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.... ... 'U_'..._.'_. .. . .. . ... ... ....:..::.:.... -- ~..~..~.._. . r PREfAce Phreatophyte is the name generally given to plants that extend their roots into the water table or the capillary fringe just above it to obtain their water supply. In the last 30 years this type of vegetation has become an uneconomical burden to mankind along stream channels in the southwestern United States. The Bureau of Reclamation has numerous programs presently in progress involved with the inventory, research, and control of phreatophytes throughout the western United States. The phreato- phyte infestation in the Arkansas River Basin and its tributaries from Pueblo, Colorado to the Colorado-Kansas State line is the subject of this report. The phreatophytes that cause the greatest water losses in this area are salt cedar, cottonwood, and willows. They are, in most cases, considered noxious nonbeneficial vegetative growth. Water supplies of the Upper Arkansas River Basin are overappro- priated and irrigation shortages are experienced almost every year. Considering the value of water and the extensive phreatophyte infesta- tion in the Arkansas River Valley, the loss of water through evapo- transpiration represents a great economic loss. The Bureau of Reclamation contracted with Colorado State University to conduct a reconnaissance type survey of the area between Pueblo, Colorado to the Colorado-Kansas State line to determine the significant kinds and amounts of woody phreatophyte infestation on the flood plain of the Arkansas River and two major tributaries; fountain Cre~k and Purgatoire River. This survey revealed a total of 19,331 acres of phreatophytes in the study area. The phreatophyte vegetation was divided into t+1ree groups based on the dominant species wi thin that group. -A number of parameters were determined for each woony type such as: foliage, cover, type, intercept to crown depth, and volume density which will be of value in estimating the volume of water transpired nonbeneficially by the phreatophyte growth. Transect lines were located in the field by legal description and were sampled in detail for the present study. These will be valuable for future growth comparison and other study purposes. The Bureau of Reclamation is hopeful that this report will assist those interested in the many aspects and problems associated with phreatophyte infestation. This report was not edited nor the data contained therein changed in any way from that presented by Colorado State University. A companion report, "A Descriptive Survey of the Woody Phreatophytes on the Arkansas River in Kansas", prepared by the Division of Biological Sciences, fort Hays Kansas State College, fort nays, Kansas, covers 250 miles of the Arkansas River in western Kansas. Additional copies of these reports are available from: U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, fryingpan-Arkansas Project, P. O. Box 515, Pueblo, Colorado 81002. ii