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<br />fJ:: <br />~ <br />~, <br />...' <br /> <br />Description of the Basin <br /> <br />( <br /> <br />or lighter precipitation. Most of the annual precipitation in high elevation <br />areas occurs as snow from December to April and, beginning in October, a deep <br />snowpack accumulates. Snowfall in high areas may total as much as 50 feet <br />during the winter. Snow melt begins in late April and continues well into <br />June or early July. Convective type cloudburst storms frequently occur in <br />summer. <br /> <br />Most of the water yield is produced by the melting of winter snowpacks on the <br />high mountain slopes. Summer precipitation augments this water supply in <br />minimal amounts. There is considerable variation in watershed yield, reflect- <br />ing climatological differences throughout the basin. Water yield ranges from <br />more than 45 inches from the high alpine zones to negligible amounts in the <br />salt desert vegetative zone. There is not only a strong seasonal variation in <br />flows but also a significant variation between wet years and dry years. The <br />long-term average yield of the Yampa drainage above its confluence with the <br />Little Snake River is 1,135,100 acre-feet per year. During the same period, <br />the Little Snake River and other downstream tributaries contributed 408,300 <br />acre-feet each year to raise the discharge into the Green River to 1,543,400 <br />acre-feet. <br /> <br />3 <br />