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<br />f' <br />~ <br />m <br />,~ <br /> <br />The project area experiences a range of <br />Average precipitation varies from II inches near <br />more than 30 inches at. the higher elevat ions. <br />averages 157 days but may exteed 190 days. <br /> <br />climatic conditions. <br />the Colorado River to <br />The growing season <br /> <br />The population of the study. area was estimated by the Bureau of 1 <br />Census in 1977 to be 6,210. The area is,.priJllarUy dependent upon. <br />agriculture, but tourism, skiing, hunt ing are addi t'ional, .economi ~ of <br />resources. Nearby mineral resources including coal a'fid oil 'shale ,,;lso <br />influence the local economy. <br /> <br />Irrigated lands are primarily used fo-r the production of .hay and <br />pasture for. livestock. The remaining ,: cropS are 'sma,l1 grains and <br />fruits. The primary sources of water for irrigatLon in' the projec): <br />area are West Divide Creek, East Dlvid'e Creek, Hamm Creek a,nd,' Dry <br />Hollow Creek,. all of which flow north to the Co'1orado River. Several <br />adjacent basins were also included in the sCOfIe, of the study <br />including: Thompson Creek and Yank Creek located t.o the. southeast, <br />Owens Creek and Buzzard Creek to the' 'south and Beaver Creek to the <br />West. <br /> <br />C. Hydrology and Water Rights <br /> <br />1. Colorado River Basin <br /> <br />The Colorado River, which flows along the northern edge of <br />the project area, has a drainage area of about 7000 square miles <br />upstream of Rifle, Colorado. The average annual flow is approximately <br />2.5 million acre-feet at the stream gage located near Cameo, Colorado, <br />40 miles downstream of Rifle. Peak stream flows occur during the <br />spring snoWlllelt period. By late summer and . continuing ,through the <br />fall and winter the flow in the river is re,latively low. There is <br />regulation by eight major reservoirs and ",' deplet ion ~f the, uatural, <br />flow by many transbasin diversions. <br /> <br />In addition to the natu"a;! influences of precipitation and <br />runoff the flow of the river is also affected by the administra,tion of <br />Colorado's water rights system. The large .upstre<jm ,senior, w'\lte,r <br />rights which have the greatest influenc€ are the'Colorado.ilig Thompson <br />proj ect, Denver trans-basin diversions, the Fryingpan-Arkansas project <br />and the Homestake project. The major downstream water rights are the <br />Shoshone Hydroelectric Power Plant near Glenwood Springs. and the group <br />of water rights above Grand Junction known as the Cameo call. <br /> <br />In a typical year the Shoshone Plant places calls on the river <br />during the winter months preventing junior upstream reservoirs from <br /> <br />1-2 <br />