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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />O~~1501 <br /> <br />of the reservoir has been drastically reduced by sedimentation over <br /> <br />the years. <br />The principal irrigated crops are alfalfa, small grains (barley, <br /> <br />wheat and oats), grain and forage sorghums, corn, beans, sugar <br /> <br />beets, and pasture. These crops, except for wheat, beans and sugar <br /> <br />beets are largely fed to livestock. The only crops of economic <br /> <br />significance grown without irrigation are native grasses, which <br /> <br />are used mainly for grazing herds of beef cattle. <br /> <br />Irrigable lands occupy three physiographic positions consisting <br /> <br />of river bottomlands, river terraces, and uplands. Of 60,400 acres <br /> <br />classified in the District, 19,717 are classified as irrigable and <br /> <br />40,680 as non-irrigated. Five thousand nine hundred and seventy <br /> <br />five acres have water rights, are irrigated, but are of very low <br /> <br />quality, not meeting minimum requirements for irrigated lands. <br /> <br />The surface water supply of the Purgatoire River is a limiting <br /> <br />factor in the development of the agricultural economy. Much of the <br />, <br />irrigation water supply comes from spring snowmelt runoff or from <br /> <br />summer rain storms, which usually occur when available supplies <br /> <br />exceed the requirements. The water supply is very erratic, with <br /> <br />considerable variation by season and from year to year. Usually <br /> <br />only a small portion of the water needed late in the growing season <br /> <br />is available. Contributing to the problem are the existing storage <br /> <br />II-29 <br />