South Platte River Basin Assessment Report

• Description: Prepared for the CWCB
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 8/1/1982
• Author: Woodward-Clyde Consultants
• Title: South Platte River Basin Assessment Report
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

CHAPTER 2
PHYSICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SETTING
Basin Setting
The South Platte River drains an area of 24,300 square miles in southern
Wyoming, northeastern Colorado, and southwestern Nebraska. Approximately
19,450 square miles of the total basin area are located within the State of
Colorado (Figures 1 and 2). The basin is delineated by the Continental
Divide on the west, the North Platte River basin to the north, the Arkansas
River basin to the south, and the Republican River basin to the southeast
(`Figure 2). The South Platte River originates in South Park, and flows
440 miles in a north and then northeast direction to its confluence with
the North Platte River in Nebraska (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1959;
Li, 1968).
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For purposes of
this assessment study, the South Platte River basin has
been divided into
3 topographic or geographic zones: the Mountain,
'
Transition, and
Plains zones (Figure 3). Approximately 25
percent of the
basin is in the
Rocky Mountain Province, which corresponds
to the Mountain
'
and Transition zones (Fenneman, 1931). The Rocky Mountain
Province is
composed of the
Colorado Front Range and the Rampart Range
(U.S. Department
of the Interior,
1959).
The Plains zone is part of the Colorado Piedmont and High Plains sections
of the Great Plains Province (Fenneman, 1931). Most of the Plains zone is
located in the Colorado Piedmont section of the Great Plains Province, with
the exception of that part of the basin downstream from the confluence of
Lodgepole Creek with the South Platte River just upstream from Julesburg,
Colorado (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1959).
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