WSP06806

• File Number: 8276.450
• Description: McElmo Creek Unit - Colorado River Salinity Control Program
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 7
• Date: 5/1/1982
• Title: Possible Improvements for Onfarm Irrigation Systems to Reduce Salinity
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

MAT l~~L

Montezuma County contains 1,341,900 acres, consisting of 375,7UU acres

of private land, 433,000 acres of Indian Reservation, and 533,200 acres of

public land. Most of the National Park Service land lies within ~~sa Verde

National Park, with small amounts in Yucca House and Hovenweep National

Monuments. The 260,200 acres of Forest Service land comprise about 14

percent of the San Juan National Forest in southwestern Colorado, with the

bulk of the forest lying to the east. State and local governments,

controlling less than one percent of the total area, lease most of their

land to farmers and ranchers. The Ute Mountain Indian Reservation, in

addition to its 433,000 acres in Montezuma County, includes 107,500 acres in

New Mexico and 13,500 acres in Utah.

Land Ownership

Ownership

Acres

Private
Indian
Bureau of Land Management
Forest Service
National Park Service
State and local governments
TOTAL

375,700
433,000
209,300
260,200
51,800
11,900
1,341,900

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS 1/

The McElmo Creek Salinity Study area occupies only part of Montezuna

County in the southwest corner of Colorado. Montezuma County is one of the

least populated counties in the State with 16,510 people in a total of 2,080

square miles (1980 census). The average of 7.9 people per square mile is

low compared to the State average of 28. Of the inhabitants 7,095 live in

the city of Cortez, with other concentrations in Dolores (802), and Mancos

(870), and the Ute Mountain Tribe at Towac (1138).

1/ Advance Reports 1980 Census of Population and Housing, Colorado, Bureau
of Census U.S. Department of Commerce, March 1981.

111-13

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