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<br /> <br />ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS <br /> <br />Thc Sacramento District, Corps of <br />Engineers, l("ratdully acknowledges the <br />assistance and cooperation of the "Fruita <br />Times." the "Grand Yalley Gazette," the town <br />of Fruita, the Mesa Count)' Planning Commis. <br />sion, other Mesa County agencies, the <br />Colorado Department of Highw3,\'s, the <br /> <br />ColoradoWaterCon~ervationBoard,theU.S. <br />Bureau of Land Managemcnt, the U.S. <br />Department of Agriculture, the U.S. <br />Geological Su,'ve)",andotherswhodireetlyor <br />indireellyaidedinthep"eparationofthis <br />report. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND INFORMATION <br /> <br />DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY <br />AREA <br /> <br />Fruita is situated in the middle western <br />part of Colorado about 15 miles cast of the <br />Utah state line in a part of the state known as <br />Grand Valley. The town lies at fln elevation of <br />about 4500 fect in the southern part of the <br />valley. To the north. the valley gradually <br />slopcsupward for several mill'S to the base of <br />the Book Cliffs. which ri~ abruptly to more <br />than 8000 fcct. About two miles south of town, <br />the stecp, sandstone andshalc formations of <br />the Colorado National Monument begin, <br />William E. Pabor, one of Horace Greeley's <br />lieutenantS,settloointheareainl8.R2anrl <br />laidouttheoriginaltown.Fromitsbcginning, <br />Fruita has been agriculturally oriented. <br />Orchard~ of many varieties were started by <br />the early scttlers and SOme scatteroo acreage <br />i, still dewted to fruit production. Sligar beet <br /> <br />cultivation and proeessingstartedaround <br />1894 and was an essential part of the arca's <br />economy until about 1929. Farming is now <br />moredi,'e"sificd with some of the main crops <br />being grain, for livestock feed and ,'arious <br />froits and vcl<etables. Cattle and sheep <br />ranching began as largescaleo\l€rfltions <br />lIround 1904,ducin part to an abundanccof <br />beet top,s and pulp, valuable sugar beet <br />proccssinll"by.produetsusedasfeedforthosc <br />animals. At presenl. farming and sOme fruit <br />production and livestock raising form the <br />pc'm'lmic base of thc comnmnitJ'. There ure <br />extensive irrigation facilitie5 in the arca to <br />support th(>Se activities, The population is <br />presently about 1900. Grand Junction, the <br />larjl."est city between Denver and Salt Lake <br />City, is 10 miles to the east. <br /> <br />DRAINAGE AREA <br />Thc Colm'ado Rivcr riscs high inthc Rock)' <br />Moontains on the western slope of the Con. <br />tinentalDivide.Theriverflowssouthwcsterly <br />from its headwatcrrrginn't'lthevieinit)'of <br />Grand Junction where it turns to the <br />northwest through the study area and for <br /> <br />most of its remaining C{lurse in Colorado. <br />Reed, Big Salt, and Little Salt Washes rise <br />north of Fruita in the Book Cliffs and Roan <br />f'latea'J. Thc drainage arcas of the streams <br />under studr and the elevations of their <br />headwatn areas are shown in Table 2. <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />f <br />f <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />TABLE 2 <br /> <br />DRAINAGE AREAS AND <br />HEADWATER ELEVATIONS <br /> <br />Stream <br /> <br /> ApproxImate <br /> Approxlmale Elevation 01 <br />LQCatlon DraInage Arca Headwater Area <br /> 5'l.ml. H.(ms1) <br />Gaging Station 17,100 12.000 <br />{near Fruita) <br />Gaging Station 3D 4,700 <br />(near Loma) <br />Gaging Station 116 8.000 <br />(at Fruitfl) <br />At Grand YalleyCanal " 5,100 <br /> <br />Colorado River <br /> <br />Reed Wash <br /> <br />Big Salt Wash <br /> <br />Little Salt Wash <br /> <br />Climate of the area is arid to semiarid with <br />rearlypreeipitation averaging about 8 inches <br />at Fruita, about 20 inches in the headwater <br />areas of th~ tributary washes, and about 40 <br />in~hes in the headwater regions of the <br />Colorado RiVer. Most of the annual precipita- <br />tion in the higher elevations occurs as Snow <br />and a deop snowpack flecumulatC5. <br />Temperatures are often in the 90's in the <br />summer and below freezing in the winter. <br />Extreme temperatures have ranged from a <br />summertime high of 108' to a winter low of <br /> <br />_34'.Nativevcgctationintheval1eyconsisl~of <br />cottonwood and willow, desert sbrub suehas <br />winterfat and sagebrush, and an understory <br />of hardy p;rasses. Dig sagebrush, pinon pine, <br />juniper, oak, serviee herry, and Douglas Fir <br />are prominent in the 5000 to 8000 foot <br />ele,'ations. Veg~tation from 8000 feet to <br />timberline consists malOly of lodgepole pine, <br />Englemen spruce, sub-alpine fir, and flspen. <br />A1plncwillow, grasscs, and sedgesoxistabovc <br />timberline. <br /> <br />NATURE OF FLOOD PROBLEMS <br />The principal cause offloading along the <br />Colorado River in the study area is rapidly <br />melting snow. Flooding is most severe when <br />snowmelt is augmented by rain. General <br />rainstorms can occur in the region during <br /> <br />spriog and SUmmer. Conveetive typc cloud. <br />hurst storms of small areal extent, whieh <br />account for about half of the normal annual <br />precipitfltioninthcF"roitaaroa,ar.,cumtHorl <br />occurrences in late summer and early fall. <br /> <br />3 <br />