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Fish and Game Commission. The lake has little influence in the control of flood flows due to its small size and uncontrolled spillway. The flood plain in the North Fork Republican River valley has a moderate width averaging from one-fifth mile in the upper reaches to one-half mile in the downstream most reaches. In Wray, the flood plain is approximately one-quarter mile wide. The stream valley gradually slopes from the creek banks to the foot of steep bluffs which rise as much as 100 to 150 feet above the flood plain. The entire city is bordered on the south, and to a lesser extent on the north, by sheer cliffs which rise 150 feet above the stream. The riverbed slopes approximately 10 feet per mile, with a channel varying in width from 1 foot in the upper reaches to 25 feet in the downstream areas. The channel banks vary in depth from 1 foot to approximately 12 feet. Topographic barriers existing on the northern and southern edges of Wray have forced expansion into the North Fork Republican River flood plain. In 1934, the City of Wray attempted to improve some of the bottom area so it could be developed for business purposes. The river channel was straightened and a levee built on the north bank, upstream of Adams Street, A diversion dam was also placed in the river, upstream of u.s. Highway 385, and a millrace was constructed parallel to, and on the south side of, the river channel between Blake and Cedar Streets. Lack of knOWledge of the flooding potential, coupled with the availability of flat, unused land, has spurred development up to the edges of the channel. Presently, business establishments are located on both sides of the channel at Main and Adams Streets. A shopping center housing several businesses has also been constructed in the flood plain between Adams Street and U.S. Highway 385. The tracks of the Burlington Northern Railroad are also in the flood plain and have been subjected to inundation in past years, as have portions of U.S. Highways 34 and 385. The basin is predominately agricultural with most of the area devoted to grazing or raising crops through irrigation. Few artifi- cial ponds have been built in this area because most of the water is obtained by either pumping from wells or by taking water from several irrigation canals which run parallel to the river at.different locations along the length of the river. The City of Wray obtains water from deep wells in the sandhills north of the city. The adjacent unincorporated areas of Yuma County rank high in production of corn, sorghum, wheat, sugar beets, pinto beans, and various grains. Wray has a semi-arid climate with hot summers and long, cold winters. Summer precipitation in the form of intense, short-duration thunder- storms accounts for the majority of total annual precipitation. These intense, localized storms are the most frequent type of storm occurring in this region. Normal annual precipitation Over 4