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<br />CLIMATE <br /> <br />The climate of the Eden-Farson area is classified as semiarid. The <br />essential feature of a semiarid climate is that the potential <br />evaporation from the soil surface and the vegetation exceeds the average <br />annual precipitation. <br /> <br />Precipitation ranges from 40 inches or more annually on the Wind <br />River Mountain Range to about 7 inches annually for the irrigated area <br />in Eden Valley. Due to low annual precipitation in the farmland area, <br />irrigation is essential. Peak precipitation months are April, May, and <br />June. The average monthly precipitation at Farson varies form 0.32 to <br />0.96 inches. <br /> <br />While snowfall may occur as early as September and as late as July, <br />the common period of snowfall is from October to May. Rock Springs, <br />located 40 miles south of Farson, averages 44.6 inches of snow annually, <br />although snowfall in excess of 80 inches has been recorded. The snow <br />cover generally remains on the ground during the winter months. <br /> <br />The high altitude and relative low humidity cause considerable <br />variance in temperatures. The mean annual temperature is 370F with a <br />recorded extreme range of _550F to 950F. Freezing temperatures have <br />occurred in every month of the year. There is only a fifty-fifty chance <br />that the growing season will be as long as 85 days (assuming 280F <br />threshold temperature), <br /> <br />GEOLOGY <br /> <br />The plateaus and mountains in the Colorado River Basin are the <br />product of a series of uplifted land masses deeply eroded by wind and <br />water. However, long before the earth movements which created the <br />uplifted land masses, the region was the scene of alternate encroachment <br />and retreat of great inland seas. The sedimentary rock formations <br />underlying large portions of the basin are the result of material <br />accumulated at the bottom of these seas. <br /> <br />By the early part of the Tertiary Period, southwestern Wyoming had <br />been uplifted, and warping and faulting of the crust was beginning to <br />build mountains. The Green River Basin was formed at that time. <br /> <br />SOILS <br /> <br />Most of the irrigated soils are alluvial deposits of sandy loams <br />over coarse sands or gravelly sands underlain by shale at depths mostly <br />over 5 feet. Soils with shale at moderate depths occur in some areas. <br />Small areas of wind deposited sand dune soils and heavy clay soils also <br />occur. Also, soils shallow to shale bedrock occur in the surrounding <br />uplands. <br /> <br />The sandy loam soils are suitable for irrigation with some <br />limitations. The coarse texture results in low water holding capacity <br />and moderately rapid to rapid permeability. This generally leads to low <br />irrigation efficiencies under flood irrigation systems. The t?pogr~ph~_ <br />VulL5~ <br /> <br />5 <br />