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s;, I I ! I 2.2 Community Description I I Mesa County bccupies a roughly triangular-shaped area in west-central Colorado. It is approximately equidistant from the north and south borders of t~e state and its western boundary is the utah-Colorado State line. I It adjoins Garfield County on the north, and Montrose, Delta, Gunni~onf and Pitkin Counties, respectively, from west to east along its so4thern boundary. The county covers an area of more t:han 3300 square miles. It extends approximately 85 miles along its northern boundary, 60 miles along its western boundary, and approxi- mately l05 m~les from its southwest to northeast corners. By major highways, ce~tral Mesa County is approximately 275 miles southeast of Salt Lake City and 250 miles west of Denver, the two closest major l' ! metropo ltan: areas. The primary ~conomic base of Mesa County has been agriculture since its establishment in l883. However, nonmetallic mineral production has also beeh important, and, in recent years, food processing and other manufaicturing activities, c~nstruction, and tourist- and rE~crea- tion-associ~ted businesses have assumed increasing importance. ~rhe , majority of leconomic activity and the principal concentration of population ~re centered in an area known as Grand Valley, which comprises a Ilarge sector of the northwestern corner of the county. Grand Junct~on, situated in the southeastern end of Grand Valley at the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers, is the business and cultura] center of Mesa County and western Colorado. , i Mesa County lis a leading producer of vanadium-bearing uranium ore and has one of ~he most modern and important processing plants in the world for p:ttoducing uranium and vanadium concentrates. Nonmetallic , minerals of : importance are coal and oil shale. It is estimated that approximate]y l.5 billion tons of bituminous and sub-bituminous coal lie within ~OOO feet of the surface in Mesa County. A number of oil shale expos~res at various locations in the county offer possibili- ties of rapid economic growth if breakthroughs take place in the technology Jf extracting oil from oil shale. Since 1949, natural gas has been exiracted from a number of fields in the county and the possibilitYlof extending existing fields and developing new fields in other areas;is considered excellent. , , Mesa countyihas a present population of approximately 60,500. Steady growth to a~proximately 92,000 is projected for the year 2000 (Refer- ence 1). T~e principal concentration of population in the county is in Grand'Junction, which has an estimated 22,000 residents. .. '" :. , The flood p~ains of the streams under study, except in a few cases, are only slightly developed. Some light-industrial, commercial, recreationa~, and rural residential uses and transportation facilities are in floo~ plain areas. Grand Valley is used mainly for agricultural purposes, a~though extensive residential and commercial development has taken p~ace in Grand Junction. In the Gateway area, a number of trailer hom~s have been established. The probability of increased " 5 ~..c~.~_ , -'':''>'-- , -1tlIIIiIJIj