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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />2.2 Human Settlement <br /> <br />Within Costilla County there are two incorporated <br />municipalities. the Towns of San Luis and Blanca. as well as <br />numerous unincorporated settlements. San Luis is the oldest <br />town in Colorado. having been incorporated in 1851. The whole <br />area was settled as part of the northward expansion by Spanish <br />settlers from the Santa Fe/Taos Jarea of what is now northern <br />New Mexico. They were the first white settlers in the area. <br />Much evidence of the area's Spanish heritage still remains, <br /> <br />According to the 1980 U.S. Census. the total population of <br />Costil1a County was 3.071. In May. 1988 the Colorado <br />Department of Local Affairs estimated the county's 1987 <br />population at 3.403, The 1980 Census population for the Town <br />of BIanca was 252. and for the Town of San Luis it was 842, <br />State estimates for 1987 population for the two towns were 289 <br />and 954. respectively. <br /> <br />2.3 StudY Reaches <br /> <br />In addition to examInIng the Rio Grande through Costilla <br />County, this report examines all three major streams that are <br />tributary to the Rio Grande (Trinchera Creek. Culebra Creek. <br />and Costilla Creek). and their subtributaries. from the Sangre <br />de Cristo Mountains downstream to their confluences with the <br />Rio Grande (or to the state line in the case of Costilla <br />Creek). Subtributaries were studied where existing or <br />projected population concentrations or development activity <br />warranted delineation. While this study was being prepared. <br />one area of particular interest was the site of the proposed <br />gold mining and milling project by Battle Mountain Corporation. <br />about 3 miles east of San Luis in the Rito Seco basin. <br />Specific stream reaches. with approximate lengths. are listed <br />in Table 1. <br /> <br />2.4 Rio Grande Basin <br /> <br />The Rio Grande has its headwaters in the San Juan Mountains <br />of Hinsdale. Mineral. and San Juan Counties. Elevations in the <br />western headwaters range as high as 13.895 feet, (The highest <br />elevation in the entire Rio Grande basin is actually in <br />Costilla County. at 14.345 feet.) The river then flows <br />southeasterly into Rio Grande County and then A1amosa County. <br />where it turns to the south. It enters Costilla County at an <br />elevation of about 7.520 feet. forming the boundary between <br />Costil1a and Conejos Counties. It leaves Colorado at an <br />elevation of about 7,475 feet. continuing through Albuquerque <br /> <br />-7- <br />