Laserfiche WebLink
<br />River to approximately 0.8 mile north of the Larimer and Weld <br />Canal, and portions of Dry Creek were studied by approximate <br />methods. <br /> <br />2.2 Community Description <br /> <br />Larimer County is located in north-central Colorado, bounded by the <br />Continental Divide to the west, Wyoming to the north, Weld County <br />to the east, and Boulder County to the south. The county <br />encompasses approximately 2,614 square miles, of which <br />approximately 50 percent is publicly owned. The terrain ranges <br />from steep mountainous areas in the west to gently rolling plains <br />in the east. <br /> <br />Historically, the economy has consisted of irrigated farming in the <br />southeast and dryland farming and grazing in the northeast, <br />although the eastern section is rapidly urbanizing. The industry <br />in the western portion of the county consists mainly of tourism, <br />with some ranching and timber operations, <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />Larimer County had a 1980 population of 149,184. This represents a <br />66-percent increase over the 1970 population of 89,900 <br />(Reference 2). <br /> <br />The climate varies from the mountains in the west to the eastern <br />plains. The average annual temperature in the western part of the <br />.county is in the lower 400F range, with annual precipitation of <br />approximately 16 inches. The eastern portion of the county has an <br />average temperature of 500F and annual precipitation of <br />approximately 14 inches (Reference 3). <br /> <br />The studied section of the Big Thompson River is approximately 41 <br />miles long. The river originates in the Rocky Hountains, and the <br />basin extends to the Continental Divide at an elevation of 14,250 <br />feet on Long's Peak. The Big Thompson River flows in an easterly <br />direction through the southern part of Larimer County. <br />Considerable residential development has taken place along the <br />riverbanks, especially in the narrow canyon area. Channel slopes <br />range from approximately 18 feet per mile in the area near Loveland <br />to 130 feet per mile through the narrows. The soils in the Big <br />Thompson River study area consist of Fluvaquents-Fluvents, <br />Haploborolls-Camborthids-Argiborolls, and Argiborolls-Rock Outcrop <br />Associations (Reference 4). <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />The studied section of the North Fork Big Thompson River is <br />approximately 9.8 miles long, with the lower study limit being at <br />the confluence with the Big Thompson River at Drake. The average <br />channel width through the studied section is 25 feet, and the <br />channel slope averages 132 feet per mile, Soils consist of North <br />Rock Outcrop and Haploborolls-Camborthids-Argiborolls Associations <br />(Reference 4). <br /> <br />4 <br />