Dolores River

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Dolores River" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Dolores River
Dolores River
The Dolores River watershed
Location
Country	United States
State	Colorado, Utah
Physical characteristics
Source	San Juan National Forest
• location	Montezuma County, Colorado
• coordinates	37°43′18″N 107°52′47″W / 37.72167°N 107.87972°W / 37.72167; -107.87972[1]
• elevation	11,650 ft (3,550 m)
Mouth	Colorado River
• location	Grand County, Utah
• coordinates	38°49′00″N 109°16′02″W / 38.81667°N 109.26722°W / 38.81667; -109.26722[1]
• elevation	4,390 ft (1,340 m)
Length	241 mi (388 km)[2]
Basin size	4,574 sq mi (11,850 km2)[3]
Discharge
• location	Cisco, UT, about 9 mi (14 km) from the mouth[4]
• average	630 cu ft/s (18 m3/s)[4]
• minimum	1.5 cu ft/s (0.042 m3/s)
• maximum	12,900 cu ft/s (370 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• right	West Dolores River, San Miguel River (Colorado)

The Dolores River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 241 miles (388 km) long,^[2] in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah. The river drains a rugged and arid region of the Colorado Plateau west of the San Juan Mountains. Its name derives from the Spanish El Rio de Nuestra Señora de Dolores, River of Our Lady of Sorrows. The river was explored and possibly named by Juan Maria Antonio Rivera during a 1765 expedition from Santa Fe.

The mean annual flow of the Dolores prior to damming was approximately 1,200 cu ft/s (34 m³/s), but due to diversions it has been reduced to about 600 cu ft/s (17 m³/s).