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<br />B. Prolect Area Description. <br /> <br />1. Physiographical Location and Description. The developing <br />Trinidad Project is located in southcentral Colorado in Las Animas <br /> <br />County. Geographically, the area is the southern extension of the <br /> <br />Colorado Front Range and is characterized as being a transition zone <br /> <br />between the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains. The project area <br /> <br />is located in the narrow Purgatoire River Valley, about 4 miles up- <br /> <br /> <br />stream from the city of Trinidad (El. 5,990), in the upper one-third <br /> <br /> <br />of the basin. Small irregular patches of irrigated cropland and <br /> <br /> <br />pas tures shoulder the Purgatoire River, and pinon- juniper wood land <br /> <br />cover the confining and highly dissected foothills. To the west and <br />north, the foothills rise to the steep peaks of the Culebra Range, <br /> <br />from which the Purgatoire River emanates. To the east, the rough <br /> <br />hills blend into rolling plains, and the river gradually levels and <br />widens. It is in this valley, starting immediately east of the city <br />(also on the uplands north of the valley) and extending downstream <br />for about 25 miles, that irrigated farming haa developed. <br />The city of Trinidad is a community of 9,901 people (1970 census), <br />a majority of whom are, like the rest of the basin's inhabitants, <br /> <br />employed in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and government. <br /> <br />Immediately south of the city, Fisher's Peak, the dominant and unique <br /> <br />feature of the landscape, rises to an elevation of 9,566 feet. The <br /> <br /> <br />Spanish Peaks (El. 13,610 and 12,669 feet), located northwest of the <br /> <br /> <br />project area, are twin conical mountains of igneous origin and are <br /> <br /> <br />one of the significant landmarks in the southwest. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />n-14 <br />