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<br />00123l <br /> <br />Dr aft - 9/81 <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Chapter <br /> <br />An Overview of Colorado <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />Without water, life on this earth cannot exist. <br /> <br />Certain <br /> <br />forms of life can survive without air, but none can lhe without <br /> <br />water. <br /> <br />In Co iorado, as in other semiar id and ar id western <br /> <br />states, many human activ it ies depend on careful management of <br /> <br />limited water resources. <br /> <br />This chapter will present an oven iew <br /> <br />of Colorado as a background for the later discussion of the <br /> <br />state's supplies and present uses. <br /> <br />Topography 1 <br /> <br />w <br /> <br />The climate of Colorado ls strongly influenced by the topog- <br /> <br />raphy of the state and the surrounding region. <br /> <br />The amount of <br /> <br />water that Colorado receives in any given year or decade is a <br /> <br />funct ion of interact ions between large-scale cl imat ic fluctua- <br /> <br />tions and local and regional topography. <br /> <br />Colorado is the nat ion's eighth largest state, with an area <br /> <br />of 10~,2~7 square miles. <br /> <br />The state can generally be divided i.nto <br /> <br />three major topographical areas: <br /> <br />the Eastern Plains, the Central <br /> <br />Mountains, and the Western Plateau. <br /> <br />The Eastern Plains <br /> <br />The Eastern Plains extend from Colorado's eastern boundary, <br /> <br />1020 west long itude, to the Eastern Slope of the Front Range, and <br /> <br />constitute about ~5 percent of Colorado's total area. <br /> <br />lSources: Gittings, Edwin B., 19~1; Colorado Oiv is ion of Parks <br />and Outdoor Recreat ion, 1976; U. S. Bureau of Reclamat ion, 197~. <br />