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<br />PURGATOIRE (PICKET WIRE) RIVER, COLO.
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<br />The Colorado & Southern Railway provides rail faeilities 'for north,
<br />southeast traffic through Trinidad, and the Denver & Rio Grande
<br />Western Railroad, by agreement, operates over the Oolorado &
<br />Southern Railway tracks north of that city., The coal fields in the
<br />western, part of the watershed are served by the Oolorado & Wyoming
<br />Railway. The Denver & Rio Gmnde Western Railway also has some
<br />trackage in Reilly Canyon, over which the Colorado & Wyoming
<br />operates.
<br />21. Highways.-I<'edtJral Highway 87, which extends from the Gulf
<br />of Mexico at Lavaca, Tex" to Great Falls, Mont., and Federal
<br />Highway 85, which extcnds from EJ Paso, Tex., to the Oanadian'
<br />border in western North Dakota, pass through Trinidad in crossing
<br />the basin in a north,south direction. Federal Highway 350 serves
<br />the northern portion of the watershed between Trinidad and La
<br />Junta, Colo., to the northeast; and Federal Highway 160 serves the
<br />southern portion of the basin east of Trinidad. State Highway 101
<br />erosse.q the northern end of the watershed; State Highway 109 tra-
<br />verses the drainage area in a north,south direction through Higbee,
<br />Colo.; and ,State Highway 111 crosses the western end of the area.
<br />State Highway 12, parallels Purgatoire River, west of Trinidad, pro'
<br />viding a connecting route with State Highway 11 1. A short section
<br />of State Highway 152 is in the western portion of the basin. There
<br />arc very few interconnecting county roads in the watershed.
<br />22. A2rport.--The muiucipally owned Trinidad airport and landing
<br />field is about 12, miles east of the city. There are no commercial
<br />air lines operating regular, schedules from this field. The United
<br />States Army usos the field for routino and emergency facilities.
<br />23, Bridges.-There are 10 railroad, four Federal and State High,
<br />way, six county, and threc city bridges crossing Purgatoire River.
<br />Several structures also span numerous tributaries. Purgatoire River
<br />and its tributaries are not navigable, therefore a War Department
<br />permit was not roquired for the construction of any of the bridges.
<br />24.' Precipitation.-Thcre were eight operating precipitation stations
<br />within the watershed at the beginning of 1942., Southeastern Colo,
<br />rado, in which the Purgatoire River drainage area is located, is a semi-
<br />arid region, but thc orographic effccts contiguous and within the basin
<br />produce a marked precipitation differential between specific locations.
<br />At Las Animas, Colo., which is adjacent to the basinal. the river
<br />mouth, precipitation records were obtained during 1862. The records
<br />for this station a,re essentially continuous from 1867 to date and con,
<br />stitute the longest record. The maximum yearly precipitation re'
<br />corded at this station was 21.39 inches in 1923. Trinidad has the,
<br />maximum recorded annual precipitn,tion, 34.48 inches in 1878. The
<br />minimum annual precipitation recorded in the drainage basin was
<br />.2,79 inches at Las Animas in 1894. The greater portion of the annual
<br />precipitation occurs from April to September, inclusive. The average
<br />Inonthly, the percent of average annual, and the average annual pre,
<br />cipitation for Ulutcd States Weather Bureau stations at Las Animas,
<br />Trinidad, and North LaIce are given in table No.3. Appendix B.l
<br />25, Snou;fall.-Snowfall is gencral ovcr .the Purgatoire River Basin
<br />from October to April, and remains on the ground throughout the
<br />year at some points in the higher a1titudes of the west,ern portiou of
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<br />, I Not printed.
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