Slaughter House Bridge to the Upper Bypass Bridge below Snowmass
This segment begins where the stream runs within a deep canyon. Throughout this segment the stream corridor alternately travels through steep narrow canyons and wider, flatter gradient openings where river terraces form the surrounding landscape. While the river travels through deep canyons the channel is typically controlled by bedrock and is relatively stable. This contrasts with the wider valley openings where the channel has been cut into old river terraces that are formed of cobbles and sediment. Here channel stability is dependent on riparian vegetation.

Stream and riparian habitat quality ranges from high quality to severely degraded, and there are a number of threats to stream health:

• Fragmentation due to the highway and residential development, resulting in wildlife habitat loss and roadway-induced mortality.
• Residential development has resulted in riparian habitat degradation; consequences include stream bank erosion, loss of riparian functions including wildlife habitat, water cleansing, flood energy dissipation, excessive stream sedimentation, and excessive nutrient levels.
• Highway construction has resulted in channelization and riparian degradation; consequences include loss of riparian functions such as water cleansing and flood energy dissipation, excessive stream sedimentation, water quality degradation, instream habitat simplification with consequent loss of stream functions.
• Unsustainable highway design results in road-based pollutants discharging directly into the stream.
• Inappropriately located recreational trails have resulted in vegetation trampling; consequences include stream bank destabilization and erosion, wildlife disturbance, excessive stream sedimentation.