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<br />DRAFT <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />flood control measures which furthcr alter the stream environment. <br /> <br />g. Agricultural Wastes <br /> <br />In the organic pollutant field, irrigation return flow and fecdlot <br />o <br /> <br />runoff are important. <br /> <br />Average-wisc, two-thirds of the water divertcd for crops is lost <br /> <br />by evaporation from water and land surfaces and by transpiration from <br /> <br />plants. The dissolved salts in the applied water are thus concentrated <br /> <br />in the remaining one-third of water. The dissolved solids concentrations <br /> <br />in drainage water can be further increased by the leaching of salts from <br /> <br />the soil profile. Both the salt-concentrating effect and the pickup of <br /> <br />additional salts from irrigated land have a significant impact on the <br /> <br />water quality of the Colorado and Arkansas Rivers and, to a lesser degree, <br /> <br />on the quality of water in the South Platte River. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The U. S. Department of Agriculture Statistical Reporting Service <br /> <br />shows 819 commercial feedlots in the state. Waste management problems <br /> <br />have not developed from feedlots in the Colorado River Basin because <br /> <br />of the limited number of lots and animals fed. Few feedlots are located <br /> <br />adjacent to major tributaries and main-stem streams. There are no <br /> <br />reported -.incidents of water pollution caused by animal wastes in this <br /> <br />basin. <br /> <br />0248 <br /> <br />Surface runoff from feedlots constitutes a major problem in Larimer <br /> <br />and Weld Counties and in the Lower. South Platte River Valley. Some of <br /> <br />the larger beef feedlots have some form of lagooning; some have diversion <br /> <br />and catchment bas in faci Ii ties which protec t the. streams; some are so <br /> <br />situated that little additional, if any, protective facilities are <br /> <br />. necessary; and some fecd lots are gross polluters. <br /> <br />Surface runoff from feedlots is a waste problem in the Arkansas <br /> <br />River Basin, particularly in the main valley below Pueblo. Some have <br />