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Drainage patterns are incised and dendritic, with Scullion Gulch draining 11.8 square miles and Red Wash draining 122.5 square miles. Runoff events in both these streams are primarily in response to snowmelt and rainfall. Red Wash also receives flow from springs located at higher Eelevations approximately 6 miles north of the lease application area. There are no springs in the lease application area itself, although seeps exist at various sites along the Red Wash channel. The White River, which will receive discharge from the lease application and adjacent areas, is a perennial stream. Water quantity in the White River exhibits seasonal variations typical of snowmelt rivers in the semiarid regions of the intermountain west. The majority of flow in the White River occurs between Hay and July in response to snowmelt. Flows begin to decrease in July, increase slightly in October, in response to thunderstorm activity, and decline steadily until precipitation increases again i.n Harch. Surface water quality in the White River is characterized as a calcium-sulfate type. Soils The soils in the lease application area have been mapped by the Soil Conservation Service in an Order III soil survey of Rio Blanco County. The alluvial soils occurring along Red Wash and in the side draws have been delineated as the Uffens loam, Turley fine sandy loam, and Torrefluvents, which are Bullied. The soils on the uplands consist of the Hoyerson stony clay loam, Rentsac-HOyerson-Rock outcrop complex, and Rock outcrop. The alluvial soils are deep, calcareous, somewhat saline and were derived from sandstone and shale. The available water holding capacity is high, the runoff is rated as medium and the hazard of water erosion is slight to moderate. The upland soils are shallow and well drained, formed in place on either sandstone or shale. The available water holding capacity is Low, the runoff is medium to rapid, and the hazard of water erosion is very high. Vegetation Eight plant communities have been delineated on areas within portions of the existing permit area affected by surface operations and facilities. Similar plant communities exist on the lease application area. Vegetation communities within the permit area consist of juniper woodland, juniper woodland-big sagebrush, big sagebrush, big sagebrush-wheatgrass, Colorado wildrye, cheatgrass-annual forb, and big sagebrush-greasewood. These communities comprise a mosaic of plant dominants controlled by soil type and topography. Further influence on vegetation composii:ion and distribution was exerted by past and present Land uses. Red Wash has never been inventoried or mapped for riparian or. wetland vegetation associations. Lower Red Wash is believed to support a very Limited amount of shrub-scrub palustrine wetland dominated by a tamarisk-greasewood-sagebrush overstory. A few senescent cottonwood trees exist on channel terraces upstream and downstream of the lease tract. 8