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<br />-10- <br /> <br />Willow Creek Pipeline", compiled from April 26, '1954 to <br /> <br /> <br />October 4, 1954, Sections 4 and 5 added January 10, 1955 <br /> <br />by Davis Engineering Service, Del Norte, Colorado. <br /> <br />8. Memorandum on Operation of Rio Grande Compact from <br /> <br />R. J. Tipton to Colorado Water Conservation Board, dated <br /> <br />January 1955. <br /> <br />GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF AREA AND PROJECT PURPOSE <br /> <br />Location and Physical Features <br /> <br />The project is located within the $,000 square mile area <br /> <br />of the Rio Grande River Basin of Colorado, and more parti- <br /> <br />cularly in Saguache and Alamosa Counties. The lower end of <br /> <br />the Closed Basin is separated on the surface from the Rio <br /> <br />Grande River by a low alluvial divide. It contains approxi- <br /> <br />mately 2,940 square miles with an average elevation of about <br /> <br />7,500 feet. <br /> <br />The Valley floor of the Closed Basin is some 90 miles <br /> <br />long and from 5 to 20 miles wide. The lands on the Valley <br /> <br />floor are devoted to irrigation, agriculture and livestock <br /> <br />range. Those not used for irrigation, excluding extensive <br /> <br />sand dune areas, are covered with range vegetation, includ- <br /> <br />ing salt grass, greasewood, rabbit brush and other water <br /> <br />loving vegetation with some swamps and free water surfaces. <br /> <br />Clima te <br /> <br />Climate is typically high-mountain desert with rainfall <br /> <br />on the valley floor averaging about 7 inches annually. An- <br /> <br />nual precipitation on the surrounding mountains averages <br /> <br />cu''''39~ <br />I' IJ .t <br />