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An average of 38,400 acre-feet of water are consumptively used within the basin each year (U.S. <br />Department of Agriculture, 1966). Approximately 88 percent of this consumptive use is for irrigation (toms <br />et al., 1965), primarily for the production of hay and pasture in the upper part of the basin (U.S. <br />Department of Agriculture, 1966). Of the remaining depletion, most is consumptively used by riparian <br />vegetation, non-beneficial phreatophytes, reservoir evaporation, etc. <br />Only about one percent of the water used is for domestic and municipal purposes, primarily in Rangely and <br />Meeker (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1966). In general, the chemical quality of water in the headwaters <br />of the White River Basin is excellent, with dissolved solids content normally less than 100 milligrams per <br />liter (Price and Waddell, 1973). However, this quality deteriorates to a dissolved solids content of 250 to <br />500 milligrams per liter as the river crosses Cretaceous sedimentary formations and receives lower tributary <br />flows and irrigation return flows. Some tributary inflow to the White River may enter with dissolved solids <br />concentrations in excess of 3000 milligrams per liter (Price and Waddell., 1973). Surface water inflows to <br />the White River from the lease area typically have dissolved solids contents ranging from 1000 to 2000 <br />milligrams per liter (Price and Waddell, 1973). <br />Sediment yield from the upper portions of the White River Basin is negligible, averaging less than 0.1 <br />acre-foot per square mile per year (Colorado Land Use Commission, 1974). It has been estimated that <br />approximately 70 percent of the sediment yield results from sheet and rill erosion, whereas the remaining <br />30 percent originates as channel and gully erosion (U.S. Soil Conservation Service 1975). This yield <br />• increase with distance downstream, reaching rates of 3.0 acre-feet per square mile per year in limited areas <br />(Colorado Land Use Commission, 1974). The amount of sediment yielded by channel and gully erosion <br />also increases relative to sheet and rill erosion with distance downstream (U.S. Soil Conservation service, <br />1975). <br />II.C.2.b Drainage Basin Characteristics The lease area occupies portions of two watersheds which are <br />tributary to the White River. The Scullion Gulch Basin, an ephemeral watershed, lies to the west and <br />covers 7560 acres. The larger Red Wash Basin, intermittent at higher elevations, covers approximately <br />78,400 acres. <br />Channels draining the two main watersheds fonn dendritic patterns, with Scullion Gulch flowing generally <br />towards the southeast and Red Wash towards the south-southwest. The characteristic landscape of the <br />area consists of rolling terrain covered with sagebrush, grasses, and pinyon-juniper stands, incised by <br />relatively deep, narrow gullies. Slopes in the area average 15 percent in the Scullion Gulch watershed and <br />13 percent in the Red Wash watershed. Elevations within the drainage basins range from 5320 to 6420 <br />feet above mean sea level in Scullion Gulch (a difference of 1100 feet) and 5320 to 8450 feet above mean <br />sea level in Red Wash (a difference of 3130 feet). <br />a Permit Renewal #3 (Rev. 8/99) II.C-8 <br />