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<br />Plateau Creek has its headwaters in the Grant Mesa National Forest, <br />approximately 18 miles southeast of the Town of Collbran. The <br />stream flows northwesterly from its origin near Chalk Mountain into <br />Vega Reservoir, approximately 11 miles upstream from Col1bran. <br />Plateau Creek then continues westerly from Vega Reservoir through <br />Collbran to its confluence with the Colorado River approximately 19 <br />miles downstream from Collbran. The area drained by Plateau Creek <br />at the downstream corporate limits of Collbran is approximately 316 <br />square miles. The drainage basin of Plateau Creek drops from an <br />elevation of 11,000 feet at its headwaters to 6,000 feet at <br />Collbran. <br /> <br />Grove Creek has its headwaters 10 the Grand Mesa National Forest <br />approximately 10 miles southeast of Collbran. The stream flows <br />northwesterly from its origin near the Sheep Flats through Collbran <br />to its confluence with Plateau Creek just west of the downstream <br />corporate limits of Collbran. Grove Creek has a drainage area of <br />approximately 21.6 square miles at its confluence with Plateau <br />Creek. The drainage basin drops in elevation from 10,400 feet at <br />its headwaters to 5,950 feet at its mouth. <br /> <br />The floodplains of Plateau Creek and Grove Creek are residentially <br />developed. There is also some minor commercial development in the <br />Plateau Creek floodplain. <br /> <br />The floodplain along Roan Creek contains areas of irrigated pasture <br />and hayland interspersed with areas of natural vegetation. Along <br />the channel, the vegetation consists of a variety of forbs, <br />grasses, sedges and rushes interspersed with cottonwoods, willows, <br />and siberian elm. The meandering channel, passing through <br />cropland, provides a diversity in landscape. <br /> <br />The lush vegetation in the floodplain contrasts vividly <br />surrounding barren hills. This diversity enhances the <br />visual aesthetics and wildlife habitat values. <br /> <br />to the <br />area's <br /> <br />Information on drainage areas and stream gradients of the streams <br />under study 1S shown in Table 2. <br /> <br />The climate in Mesa County is directly influenced by the varying <br />topographic features. The lower valley areas of the northwest are <br />arid to semiarid, whereas the high, mountainous terrain of the <br />northeast is subject to moderately heavy precipitation. Because <br />storm systems move from west to east through the region, the <br />temperature varies greatly from summer to winter, and rapid changes <br />of weather occur. Climatic variations may occur within <br />comparatively small areas as a result of the greatly differing <br />topography. Elevation directly influences precipitation, with the <br />Grand Valley area and the Gunnison River valley receiving less than <br />10 inches annually, the higher mesas receiving from 10 to 20 <br />inches, and the mountains of the northwest receiving more than 40 <br />inches. Occurrence of precipitation is extremely variable, with a <br />large part of the total concentrated in several months. Late <br />summer convective-type cloudburst storms of small areal extent and <br /> <br />8 <br />