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I. PLANNING AREA AND RESOURCES A. The Planning Area The Hayden Flood Prevention Measure encompasses the eastern part of the Town of Hayden and adjacent ag r i cu I tura 1 .1 and. The Town of Hayden is a small, rural town (population about 1,900) recently afflicted with growing pains resulting from energy development in the area. Hayden is located near the Yampa River in western Routt County, Colorado, and is within the boundaries of the Colorado Big Country Resource Conser- vation and Development Project. The elevation of Hayden is 6,337 feet (1901 m) above sea level. The climate is semi-arid. The average annual precip- itation is 16 inches (40 em), and the average growing season is 97 days. Land within the measure area is privately owned except for the town's streets and U. S. Highway 40. The use of the land is irrigated pasture and hayland, non-irrigated cropland, range- land, urban land, and transportation land. The measure area contains approximately 770 acres (308 halo All of the land is in the Routt County Soil Conservation District. About 90 percent of the land is pastureland and rangeland under cooperative agreement with the Routt County SCD and is adequately protected from deterioration. B. Evaluation of Resource Capabilities (I) Soi Is Soils of the planning area encompass river bottom lands that lie just above the flood plain of the Yampa River, and mesa lands at higher elevations. A steep break or escarpment separates the two areas. Soils of the bottomlands are deep, dark colored soils with silty clay loam and clay loam surface and subsoil layers. Depth to sand and gravel ranges from 3 to 7 feet (90 to 210 cm). Most of tne area is poorly drained and the soils contain salt and alkali. Depth to a seasonal high water table ranges from 2 to 6 feet (60 to 180 cm). Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent.