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<br />- 3 - <br /> <br /> <br />G 81; 5 ", <br /> <br />PROBLEMS AND CONCERNS <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />The'Colorado Water Conservation Board, acting for the State of Colorado, <br />requested the Department of Agriculture to conduct a cooperative river basin <br />study of the Missouri River Tributaries within Colorado. This includes the <br />North and South Platte River Basins along with the Republican River Basin. <br /> <br />The CWCB's request stems from its legislative authority which charges them <br />with these responsibilities: (1) to promote the conservation of the waters of <br />the State of Colorado in order to secure the greatest utilization of such <br />waters and the utmost prevention of floods, and (2) to cooperate with the <br />United States and agencies thereof, and with other states for the purpose of <br />bringing about the greatest utilization of the waters of the State of Colorado <br />and the prevention of flood damages. <br /> <br />Data developed by the study will enable farmers and irrigation companies, <br />with USDA and state assistance, to improve their productivity, water use <br />efficiency, and water management. As a result, the social, environmental, and <br />economic stability of the area should be improved. <br /> <br />Description of Basin <br /> <br />The study area contains all of the North and South Platte Rivers and <br />Republican River drainages within Colorado. Figure 1 shows the location of the <br />study area. The Platte River drainage contains both the North and South Platte <br />River Basins. The Republican River drainage includes the Frenchman, Arikaree, <br />South Fork of the Arikaree, North and South Forks of the Republican, and the <br />Smoky Hill River drainages. The total area is approximately 19,121,000 acres. <br />Table B-1 in Appendix B shows the land use in the major basins. <br /> <br />Land forms range from mountain peaks, 14,000 feet in elevation to the <br />rolling prairie of eastern Colorado with an average elevation of 4,000 feet <br />above mean sea level. Major urban centers of Denver, Boulder, Ft. Collins and <br />Greeley are located within the area. It is estimated that 1,986,603 people <br />lived in the area in 1980. The front range, comprising the eastern slope of <br />the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, is experiencing very rapid growth in <br />population. Surface irrigation water is supplied from the South Platte, with <br />augmentation from the Colorado River Systems via interbasin transfers; North <br />Platte, and Republican Rivers. Groundwater is obtained from shallow aquifers <br />connected with the South Platte River and from the Ogallala Aquifer. <br />Additional resource data may be found in Appendices A-G. <br />