grant, Colorado.^[6]

North of Dillon, the river flows north-northwest along the eastern slope of the Gore Range and joins the Colorado River at Kremmling.^[7]

The Green Mountain Dam, 13 miles (21 km) upstream from Kremmling, forms the Green Mountain Reservoir, providing hydroelectric power and diversionary water for irrigation, as part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. The dam is a project of the United States Bureau of Reclamation.

References

^ a b "Blue River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
^ "Blue River Watershed Fast Facts". Blue River Watershed Group. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
^ "USGS Gage #09057500 on the Blue River below Green Mountain Reservoir, Colorado" (PDF). National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1943–2012. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
^ "USGS Gage #09057500 on the Blue River below Green Mountain Reservoir, Colorado" (PDF). National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1943–2012. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 18, 2011
^ Park County Local History Archives. Roberts Tunnel. [1]. Photo 1439, accessed June 13, 2018.
^ Ross, Tracy (February 24, 2023). "A billionaire and the BLM brokered a Colorado land swap meant to benefit rivers and the public. Not everyone is cheering". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved February 25, 2023.