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<br />'<d" <br />OJ <br />..-I <br />N <br /> <br />II. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS <br /> <br />Summary of Findings <br /> <br />1. The Bureau of Reclamation's Yellow Jacket Project is located in <br />northwestern Colorado in Rio Blanco, Routt, and Moffat Counties <br />and will provide supplemental and full service irrigation water for <br />lands in the White and Yampa River Basins. High runoff from spring <br />snowmelts will be impounded in the proposed Lost Park Reservoir in <br />the White River Basin and Thornburg Reservoir in the Yampa River <br />Basin. <br /> <br />2. The Project lands are located in the Yampa and the White River <br />Basins. The lands in the Yampa Basin are semiarid and lie 20 miles <br />north of Meeker. This portion of the Project is primarily within <br />the Milk Creek watershed which parallels Colorado Highway 13 and <br />789. The portion of the Project within the White River Basin is <br />also semiarid and lies just east and south of Meeker. <br /> <br />3. <br /> <br />This is a sparsely populated, somewhat isolated area whose <br />has historically been based upon sheep, cattle, and coal. <br />past twenty years petroleum has surged into prominence as <br />important product of the area but is now declining. None <br />economic activities of the area are large labor users and <br />growth has been only moderate. <br /> <br />economy <br />In the <br />the most <br />of the <br />population <br /> <br />4. Irrigation is presently the largest water user in the study area. <br />Waste discharges are presently being contributed to the Yampa River <br />by Craig and in the White River by Meeker and Rangely after varying <br />degrees af treatment. A high degree of mineralization (45% increase <br />in loading) of the otherwise good quality White River water is being <br />caused by Meeker Spring four miles east of Meeker. <br /> <br />5. Project water used for irrigation in the Yampa River Basin will have <br />a flow weighted mean total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration of <br />256 mg/l while the water used in the White River Basin will have a <br />flow weighted mean TDS concentration of 160 mg/l. <br /> <br />Conclusions <br /> <br />1. Future growth will stem from development of the area's abundant <br />mineral fuel resources. A resurgence in coal mining is already <br />taking place; oil production, although declining, is likely to be <br />extended to the year 2000 by use of water flooding; uranium mining <br />and processing, dormant for the present, will likely revive in 15 <br />or 20 years; shale oil development in the adjacent Colorado River <br />Valley could be a major factor in population growth. The recreation <br />industry is growing rapidly and will be of major importance in the <br />more immediate future of the area. <br /> <br />-3- <br />