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<br />~ <br />0"";i <br />~ <br />.-oj <br /> <br />CHAFTER V <br /> <br />ALTERNATIVES STUDIED <br />(Tomichi Creek Unit) <br /> <br />Irrigation <br /> <br />Lands that would be served by the Tomichi Creek Unit range in eleva- <br />tion from about 7,900 to 8,900 feet. Crops are limited to grass and some <br />alfalfa hay for livestock feed. The growing season for these crops is <br />about 140 days. <br /> <br />Approximately 10,530 acres of arable land are suitable for service <br />by the unit, but sufficient water would be available for only about 9,4<30 <br />acres. It has been assumed that the 9,480 acres would include 5,250 <br />acres served by existing ditches along Tomichi Creek between the reser- <br />voir and the town of Parlin, 1,580 acres served by the Crookton Canal, <br />and 2,650 acres served by exchange. Included in the total are 7,570 <br />acres of presently irrigated land in need of supplemental water and 1,910 <br />acres of nonirrigated land now covered with short sagebrush. The exact <br />acreage to be served and the location of specific tracts would be depend- <br />ent on the subscriptions made for the water. All of the lands considered <br />serviceable are in classes 2M and 3M. <br /> <br />The arable lands in the Tomichi Creek Unit have characteristics <br />quite similar to those in the Ohio Creek Unit, as they occur on alluvial <br />fans and flood plains of Tomichi Creek and its tributaries and on the <br />stream terraces along Needle Creek. The flood plains and terraces are <br />smooth to slightly undulating with slopes of 2 percent or less along To- <br />michi Creek. The meandering stream traverses the valley, making some of <br />the fields irregular in shape and configuration. The fans occur on the <br />steeper side slopes of the valleys, with slopes ranging from 4 to 15 per- <br />cent. The flood plain lands have gravelly subsoils and the water table <br />fluctuates with the level of Tomichi Creek. The water tables are usually <br />deep enough for the production of meadow hay. The large terrace or flat <br />at the mouth of Needle Creek has a gravelly soil veneer over Mancos shale <br />at a relatively shallow depth of 10 to 14 feet. Topsoil depths over the <br />gravelly subsoils vary from a few inches to more than 5 feet. <br /> <br />Soil textUres range from sandy loams to light clay loams and the <br />profile usually contains varying quanti ties of gravel. The topsoils are <br />reddish brown to brown in nonirrigated areas but are usually dark brown <br />in the irrigated areas because of higher contents of humus. The soils <br />are free of salts and are usually neutral or slightly calcareous. Some <br />acid soils may occur in localized areas where intensive leaching has <br />taken place. <br /> <br />The alluvial fans on the side slopes of Razor Creek Valley are an <br />exception to the norm as these have finer textured clay loam to clay <br />soils lmderlain, in part, by Mancos shale. <br /> <br />All the land included in the Tomichi Creek service area is privately <br />owned except about 900 acres of land below the Crookton Canal. Because <br /> <br />47 <br />