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<br />. <br /> <br />16 <br /> <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />3010 <br />The recorded annual runoff of the Purgatoire River at <br />Trinidad has ranged from 16,300 acre-feet in 1951 to 197,300 <br />acre-feet in 1942, and has averaged about 62,100 acre-feet <br />during the study period 1925-1957. The flows of this stream <br />are very erratic, ranging from periods of practically no flow <br />to floods of considerable magnitude. <br />Except for limited storage in the Model Reservoir which <br />serves about 6,200 acres of the irrigated area, no storage or <br />regulation is presently available for the flows of the Purgatoire <br />River. The total average annual BIlount of the water supply of' the <br />Purgatoire River at Trinidad is adequate to meet crop irrigation <br />requirements of the 19,700 irrigated acres in the project area if' <br />controlled and reduced to usable rates of' flow. The present <br />pattern of streamflow results in considerable diversion in excess <br />of' crop requirements during periOds of high streamflow and un- <br />favorable crop shortages during low streamflow periods. <br />A stream gaging station of the Purgatoire River has been <br />maintained at Trinidad since 1896, but records are complete only <br />since 1916. An automatic recorder was placed in operation in 1922. <br />Stream discharge records are available in biennial reports of the <br />Colorado State Engineer and in U. S. Geological Survey Water. <br />Supply Papers. <br /> <br />. <br />