Colorado State Water Plan 1974 ‎(Phase I)‎

• Year: 1974
• Title: Colorado State Water Plan
• CWCB Section: Agency-wide
• Publications - Doc Type: Historical

General Description of the Environment
In western Colorado, particularly in the lower valleys, greater uniformity
of weather is experienced than in the eastern plains. Severe sudden temperature
changes are relatively absent and growing seasons are longer. Precipitation west
of the Continental Divide is more evenly spread over the year than is the case in
the eastern plains. For much of western Colorado, the greatest monthly amounts
of precipitation occur in the winter months, with June the driest month. The
highest temperatures in summer occur in the lower valleys, and are comparable
to those of the eastern plains. Winter temperature averages are lower than at
comparable elevations in the plains, largely as the result of smaller day to day
variation and the relative absence of chinook effects.
Climatic data at selected stations are summarized in table 2. 2.
ECOLOGICAL RESOURCES
Vegetal Cover
Vegetal cover or the lack of it has an important bearing on water resources.
Properties such as soil infiltration rates, evaporation, rate of snow melt, and the
rate of erosion are influenced by the vegetal cover. These in turn influence the
rate and volume of surface runoff, the ground water, and the sedimentation rate
of both natural lakes and man-made reservoirs.
Vegetal cover is largely the product of the climate. Other factors that
exert major influences are geological formations and the activities of man.
Many activities of man, such as the development of cities and highways,
agriculture, and strip mining, destroy or radically change the vegetal cover.
In Colorado, several major types of vegetation have been recognized.
Agricultural croplands are considered as two types in this report, that is, dry
cropland and irrigated cropland. They, of course, have no permanent cover,
but cannot be considered barren because they are covered by agricultural crops
periodically.
Each major type of vegetal cover is discussed in the following sections,
and the location of these types is shown on exhibit 2.1.
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