The Negro Bill reach extends for 5 km from just upstream of the mouth of Negro Bill Canyon (Bkm 124) to the US 191 highway bridge on the northeast edge of Moab Valley (Bkm 129). This moderately sinuous reach (average sinuosity - 1.3) flows within a deep (90 to275 m deep), narrow (245 to 460 m wide) asymmetric canyon that cuts across very gently dipping strata (mostly sandstones) of the Kayenta and Navajo Formations. This reach marks the upstream limit of a continuous series of very low gradient reaches that extends downstream for almost 116 river kilometers to the upstream limit of Cataract Canyon. The average gradient of this reach is about 0.03%. Shrubs are the most prevalent cover type in this reach with...
The upper Meander Canyon reach extends for 12 km from Bkm 78 near the south end of Pyramid Butte to Bkm 90 at the mouth of Shafer Canyon. This meandering canyon trends generally east-west across broadly-folded, sub-horizontal strata of the Honaker Trail Fm and Cutler Fm (locally capped by the arkosic facies of the Cutler Fm). The canyon is generally symmetric in cross-profile, 520 to 915 m wide and 75 to 150 m deep. The average gradient along this reach and throughout Meander Canyon from Pyramid Butte to Cataract Canyon is approximately 0.02%. This gradient is the lowest defined by this project. Shrubs dominate the vegetative cover in this reach: tamarisk (22%), willow (10%), native xeric shrubs (7%), and desert...
