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20 ft. Some Mancos soils are not arable because they contain too much salt to be productive. Floodplain soils compose about 3 percent of irrigated area and are located along the Uncompahgre River. They are varied in texture and are underlain by gravels and the Mancos Shale. Floodplain soils have variable salt content dependent on the parent material. Soils derived from the Dakota Sandstone compose about 3 percent of the irrigated lands, are located west of Montrose, are relatively shallow, and have low salt content. Because of the dry climate and sparse vegetation, organic content of most soil in the study area is small, and the soils have not been leached to any great depth in nonirrigated areas. Therefore, parent soils in the study area have retained the salinity and chemical composition of the parent rocks. Land use in the Uncompahgre River valley between Colona and Delta pri- marily is agricultural. Crops grown in the valley include cash crops such as onions, beans, and barley; feed crops such as alfalfa, corn, grasses, hay, and small grains; and fruit orchards. Croplands often are interspersed with natural or uncultivated areas, especially east of the river. Natural vege- tation is sparse and consists of desert shrubs such as sagebrush and saltbush, and pinyon and juniper along valley fringes. There is riparian habitat along the Gun~ison and Uncompahgre Rivers. There are urban areas around Montrose, Olathe, and Delta. Populations in 1980 were 8,722 for Montrose; .1,262 for Olathe; and 3,931 for Delta (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 1984). Fish and Wildlife Resources There are three State wildlife areas located in the study area managed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The largest is the Escalante State Wildlife Area, which has a total area of about 7,600 acres consisting of several tracts of land along the Gunnison River west of Delta and some land in lower Escalante Creek canyon and in the upper Roubideau Creek basin (Michael Stone, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Montrose, Colo., oral commun., 1989). Only the lower tracts along the Gunnison River are shown in figures 1 and 2 because they are the only parts of the wildlife area that could be affected by irrigation drainage. This area provides habitat for a variety of waterbirds, upland birds, small game, and big game. The Escalante State Wildlife Area frequently is used for waterfowl and upland bird hunting. Golden eagles and great blue herons nest in the lower section. The Billy Creek State Wildlife Area, a small area about 2 mi south of Colona along the Uncompahgre River, is managed for deer and elk habitat. Chipeta Lakes State Wildlife Area, located about 3 mi south of Montrose along the Uncompahgre River, consists of small ponds that are stocked with trout by the State and is managed as a put-and-take trout fishery. The Gunnison River upstream from the confluence with the North Fork (fig. 1) is an excellent cold-water fishery for brown and rainbow trout. Between the North Fork and Delta, the Gunnison River supports a fairly good trout fishery, but has more carp and suckers than the reach upstream from the North Fork. Downstream from Delta, carp and suckers are the primary fish species in the Gunnison River, and the primary game fish is channel catfish. Few trout are present in the river downstream from Delta. 10