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The ground cover ranges from good to fair, with some poor areas, and Douglas fir and Oakbrush are the dominant vegetation. The heavy snowmelt from this area runs off rapidly, causing some scattered flooding and much sediment production in the Plateau Creek basin. The valley areas are in the zone three soi I group which include the Brown and Chestnut Zonal great soi I groups. The dominant vegetation is pinon, juniper and sagebrush. The ground cover is poor, with some fair areas. Snowfall is light and remains only a short time. Short-duration and high-intensity summer thunderstorms are common in this area and cause heavy sediment production. The cl imate at Collbran is semiarid. The mesas surrounding Collbran are subject to moderately heavy precipitation. The annual precipitation at Collbran averages approximately 13 inches, and the higher elevations of the mesas receive from 20 to 40 inches. Occurrence of precipitation is fairly uniform in the Collbran area where sl ightly less than one- half falls as snow from December to Apri I. Most winter precipitation occurs in the higher elevations as snow where a deep snowpack normally accumulates. The mean annual temperature at Col Ibran is 46.4 degrees F. Study Limits The stream reaches under study i nc I ude a tota I of 3.1 mil es of floodplain along Plateau, Buzzard, and Grove Creeks in and around the Town of Co II bran. The study reaches are shown on the index map and in more detai I on included flood plain maps. The Plateau Creek reach extends 2.4 mi les, Grove Creek 0.5 mi les, and Buzzard Creek 0.2 mi les. Natural and Beneficial Flood Plain Values Flood plains along Plateau Creek, Grove Creek, and Buzzard Creek, within the study I imits, contain urban areas interspersed with areas of natural vegegation. The flood plain vegetation consists of a variety of forbs, grasses, sedges and rushes interspersed with cottonwoods, wi I lows and siberian elm. The meandering channel provides an interesting diversity in landscape and vegetation. This diversity enhances the visual aesthetics and wi Idl ife habitat values in the area. 4