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. other smaller local protection projects on the Arksnsas River and Tributaries in Colorado. Many of these were built by the Public Works Administration and others by local interest. . BASIN CHARACTERISTICS 4. GENERAL. The study area, shown on Plate I, is located mostly in southeastern Colorado and comprises the segment of the Arkansas River Basin between Pueblo Dam and John Martin Dam. The total drainage area is 14,246 square miles. The basin is served by a network of highways and two major railroads; the Atcheson Topeka and Santa Fe, and the Denver Rio Grande Western. Most of the area is used for agriculture involving livestock and crop production. Mining and manufacturing also produce a large portion of the area income. Recreation is another important industry. . . 5. BASIN CHARACTERISTICS. Fountain Creek is a right bank tributary of the Arkansas River and enters the river about 1,283.2 miles above the mouth. The total drainage area of the Fountain Creek Basin is about 927 square miles with 917 square miles above the dam site. Fountain Creek heads on the eastern face of the Colorado Rocky Mountains near Pikea Peak at an elevation of about 14,000 feet. The area above 11,000 feet is largely exposed rock. The area between the 8,000 and 11,000 foot levela is a coniferous forest varying from scattered trees to patches of dense forest. Below 8,000 feet, vegetation is native grass, except in those areas where irrigated farms have been established. The remaining segments of the study ares in the Arkansas River Baain is roughly rectangular with. a north-south dimension of about 150 miles and an east-west dimension of sbout 110 miles. Major tributaries to the river from the north are Chico, Kramer, Horse, and Adobe Creeks. Tributaries from the south are St. Charles, Huerfano, Apishapa, and Purgatoire Rivers, and Timpas Creek. . . . 6. STREAM CHARACTERISTICS. The length of Fountain Creek above the dam site is about 82 miles and the weighted slope is about 34 feet per mile. The stream rises on the slopes of Pikes Peak snd flows generally aouthward to join the Arksnsss River at Pueblo. The Arkansas River then flows through a broad valley which is superimposed on the plains to widths of up to 5 miles. The river gradient fluctuates between 5 and 9 feet per mile and the channel capacity gradually increases to its maximum at La Junta and then diminishes to Las Animas. . . t. 2 .