Price River

Coordinates: 39°10′46″N 110°06′23″W / 39.17944°N 110.10639°W / 39.17944; -110.10639
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Price River
The Price River in Price Canyon, June 2010
Price River is located in Utah
Price River
Location of the mouth of Price River in Utah
Location
CountryUnited States
StateUtah
RegionCarbon, Utah, and Emery Counties
CitiesColton, Royal, Castle Gate, Helper, Spring Glen, Carbonville, Price, Wellington, Woodside
Physical characteristics
SourceScofield Reservoir
 • locationNorthern edge of the Manti–La Sal National Forest and Wasatch Plateau
 • coordinates39°47′13″N 111°07′24″W / 39.78694°N 111.12333°W / 39.78694; -111.12333[1]
 • elevation7,618 ft (2,322 m)
MouthConfluence with the Green River
 • location
20 miles (32 km) north of Green River, Utah
 • coordinates
39°10′46″N 110°06′23″W / 39.17944°N 110.10639°W / 39.17944; -110.10639[1]
 • elevation
4,140 ft (1,260 m)
Basin size170 sq mi (440 km2)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftWhite River, Willow Creek

The Price River is a 137-mile-long (220 km)

Green River, itself a tributary to the Colorado River
.

History

The river's early name was the White River, but it was changed in the summer of 1869 when

LDS Bishop William Price of Goshen, Utah, explored the region and renamed it, making the White River above Colton into a tributary of the Price River.[4] The town of Price was later named after the river.[5]

Watershed and course

The Scofield Reservoir flows into the Price River (lower right)

The Price River watershed comprises 1,900 square miles (4,900 km2).

USGS indicates that the Price River originates at Scofield Reservoir in the Wasatch Plateau in Carbon County in central Utah. From the reservoir, the river flows briefly eastward and northeastward into Utah County, where it receives the flows of the White River at Colton. Colton was originally named Pleasant Valley Junction, and Scofield Reservoir would occupy a large portion of Pleasant Valley.[7] Alternatively, historical accounts place the origin of the Price River at the confluence of the White River and Fish Creek, such that lower Fish Creek continued from below Scofield Dam to said confluence.[7] The White River drains the Tavaputs Plateau
.

From Colton the Price River continues southeastward, receiving Beaver Creek from the right and then Kyune Creek from the left (at

Green River in Gray Canyon, about 20 miles (32 km) north of Green River, Utah
.

The

Sanpete Valley.[13] As a result of the planned dam the Price River was included on the American Rivers list of the top ten endangered rivers in the United States in 2005.[14]

Just downstream of the town of Price, a partnership of the Carbon Canal Company (CCC), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR), is expanding the Olsen Reservoir[15] so that it can capture high spring Price River flows at the end of the Carbon Canal and store it, for agricultural use and to recharge the river in dry seasons and drought years.[16]

Tributaries downstream of Price are largely ephemeral. The largest is Grassy Trail Creek[17] which exits the Book Cliffs at East Carbon, Carbon County, and joins the Price River south of Cedar, Emery County.[18]

Ecology

The headwaters of the Price River harbor Colorado River cutthroat trout ((Oncorhynchus clarki pleuriticus). Distribution and abundance of this cutthroat trout subspecies are now limited to small populations in less than 1% of its historic range in the upper tributaries of the Colorado River watershed. The chief vulnerability of Colorado River cutthroat trout is hybridization with non-native rainbow trout and competitive replacement by non-native brown trout (Salmo trutta) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis).[19]

The federally endangered

bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus). All three inhabit or inhabited the lower Price River until the roundtail chub was likely extirpated from the Price River due to low flows in 1977 and 1993, a localized rotenone detoxification problem in 1977, and/or multiple other pollution-caused fish kills.[20]

Recreation

The Price is a small, shallow river and is normally unnavigable. However, during high springtime flows, the 23.5 miles (37.8 km) below the Scofield Dam to

Class I to V whitewater.[21] The river has become increasingly popular with canoeists and kayakers
.

The

Blue Ribbon flyfishing for large brown trout. This uppermost reach is paralleled by railroad tracks in a very scenic canyon and is stocked annually with non-native brown trout fingerlings, which have been known to mature up to 10 pounds (4.5 kg).[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Price River
  2. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed October 30, 2020
  3. doi:10.1111/j.1752-1688.1978.tb02257.x
    . Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  4. ISBN 978-0-87480-345-7
    .
  5. ^ "Utah History Encyclopedia: Price". University of Utah. Retrieved September 10, 2006.
  6. ^ J. C. Mundorff (1972). Reconnaissance of Chemical Quality of Surface Water and Fluvial Sediment in the Price River Basin, Utah (Report). Salt Lake City, Utah: United States Geological Survey. p. 55.
  7. ^ a b Ronald G. Watt (1997). A History of Carbon County. Utah State Historical Society Carbon County Commission. p. 417.
  8. ^ a b K. M. Waddell; J. E. Dodge; D. W. Darby; S. M. Theobald (1986). Hydrology of the Price River Basin, Utah with emphasis on Selected Coal-Field Areas. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2246 (PDF) (Report). Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. p. 52. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  9. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Pondtown Creek
  10. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Mud Creek
  11. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fish Creek
  12. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Gooseberry Creek
  13. ^ "Utah Rivers Council - Gooseberry Dam". Utah Rivers Council. Archived from the original on September 8, 2006. Retrieved September 10, 2006.
  14. ^ "Utah's Price River "Most Endangered"". KUTV.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2006.
  15. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Olsen Reservoir
  16. ^ "Price River: Solving Problems for Farmers and Fish". The Nature Conservancy. September 24, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  17. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Grassy Trail Creek
  18. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cedar
  19. ^ a b Richard A. Valdez; Robert T. Muth (2005). "Ecology and Conservation of Native Fish in the Upper Colorado River Basin". American Fisheries Society Symposium. 45: 157–204. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  20. ^ "Conservation and Management Plan for Three Fish Species in Utah. Addressing needs for Roundtail Chub (Gila robusta), Bluehead Sucker (Catostomus discobolus),and Flannelmouth Sucker (Catostomus latipinnis). Publication Number 06-17" (PDF). Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife Resources. September 1, 2006: 82. Retrieved October 30, 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ^ "Price River, Utah". southwestpaddler.com. Retrieved September 10, 2006.
  22. ^ "Lower Fish Creek (Blue Ribbon)". Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Retrieved November 2, 2020.

External links

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