WSP01088

• File Number: 8112.600
• Description: Arkansas White Red Basins Interagency Committee - AWRBIAC -- Reports
• Basin: Arkansas
• Water Division: 2
• Date: 6/1/1977
• Title: Specific Problem Analysis Summary Report - 1975 National Assessment of Water and Related Land Resources - Part 2 of 2
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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NEW MEXICO

Problem Area No.1, ASA 1105. 'The Arkansas-White-Red (AWR)
Region (WRC No. 11) in New Mexico includes the counties of Colfax,
Harding, Quay, and Union, all of which are in ASA No. 1105. The
hydrologic boundaries of the AWR Basin in New Mexico include all of
Harding and Union Counties; most of Colfax and Mora Counties ( a
small area in each of these counties is in the Rio Grande Basin);
the eastern part of San Miguel County; the northern part of Curry
County; and except for an area in the southwest corner, most of
Quay County.

The Arkansas-White-Red River Basin (hydrologic ares) contains
17,722 square miles. This compares to 14,533 square miles within
ASA No. 1105 in New Mexico. ASA 1105 omits water and related land
resources of 3,189 square miles within the basin area.

Most of the streams of this basin are tributaries of the
Arkansas River. Principal tributary streams in New Mexcio are the
Cimarron, North Canadian, and Canadian Rivers. Two small surface
drainages in the northern part of Curry County drain to the Red
River in Texas. The White River drainage does not reach into New
Mexico.

The AWR Basin in New Mexico is bounded on the west by the
Sangre de Cristo Mountains; on the north by a series of plateaus,
mesas, ~nd hills (along the Colo~ado-New Mexico state line); to
the south and southeast by a series of hills, mesas, etc., that
separate the AWR from the Pecos River Basin; and by the Texas-
Oklahoma New Mexico state line on the east. The eastern part of
the bssin consists primarily of the Northern and a part of the
Southern High Plains that extend from west Texas into eastern
New Mexico. The Northern and Southern High Plains are separated
by the Canadian River drainage in Quay County.

Altitudes in the basin range from over 13,000 feet (Sangre
de Cristo Mountains) to about 4,500 feet in the plains area.
The following tabulation is indicative of weather conditions in
the basin.

Place
Maxwe 11
Raton
Springer
Gascon
Tucumcari
Clayton

Elevation
(feet-MSL)
5,909
6,379
5,857
8,250
4,096
4,969

Mean
Annual
Temp. (F)
48.6
48.2
50.8
44.6
58.2
53.1

Mean Annual
Precip. (inches)
14.19
14.75
15.59
23.20
15.07
14.51

County
Colfax
Co lf ax
Co lf ax
Mora
Quay
Union

107

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