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<br />Description
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<br />OOXELDER CREEK WATERSHED
<br />DESCRIPTION OF TIlE WATERSHED
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<br />The Boxelcler Creek Watershed is located in parts of Larimer and Weld
<br />Counties, Colorado and in Albany and Laramie Counties, Wyaning. The
<br />watershed is abOUt 32 miles in length and averages about S miles in
<br />width and consists of Boxelder Creek, a flowing stream, heading in the
<br />northwestern part of the watershed in Wyoming, flows southeasterly into
<br />Colorado (29.9 square miles) and is joined from the north by Sand Creek,
<br />an intermittent stream, which also heads in Wy(ll\ing (21.5 square miles].
<br />Jlaxelder Creek is OCM an intennitt:""ntly flnw;ng ~trt!am becal!Se~.everal
<br />-.i_rrigatien-d.Urersions Geolete the nannal stream n(M. To the east,
<br />Rawhide Creek, a nonnally dry stream, heads 1n t.:o!oflido and flows south
<br />joining Boxelder Creek (42 square miles). Coal CreeK, a normally dry
<br />stream, heads in Wycming, flows easterly and then south through the
<br />eastern part of Wellington, Colorado and joins Boxelder Creek about a
<br />mile south of Wellington (60.4 square miles). Indian Creek, a normally
<br />dry stream until it gets <bm into the irrigated land, heads on the
<br />eastern side in Colorado flOl<iing south and joining BoxelderCreekabout
<br />2 miles south of Wellington, Colorado (33.7 square miles). The COlmlOll
<br />alluvial flood plain ~ontinues south to its confluence with the Cache In
<br />Poudre River about 3 miles southeast of Fort Collins, Colorado at lati-
<br />tude 40Q 32' 30" :-Iorth and longitude l05Q 00' West. The Cache III POlldre
<br />is tributary to the South Platte River in north central Colorado. The
<br />tOl{Jl of \\'ellington and t."e coomunities of Buckeye and~.averly are with-
<br />in tll" wat"rsh\!u boundary. o,eyenne, Wyoming is about 14 miles north-
<br />east of the watershed. TIle watershed contains 160,640 a,res or 251 s~uare
<br />mi.1es... whidl is mostly grassland in the upper and eastern part ana un-
<br />gated ,ropland and mis~ellaneous uses in the middle and lower portions.
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<br />Geologi, formations exposed within the watershed consist of rocks and
<br />sediments ranging fran Precambrian to Quaternary in age. The Pre,am-
<br />brian rocks, consisting of granite with sane schists and gneisses, are
<br />exposed along the extreme western to northwestern portions of the area.
<br />Sedimentary roc::ks, which underlie the remainder of the watershed to the
<br />east, range in age frem Pennsylvanian to Tertiary. The Pennsylvanian
<br />to La..rer Cretal:eous ro,ks are a series of sandstones, siltstones, shales,
<br />and limestones whicll have an average dip to the east of about 15 degrees
<br />fnn horizontal and fonn the praninent ridges and narrow valleys char-
<br />acteristic of the western portion of the watershed. The eastern part
<br />of the watershed is underlain by soft shales with sane thin sandstone
<br />and limestone beds of Upper Cretaceous age. The Tertiary rocks crop
<br />out in the extreme north to northeastern portion of the area and con-
<br />sist of tuffaceous siltstone of Oligocene age and weakly cemented sand
<br />and gravel of Mioc::ene and Pliol:ene age. These rocks are essentially
<br />horizontal.
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<br />PHYSICAL DATA
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<br />l.oc;ation and Size
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<br />Soils
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<br />Physiography and Geology
<br />The watershed lies wi thin the COlorado Piedmont se~tion of the Great
<br />Plains physiographi, province. Altitudes range froo about 1, no feet
<br />at the northern end of the watershed in Wyoming to 4,860 feet at the
<br />lower end where Boxelder Creek joins the Cache la I'oudre RiVer. i11e
<br />upper part of the waterShed ,onsists of a small area of broadly rolling
<br />plateaus, belOof which is an area of hogback ridges and narrow mesas
<br />formed by resistant sandstone and limestone layers and interspersed with
<br />narrow valleys and canyons. To the east and south of these ridges and
<br />mesas is an extensive area of rolling plains underlain mainly by rela.
<br />tively soft shales. The flatter portions of this plains area contains
<br />most of the irrigated and non-irrigated ,ropland.
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<br />Soils in the watershed are quite variable but may be divided into four
<br />areas. The first area would include the shallow to !IlOderately deep
<br />soils developed on the granites of the northwest portion of the water-
<br />shed. The western portion is characterized by a ~eries of steep ridges,
<br />'liffs and narrow valleys in sandstone, shale and limestone bedrock.
<br />East facing soils are shallow with many rock exposures, west facing
<br />slopes are of very steep rocky, colluvial soils with deep alluvial soils
<br />in the valleys. Moderately deep gravelly soils on small plateau or mesa
<br />like areas make up IlIOSt of the area in the northeast. Soils of the irri-
<br />gated land are dominantly deep or lllOderately deep l?= over shales,
<br />sandstone or gravels. The larger drainages are domInantly alluvial soils
<br />of loam to clay loam in texture.
<br />A soil survey for Larimer County is being made and is scheduled for ,an.
<br />pletion of field mapping in 1912.
<br />Cover Condition
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<br />The natural plant ,over on the rangelands of the watershed consists of
<br />mixed grassland and shrub plant ccmmuni ties. Occasional s,attered
<br />ponderosa pine and Rocky Mountain juniper indicate dimati~ conditions
<br />of the mountains and upper foothills of northern Colorado.
<br />Because the soils range fran the shallow, fine textured and poorly
<br />developed, through the gravelly, to the deep and well developed, there
<br />is a wide variety in the plant spedes growing in the plant camnmities.
<br />Conditions for plant growth favor produ,tive stands of western wheat-
<br />grass, green needlegrass and blue grama on the deep, loamy range soils.
<br />This cover condition Il'.akes up the largest kind of ~over in the water-
<br />shed. It is <!escribed as the Loamy Foothills range site. Presentrange
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