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SUMMARY (Continued) . Existing Environment The unit area is located predominantly in two rural counties, Wayne and Emery, in south-central Utah. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers approximately 75 percent of the land in the unit area. The remaining 25 percent includes a large portion of Capitol Reef National Park, a small section of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, portions of Fish Lake, Dixie, and Manti-La Sal National Forests, and sections of State and private land. Elevations range from about 3,600 feet at the mouth of the Dirty Devil River to 11,500 feet in the mountain ranges at the head of the drainage basins. The Dirty Devil River drainage area is sparsely populated and pre- dominantly rural. Farmers irrigate approximately 27,900 acres of land. A large portion of the nonirrigated land is used for grazing cattle and sheep. Approximately 6,200 acres of land are irrigated in the Emery area; the remaining irrigated land is located along the Fremont River. The productivity of the land in the Emery area is gradually diminishing because of poor drainage and saline soil. The adequate drainage and good soil along the Fremont River allows agriculture to remain stable. . Hanksville Salt Wash and Emery South Salt Wash, tributaries of Muddy Creek, play an important role in this study. Hanksville Salt Wash is located approximately 16 miles northwest of the town of Hanksville. Emery South Salt Wash is located approximately 45 miles west of the town of Green River and 10 miles south of Interstate 70. The wash is located approximately 35 highway miles from the town of Emery, or approximately 15 miles downstream of the town. Wayne County, lying in the southernmost portion of the unit area, is predominantly rural with over 85 percent of the land federally owned. The county had a population of 1,911 in 1980, and the town of Hanksville and vicinity had a population of 351 people in 1980. Bicknell and Loa, the county seat, had populations of 296 and 364, respectively, in 1980. The racial composition of the county in 1980 included approximately 99 percent white and 1 percent American Indian. One percent of the popula- tion was of Spanish origin. Emery County in the northern portion of the unit area had a 1980 population of 11,451. The town of Emery, the only population center in the northern part of the unit area, had 372 residents in 1980. The town of Green River, located east of and outside of the unit area on Inter- state 70, had a population of 1,048 in 1980. The growth and subsequent decline in uranium and coal mining, as well as the general decline in the agriculture industry, has brought about fluctuations in population for Emery, Castle Dale, and Ferron in Emery County and Hanksville in Wayne County. . The unit area is principally high desert with an arid to semiarid climate. Average annual rainfall ranges from less than 6 inches along the Dirty Devil River to more than 30 inches in headwater areas above S-4 1-). .~-..----