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<br />25 <br /> <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />OC18C3 <br /> <br />WA1'ER SUPPLY <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Pu':tgstoire River is a perennial stream which has its <br />source in the high mountain area west of Trinidad at an elevation <br />of about l3,000 feet above mean Sea level. Summer base flow, which <br />averages about 100 second-feet at Trinidad, results from melting <br />snows and from rainfall on the watershed. In the period from May <br />to October rainfalls of cloudburst intensity occur frequently and <br />produce floods of considerable peak and volume. Above the Sopris <br />dam site the river drains 642 s~lare miles. Between that point and <br />Trinidad the drainage area is lOa square miles, mainly that of Raton <br />Canyon on the south and ColoradO Canyon on the north. Both of these <br />are minor water producers and the amount of their contribution to <br /> <br />stream flow is unknown. It is probably much less than indicated <br /> <br />by their drainage areas. <br />Runoff Records <br />A gaging station has been maintained at Trinidad from l896 <br />to date, but records are complete only since 19l6. The monthly and <br />daily discharge data are found in the Biennial Reports of the State <br />Engineer of Colorado and in the U. S. Geological Survey Water <br />Supply Papers. Only the records sinoe 1922, when an automatic <br />recording gage was placed in operation, are used in this report for <br /> <br />water supply determinations. <br /> <br />. <br />