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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. . <br />01~ : <br />L~~- <br /> <br />INTROOUCTION <br /> <br />The prImary purpose of the Narrows UnIt 15 to provIde supplemental <br />IrrIgation water to about 166,370 acres of land, Narrows Reservoir <br />also would serve the purposes of flood control, fish and wIldlIfe, <br />recreatIon, and Incidental water quality Improvement. <br /> <br />Narrows ReservoIr would be located In Weld and Horgan CountIes, <br />Colorado, about 7 mIles west of Fort Horgan. Lands to be IrrIgated <br />by the project lIe along both sIdes of the South Platte RIver In <br />Colorado, generally between Narrows Dam and the Colorado-Nebraska <br />State line, In parts of Horgan, Washington, Logan, and Sedgwick <br />CountIes. Plate I of the memorandum report precedIng thIs sub- <br />stantiating report depIcts the project area. <br /> <br />DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA <br /> <br />The South Platte River drains northeastern Colorado, southeastern <br />WyomIng, and southwestern Nebraska. Its drainage basIn Is roughly <br />rectangular In shape, wIth an elongatIon at the northeast corner. The <br />total draInage area 15 24,300 square mIles, 13,450 of whIch are above <br />the proposed Narrows Reservoir sIte. In Colorado. <br /> <br />The South Platte River rIses northwest of Falrplay, Colorado, along <br />the eastern slopes.of the ContInental DivIde. It flows south and <br />then east across the broad South Park Valley and through Eleven-Hlle <br />Canyon. Near Lake George, Colorado, the river runs northward through <br />40 mIles of mountainous country untIl It emerges from the foothIlls <br />about 15 mIles south of Denver. It then contInues generally north- <br />ward to the vicInIty of Greeley, where It turns and follows an <br />Irregular east and northeast course to Its confluence wIth the North <br />Platte River at North Platte, Nebraska. Total length of the South <br />Platte RIver 15 about 442 mIles. <br /> <br />Near Its source, the average gradIent of the South Platte RIver Is <br />more than 1,000 feet per mIle. The gradient decreases to about 20 <br />feet per mile through South Park, then Increases to about 68 feet <br />per mile In the South Platte Canyon. Across the plains, the average <br />gradient varIes from IS feet per mIle just downstream from Denver to <br />8 feet per mIle In the lower reaches. <br /> <br />The prIncIpal trIbutarIes whIch Join the South Platte RIver from the <br />west, In downstream order, are Tarryall Creek, North Fork of the <br />