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<br />0]2'571
<br />FRYINGPAN-ARKANSAS PROJECT, COLORADO
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<br />and foothills to the gently rolling. high plains, Approximately 38
<br />percent of the eastern slope project area is below an altitude of
<br />5,000 feet, relat.ively level, and suitable for farming.
<br />8. Climate.-The project area has a range of climate from sub-
<br />humid in the high mountains t.o semiarid in the lower altitudes, On
<br />the western slope, the village of Nast, located just below the diversion
<br />area at an altitude of 8,800 feet, has a mel1n annual precipitation of
<br />17.86 inches, an average temperature of 36,60 F" and a frost-free period
<br />averaging only 66 days, Corresponding data for representative
<br />weather stations on the eastern slope are-
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<br /> Precipita- I Tempera- Frost.-free
<br /> Station Altitude tion ture period
<br /> (inehes) (' F,) (days)
<br />l..eati.....iUe._.___.__________________ -----..-----.----,-- lO,18Z 18,63 35.f, 83
<br />CaTton Clty____.____________ _un --.----------------- 5.343 12.98 53,' 168
<br />PuebIOn_______ ---------_.- --------.-----.----._----- 4,805 11.67 52.0 173
<br />Rocky Fordm__ _____n____ ___n___.____'.____ ,.n__ 4,117 12.30 52.1 165
<br />l..amar_________ ----- ------ ---------------.---..----. :J.615 Hi. 05 54,' 168
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<br />9, Population.-Unofficial estimates plo.ce the population of the
<br />upper Roaring Fork River Basin at about 1,000 fermanent residents.
<br />Aspen, the largest community, had a population 0 777 in 1940, Other
<br />residents live on ranches or at resorts or in the smaller villages. Few,
<br />if any, persons live in the diversion area proper,
<br />10, The population of the e.lstern slope project area reached 278,000
<br />jn 1940. Unofficial local estimates placed the 1948 population ar
<br />362,000-a 35-percent increase over 1940, Preliminary unofficial
<br />retu:rns of the 1950 census disclose that Pueblo's 1940 population of
<br />.52,162 had incre>1sed to 63,561 and Colorado Springs' population from
<br />36,789 to 45,269, Ot,her sizable communities in the valley and their
<br />1940 populations >1re Leadville, 4,774; Salida, 4,969; Canon City,
<br />6,690; La Junta, 7,040; and Lamar, 4,46.5.
<br />11, Pr'esent deoelopment,- Livestock ranching and the recreational
<br />industry are the principal business activities in the upper Roaring
<br />Fork Basin, In times p>1st, mining WtlS extensive, This activity
<br />.had diminished but the lutcnt industry mlly be revived, Registered
<br />Hereford cattle from the western slope have received national recog-
<br />.nit.ion, Winter sports, vacutioning, and sport fishing are becoming
<br />increasingly import,ant throughout the bo.sin. The diversion area
<br />proper has no farming although the forest is used for grazing,
<br />12, The upper part, of the Arkansas Valley is similar in many
<br />respects to the upper ,Roaring Fork Ba.sin, Mining is important at
<br />,and near Leadville and winter and summer sports bring many persons
<br />to the area. The city of Pueblo is the focal center for the varied
<br />industrial development of the valley. The most important industrial
<br />.enterprises, based upon the 1939 census of business, included 1 steel
<br />mill, a cement plant, smelters, iron foundries, brick and tile plants,
<br />machine shops, and agricultural processing plants, including 23 grain
<br />elevat.ors, 3 flour mills, 8 feed grinding and mixing plants, 9 alfalfa
<br />mills, 4 meat packing plants, 3 beet sugar factories, and 5 canning
<br />plaJ\~s, ,
<br />, 13, Agriculture, however, is the most important industry of the
<br />valley. More than 87 percent of the land area, including timberland,
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