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2.0 INTRODUCTION <br />2.1 Basin Description <br />The White River basin lies in the northwest portion of Colorado to the south of the Yampa River <br />basin and north of the Colorado River basin. Approximately 2,600 square miles of drainage area <br />contribute to flows at the White River gage at the Colorado-Utah state line. Elevations within the <br />basin range from over 7,500 feet (amsl) in the headwater areas near the town of Buford, to about <br />5,400 feet (amsl) near the town of Rangely, Colorado The major tributaries to the White River <br />include the North and South Fork of the White River and Piceance Creek. Average annual <br />streamflow in the White River at the Colorado-Utah state line is about 595,100 acre-feet. <br />The principal water use in the White River basin is irrigation. Non-agricultural diversions include the <br />towns of Rangely and Meeker, and the California Company water plant. A single trans watershed <br />diversion, the Coal Creek feeder ditch, is included in the model and transports water from Fawn <br />Creek on the North Fork of the White to Coal Creek, also in the White River basin. <br />Two reservoirs are explicitly modeled in the White River Model, Taylor Draw Reservoir on the <br />mainstem of the White River and Big Beaver Creek Reservoir on Big Beaver Creek. Taylor Draw <br />Reservoir has a storage volume of 13,800 acre-feet while Big Beaver Creek Reservoir has a storage <br />volume of 7,658 acre-feet. Both of these reservoirs are used primarily for recreation and supply little <br />to no water for irrigation. Figure 2.1 a shows the general layout of the White River basin. <br />2.2 Water Resources Developments <br />The White River basin has had no water resources developments in the form of federal storage <br />projects and pipelines. <br />2.3 Historical Water Rights Administration <br />Historical water rights have been administered in the White River basin on the basis of direct flow <br />priorities where senior direct flow rights will call out junior diverts elsewhere on the river. No <br />special cases of water rights administration were identified in the White River basin. <br />The senior direct flow rights on the mainstem of the White River between Flag Creek and Miller <br />Creek have only had to call out junior diverts once, in 1977. Piceance Creek, a tributary to the <br />White, is routinely subject to administrative regulation during the irrigation season. <br />Introduction 2-1 <br />