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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The White River is a major tributary of the Green River in the Upper <br />Colorado River Basin (Figure 1). Originating in the Flat Top Mountains of <br />Western Colorado, the White River drains over 5,019 mi2 (13,000 km2) <br />and flows approximately 250 mi (402 km) through northwestern Colorado and <br />eastern Utah (Miller et al. 1982a). <br />The area examined during this study was a 71.7-mi (115-km) segment of <br />the White River between the Utah-Colorado state line and its confluence <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />with the Green River (Figure 2). Only two tributary streams, Evacuation <br /> <br />Creek and Bitter Creek, sustain year-round flows within this reach. <br /> <br />Water flow from both is minimal except during spring runoff and rain <br /> <br /> <br />storms. Land use in the upper 50-mi (SO-km) portion is predominatly <br /> <br /> <br />livestock grazing while the lower 20-mi (32-km) portion has scattered <br /> <br /> <br />irrigated farmlands within the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. <br /> <br /> <br />Mean annual streamflow at the mouth of the White River, near Ouray, <br /> <br /> <br />Utah, between 1974 and 19S1 was 632 ft3js (17.9 m3js). Peak flows <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />generally occur from mid-May to mid-July when snow melt occurs in the <br /> <br />upper Colorado watershed. Base flows during the remainder of the year <br />range from 200 to 500 ft3js (5.7 to 14.2 m3/s). Extremes for the <br />period of record range from 4,260 ft3js (121 m3/s) on 29 March 1979 <br />to 1.6 ft 3/s (0.045 m3/s) on IS July 1977 (U. S. Geological Survey <br />19S1). <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Within the 71.7-mi (115-km) river segment three relatively homogenous <br /> <br />strata (habitats) were described by Miller et al. (19S2a). The uppermost <br /> <br />. <br />