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3.0 GEOGRAPHY <br />The Southern High Plains Ground Water Designated Basin lies primarily within the High <br />Plains section of the Great Plains physiographic province. In Las Animas and Baca <br />counties, surface water flows southward toward the Cimarron River. In southeastern <br />Prowers and the northern part of Baca, drainages flow to the east and northeast to Bear <br />Creek and other tributaries. <br />Along the Colorado and Kansas border of the Basin, the elevation ranges from about <br />3485 feet where the Cimarron River exits the District to 3680 feet above sea level near <br />the northeastern side of the District. Elevations along the western edge of Baca County <br />are about 5200 feet near the northern boundary of the District. From here, the <br />topography slopes gently down to the east at approximately 30 feet per mile, with about <br />1700 feet of relief. Most of the streams crossing this nearly flat plain are ephemeral and <br />create gentle hills on the intervening divides. Two Buttes is an exception to the gentle <br />topography of the plains with a prominent cone-shaped hill created by a Tertiary volcanic <br />intrusion. The canyon created by Two Butte Creek south of the dome has been <br />dammed by the Bureau of Reclamation, creating Two Buttes Reservoir, the only <br />significant body of surface water in Baca County and the source of the Two Buttes Canal <br />System. <br />Broad sandstone -capped mesas in Las Animas County are part of the Colorado <br />Piedmont province. They are the highest landforms in the Basin with elevations up to <br />5800 feet. Deeply -eroded and steep -walled canyons and channels carry runoff from the <br />mesas to the Cimarron River in Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma. In stark contrast <br />to the flat eastern plains of the District, the mesas are capped by an abundance of <br />coniferous trees. In the far southwest portion of the Basin, a small topographic high not <br />dissected by deep canyons or ravines, may be an important area of recharge for the <br />aquifers in the Basin. <br />III -1 <br />99-028.003\Phase 2 Report\ SHP Geography <br />