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<br />- 3 - <br /> <br /> <br />OC2188 <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />DESCRIPTION OF THE WATERSHED <br /> <br />Physioal D~ <br /> <br />Location.- The Fishers Peak - Carbon Arroyos Watershed is <br />located in Las Animas County in south-oentral Colorado. It includes <br />lands in and adjacent to the south portion of the City of Trinidad <br />and contains 2,30 square miles (1,470 acres), The watershed is <br />about 3,7 miles in length and averages about 0.6 mile in width. <br />There are two main drainages in the watershed, Fishers Peak Arroyo <br />and Carbon Arroyo, Both of these arroyos are tributary to the <br />Purgatoire River, The Fishers Peak Arroyo drainage contains 1.52 <br />square miles and the Carbon Arroyo drainage contains 0.62 square <br />mile. Also included in the watershed is an area of 0.16 square <br />mile within the City which is directly tributary to the Purgatoire <br />River but receives overflow from both arroyos during periods of <br />high water. <br /> <br />Physiography,_ Most of the watershed area lies in the Park <br />Plateau subsection of the Raton section of the Great Plains physio- <br />graphic province. The remainder, including the town of Trinidad, <br />lies in the Chaquaqua Plateau subsection. The total relief in the <br />watershed is about 1,500 feet, The altitude ranges from 5,970 <br />feet at Trinidad on the Purgatoire River to about 7,500 feet at the <br />upper end of the watershed, <br /> <br />The Purgatoire River is the only perennial stream in the area, <br />It flows through an open valley at the northern edge of the <br />watershed. Fishers Peak Arroyo and Carbon Arroyo are intermittent <br />tributaries which enter the Purgatoire River valley from narrow, <br />steep canyons. <br /> <br />The Fishers Peak Arroyo drainage is about 3.7 miles in length <br />and heads on the lower slopes of Raton Mesa south of Trinidad, It <br />flows through a steep, narrow valley to the City of Trinidad, where <br />it follows a well-defined channel to First Street near the center <br />of the business district, From this point the stream flows through <br />a closed conduit for approximately 1,200 feet under the business <br />district and thence along a natural channel for about 900 feet <br />to the Purgatoire River. The drainage area above the entrance to <br />the closed conduit is 1.52 square miles. <br /> <br />The Carbon Arroyo drainage, which adjoins the Fishers Peak Arroyo <br />c~ainage on the west, is about 1.5 miles long, Carbon Arroyo heads <br />on a high flat area at the south edge of Trinidad and follows a <br />well-defined channel through the City to First Street, where it <br />passes under Main Street in a closed conduit and then to the <br />Purgatoire River in an open channel, The drainage area above the <br />entrance to the closed conduit is 0.62 square mile. <br />