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<br />IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT ENVIRONMENT <br /> <br />A. Overview of Project Area. The project area includes the Upper Colorado <br />River from the Colorado-Utah state line upstream to Rifle, Colorado and the <br />reach of the Gunnison River from its confluence with the Colorado River <br />upstream.to Delta, Colorado (Figure 1). Most of the ponds are located in <br />the floodplain of the rivers that are concentrated in the Grand Valley from <br />Loma to Palisade, Colorado (Mesa County), DeBeque to Rifle, Colorado <br />(Garfield County), and upstream and downstream of Delta, Colorado (Delta <br />County) . <br /> <br />The Grand Valley is a broad, fertile valley and floodplain carved by the <br />Colorado and Gunnison rivers with two dominant land forms -- the Uncompahgre <br />Plateau and the Grand Mesa (Mesa County Planning Commission 1996). The Ute <br />Indians used the Grand Valley as a wintering and hunting area. Mesa County <br />was part of the Ute Reservation established by a 1868 treaty until the Utes <br />were moved to Utah in 1881, allowing white settl~rs to homestead in the <br />Grand Valley. Presently, agricultural lands in the Grand Valley comprise <br />over 4.2 million acres and urban areas comprise approximately 1.0 million <br />acres (Mesa County Planning Commission 1996). <br /> <br />The human population in Mesa County was 109,769 persons in 1997 (Grand <br />Junction Area Chamber of Commerce 1997). Nearly half of the persons <br />(40,125) in Mesa County in 1995 resided in Grand Junction. Most of the <br />people reside in the urban communities with about half of the population in <br />Grand Junction. Presently, the five major occupations in the area include <br />services (28%), retail stores (25%), gove'rnment employment (17%), <br />manufacturing (8.5%), and construction (>6%); Grand Junction Area Chamber <br />of Commerce 1997). Only 1.3% of the people in the Grand Valley are employed <br />in agriculture, forestry, and fi shi ng (Mesa County Pl anni ng Commi ssi on <br />1996). Projections for human population growth in Mesa County is about <br />116,500 persons by the Year 2000 and slightly over 137,000 by the Year 2010 <br />(Mesa County Planning Commission 1996). <br /> <br />R ifl e, Colorado is the upstream end of the cri t i ca 1 habi tat for the <br />endangered Colorado River fishes. Rifle is located in Garfield County and <br />contained a population of nearly 5,300 people in 1994 (Rifle Area Chamber <br />of Commerce Undated). Residents of Rifle are involved in various <br />occupations such as agriculture, mining, personal services, professional <br />services, and retired individuals. Tourism, hunting, and mining are the <br />important industries in Garfield County (Rifle Area Chamber of Commerce <br />Undated). Fuels such as natural gas, coal, oil shale, and nacholite have <br />been mined or developed within close proximity of Rifle. The population of <br />Garfield County in 1992 was estimated at 29,974 (Rifle Area Chamber of <br />Commerce Undated). Outdoor recreation by touri sts is pursued on over a <br />million acres of public lands surrounding Rifle and on private lands. <br /> <br />Delta, Colorado is the upstream end of the critical habitat for the <br />endangered fishes in the Gunnison River. Floodplain ponds are primarily <br />confi ned to the broad vall ey both upstream and downstream of Delta. <br />Agriculture dominates the Delta valley. The population in Delta County in <br />1994 was 24,179 persons and is expected to grow to about 35,888 by the Year <br /> <br />8 <br />