Laminar Flow EarthCache
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Cache is accessed through Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Entry fee may apply. The site is handicapped accessible, but the road to the site is not suitable for large vehicles such as RVs (a series of switchbacks).
The Gunnison Tunnel and Diversion Dam, one of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s first projects, was constructed by the Department of the Interior between the years 1904 and 1912. The 5.8 mile tunnel brings irrigation water from the Gunnison River to the Uncompahgre Valley. Today it is operated and maintained by the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association.
The presence of the Gunnison Tunnel and Diversion Dam creates an interesting, if somewhat treacherous, phenomenon on the Gunnison River.
Water moves in layers, this is termed as "laminar flow". Ordinarily, the rocky channel bottom of a river impedes the flow of water at the deepest point. Successive layers of water receive less and less resistance, so maximum velocity is reached just below the surface of the river. At the site of the Gunnison Tunnel and Diversion Dam however, water at the bottom of the river is moving at a much faster pace due to funneling of water through the Gunnison River Diversion Tunnel. The result is a rather placid looking area of the river with a deceptively strong base current and undertow.
Additionally, a series of Hydro-electric dams along the Gunnison, most notably the Crystal Dam just up the river from the Gunnison Tunnel, can affect currents in their efforts to generate electricity and provide minimum stream flows for wildlife and fisheries below the Gunnison Diversion Dam.
The Gunnison Tunnel and Diversion Dam is a National Civil Engineering Landmark.
To claim this cache you must answer the following question: At peak operation, how many cubic feet per second of water passes through the Gunnison Diversion Tunnel?
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ersre gb gur fvta sbe gur nafjre.
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