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<br />.. <br /> <br />( <br /> <br />I\' <br /> <br />i <br /> <br />~ <br />( <br /> <br />l <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />- 6 - <br /> <br />Soils in the area below the High Line Canal are dominantly silty <br />clay loam and silty clay. Under natural conditions they contain a moderate <br />concentration 'of salts derived from the parent materials. Generally, <br />these soils are without visible lime, but they are-calcareous. Internal <br />drainage is .usually slow. Although moderately fine textured, these soils <br />generally are highly productive under good management. Many of the <br />soils having favorable physical characteristics have become more productive <br />through the years of cultivation as a result of the incorporation of <br />additional organic matter and the leaching of-~alts by irrigation water. <br />Some of .the soils in this area have limited agricultural suitability <br />because restricted internal drainage causes waterlogging and the accumulation <br />of high concentrations of salts. <br /> <br />Range Sites.- The principal range sites in the watershed are Desert <br />Shale, Desert Upland, and Desert Floodplain. The area has an arid <br />climate, and natural vegetation is sparse. The dominant plant on most <br />of the alluvial flats is greasewood, a salt-tolerant shrub. The gently <br />undulating to sharply rolling uplands that are underlain by shale support <br />a moderate to scant cover consisting chiefly of saltbush, rabbitbrush, <br />shadscale, and galletagrass. The higher terraces and mesas support a <br />cover consisting dominantly. of shadscale, galletagrass, Indian ricegrass, <br />sacaton, and western wheatgrass. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Land Use.- The acreage and percentage distribution of land use <br />in the watershed is shown in the following table: <br /> <br />Land Use <br /> <br />Acres <br /> <br />Percent <br /> <br />Rangeland <br />Bureau of Land Hanagement <br />Pri vate <br />City of Grand J~~ction 11 <br />Total Rangeland - <br /> <br />Irrigated Cropland <br />Residential and Commercial <br />Miscellaneous 11 <br /> <br />Total <br /> <br />5,735 <br />1,230 <br />100 <br />7,065 <br />1,260 <br />780 <br />. 535 <br /> <br />9,640 <br /> <br />59.4 <br />12.8 <br />1.0 <br />73:2 <br />13.1 <br />8.1 <br />5.6 <br />100.0 <br /> <br />1/ Land owned outside City limits. <br />II Miscellaneous includes Indian Wash channel, crolals, roads,. railroads, <br />and fannsteads. <br /> <br />Climate.- The climate is arid. The average annual precipitation <br />at Grand Junction is 9.08 inches. Snowfall averages about 20 inches <br />annually. The mean daily temperature is 52.1 degrees. The average <br />length of the growing season is 189 days, beginning April 16 and <br />ending October 23. <br /> <br />. <br />