Lake Granby Research Paper

Lake Granby is located in the Rocky Mountains in what is known as the Middle Park. The climate can be described as subartic due to its low humidity and long winter season. The average low temperature is 21.1 degrees Fahrenheit, and the average high is 51.1 degrees Fahrenheit. Precipitation comes mainly in the form of snow, with the total amount around 14.2 inches.
The town of Granby is the nearest to Lake Granby. The lake itself is right up against the hills of the mountains, while the town sits more in the open park. Lake Granby is at an elevation of 2,543 meters, with a surface area of 2,938 hectares. The maximum depth of the lake is 61 meters, with a mean depth of 22.6 meters. The lake is between hills in the mountains, which causes the depth to be quite variable. Being the third largest body of water in Colorado, it has 64.4 kilometers of shoreline (Martinez Bergersen 1991). The Granby Dam was built in 1949 for the purpose of water storage. The project was also due in part to supply water to the Front Range through the Colorado Big Thompson Project. These projects greatly changed the surrounding landscape in the area.
Vegetation for the Lake Granby ecosystem varies between the locations. On land, aspen trees, and ponderosa pine are abundant. Other
The need for water causes the lakes water level to fluctuate throughout the year, causing numerous impacts on the fish and wildlife populations. The fish are mainly impacted because of the strain on spawning that changing water levels can cause (Coops et al 2003). However, the management of fish have caused a decrease in the Kokanee Salmon population, and thus the Lake Trout population as well. Large numbers of anglers frequent this lake because of the Kokanee Salmon and Lake Trout. This body of water was known for its impressive fishing for these two species of fish, but that is now threatened due to a decreasing salmon