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<br />,~ <br />~;,.:_>:' <br />.,,~ <br /> <br />THE PROJECT AREA <br /> <br />General Descri;j?tion <br /> <br />The C::olorado Division of the Rio Grande W'ater Salvage Project <br />extends upstream from the ColoradO-New Mexico state line and comprises <br />the SanI,uis Valley of south-central Colorado which has an areal extent <br />of about 8,000 square miles. The northern portion o:f the Valley is <br />,separated :from the Rio Grande drainage by a low alltlviaJ. divide and is <br />known as the Closed llasin. The floor o:fthe Valley lies at a general <br />elevation o:f about 7500 :feet above sea level and is an almost treeless <br />plain which extends :from its northern end, at Poncha Pass, about 90 miles <br />south to the Colorado-New Mexico state line. It varles in widthf'rom <br />about 20 to 50 miles as shown on the General Map, Drawing 253-504-1780. <br /> <br />The San Juan Mountains and the Continental Divide :fonn the <br />west boundary o:f the Valley and the Sangre de Cristo Range :fo'nns'the <br />east boundary. <br /> <br />The mountains are generally heavily wooded and include more <br />than a dozen peaks rising to elevations in excess 0:f"14/000 :feet. Many <br />streams flow from the mountains into or across the Valley. The Rio <br />Grande and the Conejos River are the largest o:f these streams. The Rio <br />Grande cuts across the Valley in all easterly di:rection before turning <br />south near Alamosa. The Conejos River :flows northeast near the southern <br />boundary of the Valley and joins the Rio Grande near La Sauses. <br /> <br />- , <br />The lands on the Valley :floor are largely devoted to irrigated <br />agriculture. Those not used :for irrigation, excluding extensive sand <br />dune areas, are covered with salt grass, greasewood, rabbit 'brush, and <br />' other water-consuming vegetation and are used :for limited grazing o:f <br />livestock. ' , <br /> <br />Selection o:f Potential Water, Salvage.Areas <br /> <br />The water supplies of the San Luis Valley are derived principally <br />:from that portion o:f the drainage area above the 8ooo-:foot elevation.' The <br />Valley floor, about 500 feet below the water production line, receives an <br />average' of only about 7 inches o:f precipitation a year. Under such meager <br />precipitation occurrence, natural vegetation tends to be of the xeropbytic <br />-tY]:le. The uncultivated areas where a high ground water table fu.rnishes <br />additional water Supplies to nonbeneficial consumptive, use of native <br />vegetation aI'el generally readily identifiable by the 'change in vegetatian . <br />to the phreatic type. Locations of such areas are common knoWledge to the <br />water users and administrative of:ficials. Some of the areas of high ground <br />water table and nonbenef'icial consumptive use have also been included ,in <br />various programs of ground .water observation. r _ 'r ,,_ <br />tJ "" ~ '-l J <br /> <br />After review of available data and reports, and consultation with <br />water users and administrative officials, areas of potential water salvage <br />were selected by aerial and ground inspection of the Valley- floor'by' <br />