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<br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />0,):322 <br /> <br />III. NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE BASIN <br /> <br />Location and Size <br /> <br />The Yampa River Basin is located in northwest Colorado and south-central <br />Wyoming. The Colorado portion contains most of Moffat and Routt counties <br />and small parts of Rio Blanco, Garfield, and Grand counties. In Wyoming <br />it comprises parts of Carbon and Sweetwater counties. The Red Desert <br />Basin is the northern boundary, the Continental Divide the eastern <br />boundary in both states, the divide between the White and Yampa rivers <br />the southern boundary, and the Utah-Colorado state line is the western <br />boundary. The Utah-Colorado state line is not a natural basin boundary, <br />but it is used to complete the Colorado western slope studies. <br /> <br />The basin land area is approximately 2,811 square miles in Wyoming <br />6,719 square miles in Colorado, for a total of 9,530 square miles. <br />basin is 128 miles long from west to east and averages 75 miles in <br /> <br />and <br />The <br />width. <br /> <br />Climate <br /> <br />The climate varies from the arid desert of the lower basin to the cold <br />humid alpine zones along the Continental Divide. These extremes result <br />from the wide variations in elevation and exposure. The eastern boundary <br />of the basin reaches crest elevations of over 12,400 feet above sea level <br />while the valley floor at Echo Park in Dinosaur National Monument is <br />about 5,000 feet in elevation. The mean annual temperature at Steamboat <br />Springs is 390F., with extremes of 990F. to -540F. Craig's mean annual <br />temperature is 420F., with a recorded high of 100oF. and a low of -430F., <br />and Dixon has a mean annual temperature of 420F., with a high of 970F. <br />and a low of -50oF. Irrigated lands near Yampa and Steamboat Springs <br />have an average annual growing season (above 280F.) of 102 days and areas <br />near Craig average 125 days. <br /> <br />Average annual precipitation varies from more than 50 inches along the <br />Continental Divide, (eastern boundary of the basin) to less than 9 inches <br />in the desert areas. Total snowfall at Steamboat Springs averages 160 <br />inches while Echo Park receives approximately 30 inches. A precipitation <br />map (Figure 2) with isohyetal lines showing average annual precipitation <br />follows page 4. The Average Annual Precipitation Map was developed from <br />U. S. Weather Bureau precipitation station data and cooperative snow <br />course measurement records. This information was then correlated with <br />soils and vegetal cover maps, range site descriptions and physical <br />aspects of the basin. The precipitation map was also correlated with the <br />Water Yield Map (Figure 7), which was primarily developed from U. S. <br />Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow data. Craig receives over one-third <br />of its annual average precipitation as snow during the December-April <br /> <br />- 3 - <br />