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<br />CJ:) <br />L'i <br />~ <br />...-oj <br /> <br />NORTH FORK SUBBASIN <br /> <br />Physical Description of Subbasin <br /> <br />The North Fork subbasin includes the drainage area of the North Fork of the <br />,Gunnison River and its tributaries plus the LeRoux, Currant, Surface and <br />Tongue Creeks drainages. <br /> <br />Soils <br /> <br />Soils of this subbasin range in elevation from 5,500 to 12,000 feet and <br />consist of four major soil groupings: 1. Desert-Sierozem; 2. Brown- <br />Chestnut; 3. Mountain Prairie-Chestnut; 4. Gray Wooded-Brown Podzolic- <br />Mountain Prairie. <br /> <br />The largest acreages of irrigated land in this subbasin are in the Brown- <br />Chestnut grouping (45,900 acres) and the Desert-Sierozem grouping (10,000 <br />acres). Acreage of the great soil groups within each major soil grouping, <br />and distribution of this acreage by irrigated land and vegetative types, is <br />given in table 20. <br /> <br />Land Use, Cover Condition and Management <br /> <br />The ~North Fork subbasin has about 61,900 acres of irrigated land. This amount <br />represents 23.5 percent of the irrigated lands in the entire Gunnison River <br />Basin. The remaining land is used for livestock range, timber production, <br />recreation and maintenance of wildlife. <br /> <br />In 1961 over 300 elk and nearly <br />by approximately 4,000 hunters. <br />continue to increase. <br /> <br />4,000 deer were harvested from this area <br />Use of this area by hunters and fishermen will <br /> <br />The majority of the irrigated land is located on mesas that are quite sloping. <br />The high mountain meadows are on wet alluvial bottoms and open park areas in <br />the sagebrush, oakhrush and aspen vegetative zones. Other irrigated land lies <br />along the Gunnison River and its tributaries and below the adobe hills. <br /> <br />The frost-free season in the irrigated area is about 146 days. The elevation <br />above sea level is high, but due to the protection from Grand Mesa and good <br />air drainage, the climate is adapted to fruit production on slopes with <br />southern exposure. <br /> <br />Some irrigated areas near Cedaredge are considered as being water-short areas. <br />Several projects are under various stages of investigation and/or construction <br />to help correct this condition. <br /> <br />When water supplies have been improved, farm and ranch operators can apply <br />conservation practices such as land leveling, irrigation system improvement, <br />and waste water disposal. Many management practices such as irrigation <br />water management, crop rotation and fertilizer application can be improved <br />with on-site technical assistance. <br /> <br />- 55 - <br />