WSP08184

• File Number: 8200.765
• Description: White River General
• State: CO
• Basin: Yampa/White
• Water Division: 6
• Date: 11/1/1966
• Author: USFS
• Title: Water and Related Land Resources - White River Basin in Colorado
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

For these currently scheduled River Basin Surveys, hydrologic and
water supply studies are being standardized to include the years of
1943-60 as a base study period. These years have been selected because
of the greater availability of streamflow and other necessary records,
and because they include periods of both above and below longtime
average stream flows. They are reasonably representative of conditions
existing during recent time periods and may be compared with other base
periods through applicable statistical or analytical procedures. Where
possible, other data within the report have been developed for the same
base period; however, there are some instances, such as in recreation,
where records are nonexistent or are nonrepresentative of the base
period. In these cases, use has been made of existing information
regardless of time periods of record availability.

State and Federal agencies in addition to the United States Department
of Agriculture and the Colorado Water Conservation Board, have provided
data and assistance for this report. Chief contributors are the U. S.
Bureau of Reclamation, U. S. Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State
Soil Conservation Board, Colorado River Water Conservation District,
Upper Colorado River Commission, U. S. Bureau of Census, U. S. Sta-
tistical Reporting Service, U. S. Geological Survey, U. S. Weather
Bureau, U. S. Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, Colorado
Division of Public Works, Colorado Division of Commerce and Development,
Colorado Department of Agriculture, the Moffat, Yampa, Douglas Creek,
and White River Soil Conservation Districts, and the water user's
association and conservancy districts within the area.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE BASIN

Location and Size

The White River Basin in Colorado is located in west-central Colorado
between the Colorado River on the south and the Yampa River on the north.
The White River rises in the White River Plateau and flows west to its
confluence with the Green River in Utah. The White River Plateau is a
high mesa separated from the Continental Divide on the east by the
Colorado and Yampa rivers. The Plateau's elevation is generally lO,OOO
feet with peaks above 12,000 feet. Most of the south boundary of the
Basin is the Book and Roan Cliffs which form the divide between the
White and the Colorado rivers. The north boundary is the divide that
connects a series of peaks and mountains running from Flat Top Mountain
through Pagoda Peak, Sleepy Cat Peak, Uranium Peak, Magnetic Mountain,
Wapiti Peak, Tanks Peak, Blue Mountain and on to the Utah-Colorado State
line. The river basin is approximately l07 miles long and averages 35
miles wide, with a total land area of approximately 3,808 square miles.

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