Laserfiche WebLink
<br />f'" <br />00 <br />I.l':l <br />opooj <br /> <br />CHAPrER I <br /> <br />GENERAL INFORMATION <br /> <br />The study area has had a population growth of about 42 percent over <br />the past 10 years. The growth is largely the result of recreational <br />developments of summer resorts and dude ranches and winter skiing activi- <br />ties. The growth of the area is illustrated below. <br /> <br />Gunnison <br />Crested Butte <br />Rural areas <br />Total <br /> <br />Population <br />19to ~ <br />3, 77 4,bi3 <br />289 372 <br />1,370 2,324 <br />5,136 7,309 <br /> <br />Growth <br />(percent) <br />33 <br />37 <br />70 <br />42 <br /> <br />One transcontinental highway, U.S. 50, serves the study area and is <br />the main artery between western Colorado and the industrial center at <br />Pueblo. State Highway 135 provides access from the city of Gunnison to <br />the town of Crested Butte. County and National forest roads branching <br />from the main highways provide access to all parts of the area and to the <br />Gunnison National Forest which surrounds most of the area. No railroad <br />service is available, but connections with the Denver and Rio Grande West- <br />ern Railroad can be made at Salida and Montrose. Commercial air service <br />by Frontier Airlines is available at Gunnison. Numerous trucking com- <br />panies serve the area. <br /> <br />Available Resources <br /> <br />Water <br /> <br />Tributaries of the Gunnison River originate in the high watersheds <br />of the Gunnison National Forest along the Continental Divide. Cement <br />Creek and Slate River join the East River below Crested Butte and flow <br />in a southerly direction to Almont. There the East River unites with the <br />southwest-flowing Taylor River to form the Gunnison River. The Gunnison <br />River continues in a southwesterly direction to near the town of Gunnison <br />where it is joined by Ohio Creek from the north and Tomichi Creek from <br />the east. The streams are generally fast-flowing in their upper reaches <br />and become slower moving and meandering in their lower reaches. <br /> <br />Flows of individual streams vary from a few second-feet to more than <br />1,000 second-feet. The flows are highest in the late spring and early <br />summer when the winter snoWJlack is melting. The streamflows gradually <br />decrease to a yearly low in the late summer and fall. Some of the smaller <br />tributaries may become dry during this period. Some of the important <br />streams and their recorded flows are listed in the following table. <br /> <br />4 <br />