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<br />foothills and stores water imported from the western slope <br />supplied through the Moffat Tunnel. Blunn (Arvada) Reservoir, <br />approximately one mile downstream from Ralston Reservoir, is <br />owned by and stores water for the City of Arvada. Although <br />neither reservoir has any designated flood control storage, <br />both reservoirs provide some flood control reduction <br />incidental to their normal operation. Leyden Reservoir, <br />primarily a water storage facility, is located just west of <br />Indiana street in Arvada and owned and operated by the Farmers <br />Highline Canal and Reservoir Company. Tucker Lake, Upper and <br />Lower Long Lakes, and Hyatt Lake are small lakes in the basin, <br />none of which encompasses more than a quarter of a square mile <br />in area. <br /> <br />c. Tributaries <br />The major tributaries to Ralston Creek are Van Bibber <br />and Leyden Creeks. Leyden Creek, located within the plains of <br />the Ralston Creek basin, is a left-bank tributary that drains <br />approximately 12 square miles. Elevations range from 7,500 to <br />5,400 feet m.s.l. with the basin largely undeveloped except <br />for the extreme downstream end. Approximately 9 square miles <br />of the Leyden Creek drainage area lies above Leyden Dam. <br />Two miles downstream of the mouth of Leyden Creek, Van <br />Bibber Creek, a right-bank tributary, joins Ralston Creek. <br />Van Bibber Creek drains approximately 17 square miles and <br />ranges in elevation.' from 9,000 feet near the continental <br />divide to 5,300 feet at its mouth. The Van Bibber drainage <br />area is approximately 14 miles long and has an average width <br />of less than one mile, half of which is mountain forest and <br />lies west of the hogbacks. Significant urban conditions have <br />developed along the lower mile of the creek. <br /> <br />2. Land Use <br />The predominant cover in the watershed is grasslands. <br />The upper reaches of the basin consist of steep mountain <br />slopes with well defined narrow and steep gullies transversing <br />national forests, pasture land, and some mining. Pasture and <br />small industrial developments comprise the land use in the <br />foothills portion of the basin. Toward the downstream end of <br />the basin, industrial and residential developments profile <br />,most of the land. <br />Urbanization within the Ralston Creek basin has occurred <br />primarily in and around the city of Arvada. Arvada was first <br />platted in 1880, but growth was slow until after World War II. <br />Growth since then has resulted in an increase from 2,359 <br />people in 1950 to about 85,000 in 1980 and the city now <br />occupies nearly 5 miles of the Ralston Creek flood plain. <br />Major development, both industrial and residential, is planned <br />west and northwest of the city. <br /> <br />3. Climate <br />In the lower Ralston Creek basin, summers are warm or <br />hot in most valleys and much cooler in the mountains. winters <br /> <br />2 <br />