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

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on fans and terraces are very strongly alkaline in reaction and high
in exchangeable sodium as evidenced by scattered "slick spots" that
are devoid of vegetation. Injurious accumulations of soluble salt
are largely restricted to bottomland soils and areas bordering shale
badlands.

The composition of this map unit by Great Soil Groups except for
Regosols that are included within Desert and Sierozem soils, is esti-
mated as follows~

Percent

1949 Great Soil Group

1965 Great Group, Subgroup
or Family

Haplorthents
(Thin 45%)
(Lithic 10%)

55

Lithoso1s
(Shale 45%)
(Sandstone lO%)

28

Haplargids and Camborthids

Desert & Sierozem soils

7

Alluvial soils

Haplorthents

5

Solonetz soils

Natrargids

5

Land types
(Shale badlands 5%)

Land types
(Shale badlands 5%)

The largest component of mapping unit 1 is shallow residual clay shale
soils on hills and ridges. Deeper soils occupy narrow gullied drainage-
ways and alluvial fans. They are forming in recent accumulations of
sediment washed from higher shale and sandstone hills. The deeper soils
on smoother slopes are productive at locations where irrigation water is
available. Deep soils are in many of the narrow valleys between Artesia
and Elk Springs. There are scattered tracts of irrigab1e land but many
individual areas are divided by deep channels and gullies.

Erosion in the rolling shale hills and shale badlands is spectacular
but is mainly geologic in nature. Deep and extensive gullying along
drainageways and narrow valleys is of much greater agricultural signi-
ficance. At many places dissection by gullies severely limits use of
the land. Bridging of gullies increases the cost of highway construction.

Soil Mapping Unit 2: Shallow, light colored loamy and rocky soils of
the deserts.

There is only one delineation of this unit on the map. It is mainly
confined to northwestern Rio Blanco County and very nearly surrounds
that segment of unit 1 adjacent to Range1y. It comprises l85,OOO acres
or about 8 percent of the Basin.

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