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<br />~ <br />c:v: <br />c <br />-- <br /> <br />c <br /> <br />Table 15. - Watershed condi tion by vegetative types, Sni th Fork project <br /> <br />Principal vegetative type Plant cover condi tions <br />Good Fair Poor To tal s <br /> - - - - - - Sq. miles - - - - - - <br />Dense conifer timber 2 2 <br />Open confier timber 3 3 <br />Aspen 28 28 <br />Oak brush 45 15 60 <br />Other mountain brush 12 38 50 <br />Sagebrush 1 26 27 <br />Grass 3 12 15 <br />Pinon-juniper 29 29 <br />Sub to tal 90 57 67 214 <br />Barren 15 <br />Cultivated land 36 <br />To tal 265 <br /> <br />Soils and Erosion <br /> <br />The drainages are characterized by steep slopes wi th thin soil cover. Deeper <br />s> 11 is found in the narrow valley bottoms. The main streams have a low <br />gradient while the feeder tributaries are steeper. Lands vi th poor and very <br />poor vegetative condi tions are losing soil. Sheet erosion is prevalent wi th <br />active gully erosion in certain areas. <br /> <br />Lower elevation rangelands have severe sheet and gully erosion. Sollie of the <br />area is so sparsely vegetated it is considered barren. Much of the mixed <br />shrub-type appears to have a good cover but does not afford soil protection <br />against erosion because litter and residue are lacking. <br /> <br />Gully eorsion not only resul ts from poor vegetative cover but from the <br />practice of using natural waterways to transport irrigation water. Many of <br />these waterways were not suffi ciently vegetated to handle the flow of irrigation <br />water. Past practice has been to use a waterwa,y until it became severely <br />gullied and then divert irrigation water to another waterwa,y. Consequently <br />several gullies have been caused by one di tch. <br /> <br />- 50 - <br />