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<br />FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE REPORT <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />1. Purposes of this report.- The purposes of this report arc to appraise <br />a plan of development proposed by the Bureau of Reclamation on Florida <br />River, La Plata County, Colorado; evaluate in monetary terms the effect <br />the project plan w:Juld have on fish and wildlife resources in the area; <br />and suggest means and measures that might be adopted, consistent with the <br />primary purpose of the project, to protect and enhance the value of these <br />resources. <br /> <br />2. Need.- This report is prepared pursuant to the provJ.S~ons of Public Law <br />732, 79th Congress, Second Session. The Regional Director, Region 4, Bureau <br />of Reclamation, Salt Lake City, Utah, in a letter dated June 21, 1945, ini- <br />tiated the request for this report. <br /> <br />3. Status of project report,- A project report covering the Florida <br />Project is now being completed by the Area Engineer, Bureau of Reclamation, <br />Durango, Colorado. <br /> <br />Description of Project Area and Plan of Development <br /> <br />4. General description of the project,- The Florida Project is designed <br />to provide supplemental water for irrigated lands ani to bring some new <br />lands under irrigation in the Florida River Valley and on Florida Mesa, <br />near Durango, Colorado, by means of a dam and reservoir at the Lemon sit e <br />on the Florida River, and by construction and rehabilitation of necessary <br />water distribution facilities. The primry purpose of the project l<<:luld <br />be irrigation; no provisions are contemplated for hydroelectric power. <br /> <br />5. Topography,- The Florida River has its source in the rugged Needle <br />Mountains, at elevations of about 13,000 I, m, s.1., in the San Juan <br />National Forest in southwestern Colorado, from whence it flows in a <br />general southerly direction for about 50 miles to its confluence with the <br />Animas River near the Colorado-New Mexico State line. In the project area, <br />the Florida River flows through a narrow valley with escarpments on either <br />side. Stream bed elevation at the dam site is 7,963', m.s,l. Florida <br />Mesa, a compact body of land lying above and between the Florida and <br />Animas Rivers, is a gently-rolling to undulating bench. Elevations range <br />from 6,500' to 7,0001. The drainage on the Mesa is in a southerly direc- <br />tion, in conformity with the general slope. <br /> <br />6. Geology ,- The greater part of the reservoir basin is within the <br />Carboniferous Red Beds, The normal river fill, on which the present <br />stream bed is imposed, is over 100' thick in the deeper parts of the <br />valley. It is quite pervious due to the lack of silt and fines and to <br />