La Plata River

Location: Hesperus, Colorado

River Sponsors: Sponsor the La Plata Here!

Sampled By: Kara Armano

Sampling Since: 2021

Number of Locations Sampled: 3

Science on the Fly Reports: Link to 2023 Report

Dipping into the Data: Online Discussion Recording

River Bio:
 The La Plata River is much more of a creek than a river with its start at the north end of the La Plata mountains. It flows through Hesperus where a good chunk is diverted for irrigation before its remaining trickle enters the San Juan near Farmington, New Mexico. It is another river affected by hardrock mining historically, but it also has exploratory mining happening now. Keeping track of its health is imperative to the cutthroat and brook trout who live in the stream as it flows through the mountains, and the browns and rainbows downstream could benefit from clean water (and more flow) as well. 

Other River Information:

USGS Gauge- La Plata River at Hesperus Inactive

Southwest Water Conservation District

Want to sponsor the La Plata River? Sponsor here!

Sampler Bio: Kara is a lifelong angler with a passion for conservation and science to help improve river health. With a background in environmental chemistry, she's been involved in testing the water quality of her local rivers for well over a decade for multiple nonprofits. When she learned of Science on the Fly through good friend, John Le Coq, she jumped at the chance to sample rivers near her home(so close one sample location is in her backyard) close to Durango, Colorado. Kara is committed to sampling regularly and yearns to understand how that data can help improve river health. Kara samples the La Plata and Animas Rivers