Laserfiche WebLink
<br />TABLE 1 <br /> <br />DRAINAGE AREAS <br /> <br />Location <br /> <br />DralnaQe Area <br />sq. mI. <br /> <br />Colorado River at Rifle <br />Rifle Creek: <br />At Its mouth <br />Above the mouth of Government Creek <br />At Rifle Gap Dam <br />Government Creek at its mouth <br />Hubbard Gulch Creek at its mouth <br /> <br />6,930 <br /> <br />201 <br /> <br />150 <br />140 <br />43 <br /> <br />8 <br /> <br />Vegetation in the upper Rifle Creek Basin consists of aspen, conifers, <br />and a fair cover of native grasses. In the lower portion of the Rifle <br />Creek Basin and in the basins of Hubbard Gulch and Government Creeks, <br />vegetation consists of sagebrush, juniper, pinon, greasewood, and a <br />sparse cover of native grasses and forbs. <br /> <br />The climate of the Upper Colorado River Basin can be characterized <br />as semiarid except in the higher elevations where precipitation is <br />moderately heavy. Precipitation ranges from less than 10 inces per <br />year in the lower valleys to more than 50 inches per year on the higher <br />peaks. Most precipitation over the basin occurs as snow during the <br />winter and early spring. The Rifle Creek watershed is subjected to <br />cloudburst activity with high intensity re,jnfal I of short duration during <br />the summer and fall. Average annual temperatures vary from less than <br />32 degrees in the high headwater areas to about 50 degrees in the lower <br />valleys. <br /> <br />DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FLOOD PLAIN <br /> <br />The commercial section of Rifle is situated in a narrow. shal low <br />valley at the junction of Rifle and Government Creeks. The Colorado <br />River meanders south of the city through (l somewhat deeper valley with <br /> <br />3 <br />