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• <br />Consumptive Uses and Losses 3 <br />Upper Colorado River Basin <br />Green River (Wyoming - Colorado -Utah) <br />The Green River reporting area comprises approximately 44,800 square miles in <br />southwestern Wyoming, northwestern Colorado, and northeastern and east - central Utah. <br />Principal tributaries of the Green River are Blacks Fork, New Fork, and Big Sandy Creek in <br />southwestern Wyoming, Yampa and White Rivers on the western slope of the Continental <br />Divide in northwestern Colorado, and the Price, Duchesne, and San Rafael Rivers in <br />eastern Utah. These streams are fed by numerous headwater lakes. <br />The largest towns in the reporting area are Rock Springs and Green River in Wyoming, <br />Vernal and Price in Utah, and Craig, Steamboat Springs, and Meeker in Colorado. <br />Mineral production is the major industry. Oil and natural gas are of primary importance, as <br />are coal, gilsonite, asphalt, and trona (soda ash). Thermal electric power production <br />is becoming an increasingly important industry. <br />Agriculture ranks near mineral production in importance to the local economy. Agricultural <br />development is centered around livestock production, primarily beef cattle and sheep. <br />Because of a short growing season, crop production is limited largely to small grain, hay, and <br />• pasture. These crops are used as winter livestock feed and complement the vast areas of <br />public grazing lands. <br />Irrigation consumptive use accounts for about 72 percent of the total water use in the Green <br />River reporting area exclusive of any share of main stem evaporation. Nearly 675,000 <br />acres of land are irrigated in an average year. Large exports of water are made to the <br />Great Basin in Utah. <br />Upper Main Stem (Colorado -Utah) <br />The Upper Main Stem reporting area is drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries <br />above the mouth of the Green River. Principal tributaries are the Roaring Fork, Gunnison, <br />and the Dolores Rivers. The Upper Main Stem reporting area consists of 26,200 square <br />miles, with about 85 percent of the area in Colorado and the remainder in Utah. <br />Grand Junction, Montrose, and Glenwood Springs are the principal towns in the Colorado <br />portion of the upper main stem of the Colorado River. Moab is the only major community in <br />the Utah portion of the upper main stem of the Colorado River. <br />Mineral production is the predominant industry. This area is the Nation's chief source of <br />molybdenum and is a major source of vanadium, uranium, lead, zinc, coal, and gilsonite. On <br />the Upper Main Stem reporting area, as in that of the Green River, agriculture centers <br />around production of livestock which feeds on irrigated lands to complement the large areas <br />of rangeland. Somewhat increased diversification of crops occurs in the Upper Main Stem, <br />however, with some major land areas devoted to corn, beans, potatoes, table vegetables, <br />and fruit. This diversification is made possible by climatic and topographic conditions that <br />create favorable air drainage and minimize frost damage. <br />