Rio Hondo (Northern New Mexico)

This is about the Rio Hondo in northern New Mexico. For the river in southern New Mexico see Rio Hondo (Southern New Mexico).
Rio Hondo
Children near the Rio Hondo, Taos County, 1941
Country United States
State New Mexico
County Taos
Source Above Taos Ski Valley
 - location Taos Mountains
 - elevation 10,840 ft (3,304 m) [1]
 - coordinates  [2]
Mouth Rio Grande
 - location Rio Grande Gorge
 - elevation 6,840 ft (2,085 m) [2]
 - coordinates  [2]
Length 20 mi (32 km)
Location of the mouth of the Rio Hondo in New Mexico

In northern New Mexico, the Rio Hondo begins high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Taos Ski Valley and flows for approximately 20 miles (32 km) into the Rio Grande. Portions of the Rio Hondo are prized as prime spots for bird-watching and fishing.[3] The river was the subject of a 2005 study by the New Mexico Environment Department Surface Water Quality Bureau into the effects of wastewater from Taos Ski Valley, which is discharged from the Village of Taos Ski Valley Waste Water Treatment Plant.[4]

In Spanish, Río Hondo means "deep river".[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ USGS topographic maps
  2. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rio Hondo
  3. ^ "Carson National Forest - Recreational Activities". http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/carson/recreation/wilderness/wheeler_peak_info.shtml. Retrieved 2008-07-17. 
  4. ^ "The WQCC-Approved Rio Hondo Watershed Nutrients TMDL". http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/swqb/Projects/RioHondo/. Retrieved 2008-07-17. 
  5. ^ Julyan, Robert Hixson (1996). The Place Names of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press. p. 296. ISBN 9780826316899. http://books.google.com/books?id=p3fMJnT1gx0C&pg=PA296.