May 2021: Mayfly/Uncompahgre Project
River and riparian area restoration work was completed in March on approximately 2/3 mile of the Uncompahgre River north of Main Street in Montrose on the Colorado Outdoors/Mayfly properties. An official dedication/ribbon-cutting was held on Earth Day April 22nd , to commemorate this first phase of this project by the City of Montrose, Mayfly and GGA Trout Unlimited. (See photo below of dignitaries including Joel Evans in the middle – he is GGA’s coordinator for all of the Unc. River Projects).
Unique features of this project include 4 flow bypass fishery channels that will hold trout and lower velocity flows during the high flow irrigation months of April – September (see attached photo) . The main channel will carry higher flows for rafting and kayaking (see photo below) . This stretch of water is also designated as Catch and Release only in attempts to develop and maintain a larger wild brown trout population in this stretch of the river. The remainder of the river corridor downstream will be improved in future phases of project development.
