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<br />~ <br />, <br />., <br />, <br /> <br />8. DRAINAGE AREAS <br /> <br />The South Platte River watershed ,drains 24,300 square miles, of <br />which 19,450 square miles lie in Colorado, 2;050 square miles lie in <br />southeastern Wyoming, and 2,800 square miles lie in southwestern ' <br />Nebraska. A tabulation of drainage areas at selected locations in <br />the basin is provided in table 1. A tabulation of' stream 'lengths is <br />given ill table 2. <br /> <br />L <br />.; <br />~ <br />, <br /> <br />9. PHYSIOGRAPHIC FEATURES <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />Approximately 23 percent of the drainage area is high mountainous <br />terrain in the Rocky Mountain range. The mountainous regions lie on <br />the western portions of the basin.' Toward the northeast and east, <br />the' basin's features change from the rougher, steeply sloping terrain <br />of the high plains region to the broadly terraced plains lands of the <br />lower basin. The stream valleys begin as narrow valleys and canyons <br />in the mountainous regions and increase progressively in width toward <br />the lower regions of tributary streams. The valley of the South Platte <br />River begins to broaden at metropolitan Denver and increases progressively <br />in width from Denver to its mouth near North Platte, Nebraska. Basin <br />elevations range from 14,200 feet m.s.l. at the'Continental Divide <br />to 'approximately 2,800 feet m.s.l., at the mouth. ' <br /> <br />~ - <br />" <br />t <br />, <br />" <br />, <br /> <br />10. , STREAM FLOW <br /> <br />The U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Colorado <br />State Engineer's office has maintained stream gaging stations in the <br />South Platte River basin since 1895. Comparative peak discharges <br />fOr the June 1965 flood and previous recorded maximums are given for <br />selected locations in table 3. . <br /> <br />11. ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS <br /> <br />a. Population. In 1960, the estimated 'population of the South <br />Platte River basin was 1,184,000 persons, of which about 78 percent <br />resided in metropolitan Denver. In'1960, the basin's population <br />density averaged 48.7 persons per square mile~ However, population <br />densities are' concentrated principally in the upper portions of the <br />basin (average population density of'61.5 persons per square mile) <br />and primarily in the Denver metropolitan region. In 1964, the popula- <br />tion density within the Denver metropolitan region averaged 5,108 <br />persons per square mile, while within the 88 square mile area of the <br />city of Denver, the population density was 5;950 persons per square <br />mile. The principal community development areas of the Denver! <br />metropolitan region which are situated adjacent to the South Platte <br />River are: Columbine, Littleton, Englewood, Sheridan-Centennial, <br />Denver, Commerce City and Brighton. The communities in the Sand and <br />Toll Gate Creek basins (metropolitan Denver) are Aurora and Commerce <br />City. <br /> <br />5 <br />