The San Luis Closed Basin is a 2,940-square-mile endorheic basin in the Alamosa and Saguache counties of south-central Colorado. It includes San Luis Creek and its tributary, Saguache Creek. While the basin is east of the majority of the Rocky Mountains, it lies west of the Sangre de Christo Range. An elevated plateau in Alamosa County, the San Luis Hills, separates the San Luis Closed Basin drainage from the southward-flowing drainage of the Rio Grande.[1]
Hydrology
The San Luis Closed Basin forms a major segment of the eastern slope of the Colorado section of the Continental Divide. Historically, all of the waters that naturally entered the basin through hydrologic processes were disposed of by evaporation, much of it in a playa adjacent to the Great Sand Dunes. Starting in the 1970s, part of the water that had previously flowed to the playa was diverted to the Rio Grande drainage through a canal constructed in the 1970s as part of the Closed Basin Project. As part of the Project, part of the former playa was redeveloped as an intermittent recreational lake, San Luis Lake. Some of the water from the Basin continues to be allocated to San Luis Lake for recreational purposes. The hydrology of the Closed Basin is currently maintained on a 24/7 basis by the Rio Grande Water Conservation District.[1]
Ecology
The San Luis Closed Basin forms part of the breeding area of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, a United States endangered subspecies.[2]
References
- ^ a b "The Closed Basin Project". Rio Grande Water Conservation District. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
- ^ "The Habitat Conservation Plan". Rio Grande Water Conservation District. Retrieved February 28, 2015.