Animas River

Animas River is a 126-mile-long (203 km) river in the western United States, a tributary of the San Juan River, part of the Colorado River System. The Spanish named the river "Rio de las Animas Perdidas", "River of the Lost Souls". It is also the last free-flowing river (un-diverted) in Colorado. The river's free-flowing status will soon end as the Animas-LaPlata Project nears completion. The project will pump water over a low pass to fill a reservoir, Lake Nighthorse, in Ridges Basin to satisfy Southern Ute tribal water rights claims associated with the Colorado Ute Settlement Act amendments of 2000. The Animas River rises high in San Juan Mountains of Colorado at the confluence of the West and North forks at the ghost town of Animas...