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<br />001E6 <br /> <br />-1- <br /> <br />P!RT I <br /> <br />UNCQ1PAHGRE RIVER BASIN <br /> <br />By John R. Erickson <br /> <br />- - - <br /> <br />I - DESCRIPTION <br /> <br />I. looationl <br /> <br />The Unoompahgre River Basin lies an the north slope of the San <br />Juan Mountains in s<l\1thW'lstern Colorado, and is a part of thlil drainage <br />system of the Gunnison Hiwr. General outline of the basin is shown on <br />Plate I as solid and cross-hatohed red area. (The solid area being tho <br />lower valley region in which the oonsumptive use investigation vas car- <br />ried on). Its area. inoludss tl-tl most northerly tip of San Juo.n County, <br />all or Ouray County, (with the exoeption of vary small areas on the west- <br />ern side of the County. where the county boundary follows seotion lines <br />instead of the drainage divide - see Plate II), most of the east half of <br />Montrose County and a small portion of tl-tl southern end of Delta County- <br />It embraces a total area of 1.110 square miles. <br /> <br />2. Basin Seotionsl <br /> <br />Changes in physioal oharacteristics of the basin. divide it <br />naturally into three definite sections. <br /> <br />The first seotion is the headwater area above the to...n of <br />Oolray. The main stem of the Unoompahgre Hi vel' rises there in a group of <br />lakes in the San Juan Mountains at an elevation of about 12.000 feet. <br />Its principal tributaries are Red Mountain Creek and Canyon Creek which <br />rise in the swme vicinity at approximately the same altitude. These tri- <br />butaries join the River at or above Ouray. (Plate II). In this first <br />section the streams literally falloff the sides of the mountains. In a <br />distanoe of about 6 miles from the River' s souroe to Ouray the fall is <br />4.300 feet: and there are peaks within 3-1/2 miles of Ouray whioh are <br />5.800 feet hi ghar than the town. In this strictly mountainous section <br />there is no use of .,and or vater for purposes other than gazing and <br />mining. <br /> <br />Definite modification of the terrain takes place below Ouray. <br />The valleys through whioh the River and its tributaries flow begin to <br />broaden and flatten enough for irrigation of lOOadow lands and a small <br />aoreal",lt of other orops. This second seotion of too basin extends down <br />to the approximate vioinity of Colona. Location of irrigated lands in <br />