Where is the rio grande
Rio Grande Documentary
the Rio Grande is the fifth largest
river in the United States and among the
20 longest in the world starting high in
the San Juan Mountains of Colorado the
Rio Grande River travels 1760 miles it
runs the entire length of New Mexico and
creates the border between Texas and
Mexico entering the Gulf near
Brownsville along its course the face of
the Rio Grande changes dramatically from
high mountain streams to deep canyons
and travelling through agricultural
lands where at times nearly drying up
one of the most significant tributaries
to the upper Rio Grande watershed is the
Chama River the Chama starts in southern
Colorado traveling through the town of
Chama and enters the Rio Grande in
Espanola in Colorado to Chama starts as
a high alpine stream traveling through
thick vegetation and wooded forests
the weather here can change dramatically
intense rain and hailstorm sneaking up
without any notice farther downstream
below the town of Chama the River enters
deep canyons before meeting up with
Heron Lake Heron Lake is about four
miles long and three miles wide and lies
at an elevation of up to 7,000 feet
interestingly Heron Lake is not fed by
any rivers the lake is part of the San
Juan Chama project which transfers water
from the upper reaches of the San Juan
River through nearly 13 miles of the
agitated tunnels crossing the
Continental Divide the leg provides
stunning views and recreation for
fishermen as well as providing water for
agriculture and domestic use reservoirs
created by a dam 12,000 feet long and
260 feet high and enters the Chama River
through the spillway
often the distance of Heron Lake are
seen the Brazos mountains running
beneath these majestic mountains is the
Brazos River the Brazos is a tributary
to the Chama entering the river just
above Heron Lake
provides excellent fishing for fly
fisherman
farther downstream the Chama travels
through Alvaro and Abiquiu reservoir
before entering the Rio Grande in
Espanola
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after traveling through Colorado and
northern New Mexico the Rio Grande finds
the Rio Grande Gorge State Park just
after Taos box canyon near the town of
Pilar the Taos box is a steep Gorge with
lots of whitewater but quickly mellows
to an easier gentle rear
here the gorge widens with high cliffs
surrounding the river and limited
vegetation scattering the banks
here recreation becomes a viable
industry with lots of raft companies
taking tourists down the river to enjoy
the spectacular views
those sparse the banks hold much life
like the swallowtails flying to the
thistle after exiting the gorge the rear
ground widens and finds itself in
Espanola here the Bosque begin with
large cottonwoods lining the river as
well as civilization becoming more
predominant in signs of agriculture
along the highway after traveling past
White Rock and a big Canyon the Rio
Grande River finds itself in Cochiti
reservoir the reservoir was built
primarily for flood control what serves
as a secondary purpose for recreation
for campers and fishermen below the
reservoir a series of irrigation ditches
begin which support the agriculture that
line the banks of the Rio Grande further
downstream the river and Bosque widen
here the river passes through Bernalillo
just before entering Albuquerque
after traveling through Albuquerque the
River continues south through farmlands
where agriculture is heavy and
eventually gets to Belen in Belen the
mighty Rio Grande is reduced to a
trickle being diverted into many
irrigation ditches and canals alongside
the river's banks used for all the
irrigation for agriculture more than 2
million acres of farmland are irrigated
along the Rio Grande that's slightly
more than half in Mexico south of Belen
the Rio Grande passes through Socorro
where the river flow begins to increase
the banks are lined with thick foliage
but with all the heavy siltation
the mud is thick along the banks from
Socorro the River continues southward
providing live for nature and all the
people along its banks
underneath the rocks in the river life
is teeming which provides food for the
fish like these stone flies and leeches
mayflies brawl along the rock be
identified by their two split tail
caddis typically build a case to live in
this case is open and we can see the cat
is squirming around caddis has left his
home and is exposed and soon may be
washed down for fish food crawdads
though fun to play with are invasive and
can cause problems in the streams
ecosystem farther downstream siltation
is heavy and the mud is thick there's no
bugs to be found here
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