WSP01414

• File Number: 8449.918
• Description: South Platte Projects
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Date: 8/1/1982
• Author: CWCB
• Title: South Platte River Basin Assessment Report
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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CHAPTER 2

PHYSICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SETTING

Basin Setting

The South Platte River drains an area of 24,300 square miles in southern

Wyoming, northeastern Colorado, and southwestern Nebraska. Approximately

19,450 square miles of the total basin area are located within the State of

Colorado (Figures 1 and 2). The basin is delineated by the Continental

Divide on the west, the North Platte River basin to the north, the Arkansas

River basin to the south, and the Republican River basin to the southeast

(Figure 2). The South Platte River originates in South Park, and flows

440 miles in a north and then northeast direction to its confluence with

the North Platte River in Nebraska CU.S. Department of the Interior, 1959,

Li, 1968 ) .

For purposes of this assessment study, the South Platte River basin has

been divided into 3 topographic or geographic zones": the Mountain,

Transition, and Plains zones (Figure 3). Approximately 25 percent of the

basin is in the Rocky Mountain Province, which corresponds to the Mountain

and Transition zones (Fenneman, 1931). The Rocky Mountain Province is

composed of the Colorado Front Range and the Rampart Range (U.S. Department

of the Interior, 1959).

The Plains zone is part of the Colorado Piedmont and High Plains sections

of the Great Plains Province (Fenneman, 1931). Most of the Plains zone is

located in the Colorado Piedmont section of the Great Plains Province, with

the exception of that part of the basin downstream from the confluence of

Lodgepole Creek with the South Platte River just upstream from Julesburg,

Colorado (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1959).

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