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VEGETATION <br />• The vegetation within the area consists mainly of gambel oak and sagebrush in <br />the uplands, and various annual and perennial grasses in the open areas. Domi- <br />nant grass rpecies include bluegrass, bromegrass, western wheatgrass, slender <br />wheatsrass, and red top, as is typical in most of the grassy openings through- <br />out the area. <br />Sub-irrigated indicator species such as sedges and rushes occur in and along <br />the channel bottom and near some of the ponds in the area. Also along the <br />channel bottom occur cottonwood, willow, some aspen in the upper regions, ser- <br />viceberry, chokecherry, hawthorns, and other low growing shrubs. <br />LAND USE <br />This area has been historically used as rangeland. Livestock grazing and wild- <br />life habitat is the present land use. According to the Soil Conservation Ser- <br />vice, the land is not suitable for cultivated crop production because of the <br />lack of water available for supplemental irrigation and elevation of the areas. <br />A rough topography, steepness of slope, and surface stoniness also prohibit <br />extensive cultivation in any mayor scale. <br />WATER RIGHTS <br />A review of the water rights within the Terror Creek Drainage Basin indicates <br />that 89.515 cubic Eeet per second has been decreed for irrigation and 2.6L8 <br />cubic feet per second and 2.0 acre feet have been decreed for other uses, <br />including domestic, recreation, and stockwater. Currently, four irrigation <br />• ditches divert water from Terror Creek. Also, water is diverted from Terror <br />Creek into the Overland Ditch at higher elevations. <br />According to the water commissioner, the Fire Mountain Canal has not diverted <br />water from Terror Creek in the last 20 years. The largest user of Terror Creek <br />water is by water users of Terror Ditch. The water commissioner's record indi- <br />cated that 750 acres of land are irrigated from Terror Ditch and only 10 acres <br />and 20 acres of land are irrigated by the Holybee Ditch and Fawcett Ditch, <br />respectively. However, as best can be determined from 1975 Soil Conservation <br />Service aerial photographs, about 205 acres appear to be irrigated by all of <br />the three ditches mentioned. <br />lJ <br />