<br />7
<br />
<br />8
<br />
<br />STUDY AREA DESCRIPTION
<br />
<br />TABLE 1
<br />DRAINAGE BASIN AREAS
<br />(S~uar" Mi Ie,)
<br />
<br />Drainag"e<1sinCharacteristic,
<br />The RQ~ring Fork River contributes more water to the Colorado River
<br />than ilny other stceam in Colorado except for the GunnTson River. Th"I,500
<br />square mil" bdsin yields an 'lYerage of almost 1,000,000 'Kre-feet per year.
<br />Qf lhis amount, dbolJt 8 percent is currently being diverted totheca,tern
<br />:; lo~". Major (,ibutd'; eS to the ROdring Fork are the Crysta I and Fryingpan
<br />Rivers, both of which enter the Roaring Fork below the area descri bed in
<br />th;, report. Over 75 percent of the land in (he basin is owned by the
<br />Burc<luof Land Man"g"rrlen! or the Foresl Service. Most of the private land
<br />is loc,ned along the major streams where the floodin~ potential i5 the
<br />higheH (Reference 10, II).
<br />The headwaters of the Roaring Fork River start IntheSa...atchMGuntain
<br />Ran~e ab"ve l~ ,000 fecI and about 15 O1i Ie, east of tI,,, Ci ty of Aspen. From
<br />the headwaters the ,t rea", drops ~.500 feet in about 20 'T1; les to the Ci ty
<br />of Aspen, illlOut16percentnflh,'tntill RnaringForkb".in i. located
<br />"bov,' A,pen. Near A'p~n, "'djUr tri butari.., join the Roari ng Fork whi ch
<br />includo II.Hoon Creek, Castle Creek, and Hemlcr Creek. (See Plote 1)
<br />Thi, floodplajnstudybeginsal the Red 6utte Road BridGcabovc thc
<br />con f I u<.'nce wit h ~\d roon Cree k an d I h e ROJ r i n 9 Fork, Fro", t his po i n t. the
<br />ROdri ng Fork flows at an average 9rdd~ of 1.2 percent for 17 mi ie, to
<br />Basalt where thc Fryingpan River enters the Roaring Fork and where the
<br />,tudyends at the Pitkin County line, At this point, 35 pcrccnt of the
<br />total Roaring Fork b,1Sin hn, been coll"'ct~d. Table I gi v~. the appro~imHe
<br />b".inareil,abnve the Fryingpan River <;onflucncc. Below the Fryin'Jp"n,
<br />the Ronring Fork flows 24 mi Ie, to GI~nwn()d Spring, wherQ it enters the
<br />Co i O",dO Ri '1C r. The on I y m.Jj Or tri bU~.lr\' in th i. reach i, the C rys tal
<br />Ri .er whi ch j"in, the ROdri ng F"r~ at th~ i<,lWn "r C~rbonda Ie. (Reference 2,
<br />
<br />Area
<br />{Sq. Milc,)
<br />
<br />Reac~
<br />
<br />Fro...
<br />
<br />To
<br />
<br />63
<br />
<br />lIaro<>nCreek
<br />
<br />Above Roaring Fork
<br />AbovcMaroonCreek
<br />
<br />23C
<br />
<br />,
<br />)
<br />,
<br />5
<br />
<br />Belov,Cilstl.,Creek
<br />
<br />Bolow Maroon Creek
<br />
<br />Above Woody Creek
<br />Abovc Snowmass Creek
<br />Above Fryingpan River
<br />
<br />)Q
<br />'"
<br />90
<br />
<br />BeiowWoodyCreek
<br />
<br />BeiowSnowrnclss
<br />
<br />In 1965, the Colorado Water Conservation Board estimated thallhere
<br />"",~I d be river 800.000 fl,herrran days on the Ro~rl ng Fork in tne year 2,000.
<br />Besides fisner"~n. bOvt~n vre expectcd to use the Roaring Fork on an in-
<br />cre~,,,d frequcn.;;y. (Refcrence 4)
<br />Prec i p I tat i 0f1 va r i es vi i del y th roughout ~he Roa ring Fo rk bas i n ~D"ve
<br />Basillt. On th~. Continent,,1 Divide, near Independen<;e PaH, ~!w averag~
<br />~nnucll precip i tat ion is 2 (,.3 i nche, wit h I 7.5 i nc he S occu r ring
<br />during the winter rr<>nth, (November. Arri I). ~"dr Bd,a It. the ,wf;rage
<br />dr"'u,,1 I'rccipi Idt ion is aPPro~imalely 1(,.5 i nche, wi th 7.3 i "che~ ,,<;curring
<br />dur, ng tho '...i oter moc,tt':, (Refercl"cc 7). Catd on p.-,,~I v. tatl ur> f,.,",;. tl.~
<br />fhtion<l) Oce"nle _,n<1 Atmo'rhcric Adn,inl~tr"tlon Indicates that in the
<br />A,pen area, the 100+ye~r 2~-hour 'torm wuuld produce 2.6 inch~,.
<br />T~fllp~"'turf; and precip i tat ion vari e, gre~t I y from locatio" te loc~t ion
<br />.1nd sea.or. tn ~e,lSDn wi t h i n the dra i nclge ba~ i n .,,,d are I rnportan t var i ab I es
<br />I" f 10Qdi ~g ~ondi t iuns. I,Dove-noro'al 'pr in!! t~mperature', can ~au.e early
<br />dnd heavy flooding on th~ ~o",ring Fork. T"" A'p~n weather s~ation i~ the
<br />o'\ly offidal weather ~tJtion in thc 'tudy b.1Sin. Il.ecords from the Aspen
<br />we~ ~her , td l i <.>n i nd i c,;le th...t thc mCiln month) y hi qh occurs in ju I y and i,
<br />(,1.8dcgrcesFnll'enh,-it. Themcclnn\Onthlylowof20.1 degr'eesFahrenhcit
<br />occu", in J~nudry (Rdeeence 7).
<br />
<br />4}.
<br />
<br />3cs idc, be ing important ~e"gr_;pr.i c fc;,tUF"S of t<1e Criunty. ,[rCdroo and
<br />"vers "'" i"'port~nt In the b,,, ie ~co"nmy of Pi t~i ~ Coun tv. The ",a.iori ty
<br />of the r~, ident, in Pi tk i n County live ....i tI,l n ~ f~,",' t,~ouSdnd feet of major
<br />
<br />str.~d"" .
<br />
<br />C.xnulalive
<br />Area
<br />
<br />'3'
<br />300
<br />"'0
<br />510
<br />
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