The North Fork Gunnison River watershed drains parts of the Elk and West Elk Mountains of west-central Colorado. It flows through the towns of Paonia and Hotchkiss before converging with the main stem of the Gunnison River north of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The headwaters begin at the confluence of Anthracite Creek and Muddy Creek in the Gunnison National Forest at an approximate elevation of 6,200 feet. The river flows 33 miles southwest across multiple river terraces positioned laterally along a highly dissected broad valley with a gentle down-valley slope. 

Early written accounts by the first homesteaders in the valley in 1882 indicate that the floodplain was wide and very thickly vegetated. Development and in-channel activity throughout the last century has removed much of the energy-dissipating vegetation that reduces erosion and replaced it with bare gravel bars.  

Until mid-century, this work was accomplished with manual labor and teams of horses. In 1947, Delta County began an annual campaign to construct dikes and dig the river channel deeper prior to spring run-off. This severely degraded the channel, exposing vulnerable bare banks and accelerating lateral migration and property loss. In addition, these decades of bulldozing in the river, along with removal of important riparian buffers, have increased concentrations of selenium, phosphates, and nitrates by substantially increasing bank erosion and direct runoff to the river.  The river has been severely hampered in its ability to transport its bed load and yearly lateral channel migration is often severe. 

In an attempt to comply with the Clean Water Act of 1977, the Army Corps of Engineers eventually halted the practice of bulldozing the river. With the exception of continued in-stream gravel mining and ditch diversion maintenance (including the construction of yearly gravel push-up dams at many sites), the damaged river has been left largely to its own devices since the late 1970's.

NFRIA has worked to restore the damaged segments of river and limit destructive maintenance practices, which have continued to contribute to erosion up - and downstream, disturb habitat, and contaminate water by suspending sediment. To make matters worse, both in-stream gravel mining and the construction of gravel push-up dams take place in summer months when water levels are lowest, water temperatures are highest, and aquatic organisms are most stressed and vulnerable. The aquatic ecosystem of the North Fork Gunnison River (with its status as Aquatic Life Cold 1) is particularly vulnerable to the increased water temperatures exacerbated by these practices.

Instream gravel mining creates lakes in and adjacent to the river, disrupting its natural “riffle-pool” character. Sediment suspended in the water from mining and damming degrades water quality, disturbing miles of river. Habitat quality for fish and aquatic insects is reduced by this excessive sedimentation. Removing sand and gravel disturbs the sediment balance, which further stresses aquatic organisms downstream. Hundreds of acres of riparian area were unsuitable for wildlife habitat due to the scars and erosion caused by these practices. (Riparian areas provide habitat for some 90 percent of all western wildlife species.) In addition, largely because of human impacts, the North Fork of the Gunnison River has increased its contribution of sediment and selenium to the Colorado River system.

Finally, even though the river could be described as the defining element of the North Fork Valley landscape, public access has until recently been limited or nonexistent, especially in and around the towns of Paonia and Hotchkiss.  The only members of the community able to fully enjoy river recreational and leisure opportunities have been riverfront property owners. NFRIA has worked to make a healthy, clean, and safe river accessible to all members of the community.