WSPC07372

• File Number: 8040.950
• Description: Section D General Studies - General Water Studies
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 9/1/1981
• Author: Colorado DNR
• Title: Colorado Water Study - Background Volume - Preliminary Review Draft - Report
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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plains.

Much privately owned land on the Western Slope is along

the river valleys where water for irrigation purposes was readily

accessible when the land was developed.

The federal government owns about 36 percent of Colorado.

Approximately 22,314 square miles of land are administered by the

U. S. Forest Service, 12,989 by the Bureau of Land Management,

and lesser amounts by the National Park Service and Department of

Defen se.

The State of Colorad~ itself owns approximately 4,822

square miles.

Most nat ional forest land is located between 1050

and 108"W; Bureau of Land Management land is concentrated farther

west, from 108"W to the Colorado-Utah state line.

Many of the

natural resources that will influence future management of Colo-

rado's water qre found on these lands.

Much of Colorado's coal

and most of the high-yield oil shale are to be found on land,s

,
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administered by the Bureau of Land Management; most of the

state's snowpack occurs on Forest Service land in the high moun-

tains, as do most of the transbasln diversions from the Western

to the Eastern Slope; portions of Colorado's big game and fish

hab Itat are found in both.

The national focests are also used

extensively for recreational purposes.

Uses of Land and Water

Ag r i c u 1 t u r e 5

Most of Colorado's early development was based on the

state's mineral resources and agricultural potent ial.

Retail

concerns, mdnufdcturLng, and distribution networks followed on

5Sources: Colorado Department of Agriculture, 1979; Colorado
Department of Agriculture, 1980; Colorado Division of Property
Taxation, 1977; Colorado Tax Commission, 1960.

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