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<br />V. VEGETATIVE COVER <br />Data on vegetative cover was obtained fy'olTI aerial photography of the <br />bas i ns and fi el d reconnai ssance by Hydro.. Tri aei, L td. staff memoers. Thi s data <br />was supplemented to some extent by the S,C.S. soils report. <br />In the non-urbanized portion of the basins, much of the land use is <br />devJted to either irrigated crop land or pasture. <br />The irrigated land is primarily cropped to alfalfa, corn, maize, and <br />barley. Most irrigation is done by !1ravity furrow or terrace irr'igation. Some <br />of the crop land is graz.ed after harvest. Most of the pasture land and cultivated <br />at'e;lS are consi dered to be in fai I' to good conditi on; runoff bei ng somewhat <br />res';rained and erosion potential moderated. <br />Along much of the major drainages, the vegetative cover consists of <br />extr'l=me1y dense cedar, juniper forest and sagebrush, with accompan;ring . <br />hea \'Y ground 1 itter. Such vegetal cover impedes the runoff flows and allows <br />grec':er infiltration. <br />The remaining areas in the lower basin al'e primarily the "Bad'lclJ1ds", areas <br />of steeper slopes with minimal ground cover. The vegetation that does exist <br />is composed basically of various native grasses and forbs, with occclsiona1 <br />sage. The rainfall runoff rate from this area is characteristically high, <br />and due to the minimal ground cover, the sediment load also is reletively high. <br />The 1 and in the upper basi n is covered with good to dense growths of <br />brush with a native grass understory. In the r'airpin Creek basin, the brush <br />is a mixture of Mountain Sage, Antelope BHterbush, Winterfat and forbs. <br />Thi s area serves as an excell ent rangeland fOlr sheep. The upper porti ons of <br />the Dry Cedar Creek and Montrose Arroyo basins are predominantly covered by <br /> <br />12 <br />