<br />Huerfano County Area, Colorado
<br />
<br />There is a nearly perennial shortage of water suitable
<br />for irrigation relative to the amount of irrigable land in the
<br />survey area, and in most years there is insufficient water
<br />to adequately irrigate land now in production.
<br />Precipitation and snowmelt provide an adequate supply
<br />of water in the mountainous areas, but the supply is
<br />inadequate for areas of irrigable land in the eastern part
<br />of the area, particuiarly in the latter part of the growing
<br />season.
<br />Some abandoned mines collect and store large
<br />amounts of water; however, the water is very high in
<br />mineral content and must be significantly improved for
<br />most uses.
<br />
<br />agriculture
<br />
<br />Beef production was the most important agricuitural
<br />enterprise of the early settlers. Sheep, hogs, and poultry
<br />were also raised but in much smaller numbers. Much of
<br />the early settlement was along stream terraces. The first
<br />right for surface water from the Huerfano River was
<br />appropriated in 1861. Irrigated forage crops, small grain,
<br />corn, and vegetables were grown.
<br />Nonirrigated farming was at a peak about 1925,
<br />following a period of homesteading. Although forage
<br />sorghum, corn, pinto beans, and spring grain were
<br />grown, winter wheat was the most adaptable crop. It is
<br />now the principal non irrigated crop. Since 1925, the
<br />number of farms has decreased and much of the
<br />non irrigated cropland has been seeded to grass. Today
<br />about 25,000 acres, including fallow areas, is
<br />nonirrigated cropland. Much of the winter wheat is used
<br />as winter feed for livestock. Wheat-fallow is the principal
<br />cropping system (to).
<br />Beef cattle account for most of the value of
<br />agricultural products sold. About 4 percent of the survey
<br />area is cropland, of which about one-third is irrigated.
<br />Because of the limited supply of water for irrigation. hay
<br />is the main crop. Most of the hay is used locally to
<br />supplement cattle feed in winter.
<br />The Upper Huerfano County Conservation District was
<br />organized in June 1940 to assist farmers and ranchers.
<br />
<br />climate
<br />
<br />In this survey area, summers are warm or hot in most
<br />of the valleys but are much cooler in the mountains.
<br />Winters are cold in the mountains. The valleys are colder
<br />than the lower slopes of adjacent mountains because of
<br />cold air drainage. Precipitation occurs in the mountains
<br />throughout the year, and a deep snowpack accumulates
<br />during winter. In summer the precipitation in valleys falls
<br />mainly as showers, but some thunderstorms occur. In
<br />winter the ground is covered with snow much of the
<br />time. Chinook winds, which blow downslope and are
<br />warm and dry, often melt and evaporate the snow (t7).
<br />Table 1 gives data on temperature and precipitation
<br />for the survey area, as recorded at Walsenburg Power
<br />
<br />3
<br />
<br />Plant for the period 1951-73. Table 2 shows probable
<br />dates of the first freeze in fall and the last freeze in
<br />spring. Table 3 provides data on length of the growing
<br />season.
<br />In winter, the average temperature is 34.9 degrees F
<br />and the average daily minimum temperature is 22
<br />degrees. The lowest temperature on record, -36 degrees,
<br />occurred at Walsenburg Power Plant on January 12,
<br />1963. In summer, the average temperature is 69.5
<br />degrees and the average daily maximum temperature is
<br />84.8 degrees. The highest temperature, 100 degrees,
<br />was recorded on June 24, 1956.
<br />Growing degree days, shown in table 1, are equivalent
<br />to "heat units." Beginning in spring, growing degree days
<br />accumulate by the amount that the average temperature
<br />each day exceeds a base temperature (40 degrees Fl.
<br />The normal monthly accumulation is used to schedule
<br />single or successive plantings of a crop between the last
<br />freeze in spring and the first freeze in fall.
<br />Of the total annual precipitation, 9.68 inches, or 64
<br />percent, usually falls during April through September,
<br />which includes the growing season for most crops. Two
<br />years in ten, the rainfall from April to September is less
<br />than 6.86 inches. The heaviest 1-day rainfall during the
<br />period of record was 3 inches at Walsenburg Power
<br />Plant on April 13, 1967. Thunderstorms number about 44
<br />each year, 30 of which occur in summer.
<br />The average seasonal snowfall is 78 inches. The
<br />greatest snow depth at anyone time during the period of
<br />record was 24 inches. On the average, 11 days have at
<br />least 1 inch of snow on the ground, but the number of
<br />days varies greatly from year to year.
<br />The average relative humidity in midafternoon in spring
<br />is less than 35 percent; during the rest of the year it is
<br />about 45 percent. Humidity is higher at night in all
<br />seasons, and the average at dawn is about 77 percent.
<br />The percentage of possible sunshine is 77 percent in
<br />summer and 73 percent in winter. The prevailing
<br />direction of the wind is from the south-southeast. The
<br />average windspeed is highest, 10.4 miles per hour, in
<br />April.
<br />
<br />how this survey was made
<br />
<br />Soil scientists made this survey to learn what soils are
<br />in the survey area, where they are, and how they can be
<br />used. They observed the steepness, length, and shape
<br />of slopes; the size of streams and the general pattern of
<br />drainage; the kinds of native plants or crops; and the
<br />kinds of rock. They dug many holes to study soil profiles.
<br />A profile is the sequence of natural layers, or horizons, in
<br />a soil. It extends from the surface down into the parent
<br />material. which has been changed very little by leaching
<br />or by plant roots.
<br />The soil scientists recorded the characteristics of the
<br />profiles they studied and compared those profiles with
<br />others in nearby counties and in more distant places.
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