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September 1973 SUMMARY SHEET Grand Mesa Project, Colorado LOCATION West-central Colorado near the town of Cedaredge in the Gunnison River Basin, a part of the Upper Colorado River Basin. PLAN The Grand Mesa Project would develop water of streams tributary to the Gunnison River and its North Fork for irrigation, municipal and domestic us~, recreational development, and fish and wildlife enhancement. Also it would aid area redevelopment by providing job opportunities. Project storage would be provided at Electric Mountain Reservoir on West Muddy Creek and the offstream Cactus Park Reservoir. Both reservoirs would receive water by feeder canals from nearby streams. Cactus Park Reservoir also would receive releases from Electric Mountain Reservoir conveyed between the two reservoirs by the Grand Mesa Canal. The Grand Mesa Canal would intercept flows of streams along its course and would provide water to some adjacent lands. Irrigation water would be distributed from Cactus Park Reservoir by the Cedaredge Canal, the Lower Redlands Lateral, and existing laterals that would be enlarged or rehabilitated as necessary by the water users. Mu- nicipal and domestic water would be available from Cactus Park Reservoir in the Cedaredge Canal or, to the extent water is available, it could be obtained from the reservoir feeder canal or from direct streamflows in exchange for reservoir releases provided to downstream users. Some of the streamflow diverted for use under the Grand Mesa Project is now used dom1stream on the existing Fruitgrowers Dam Project. That water would be replaced Py new water supplies diverted to the project through potential feeder canals. Several reservoirs on Grand Mesa now used for irrigation storage would be converted to stable lakes for recreation and fishing through transfer of their active capacity to Cactus Park Reservoir. Recreational facili- ties would be provided at Electric Mountain and Cactus Park Reservoirs and at the stabilized reservoirs on Grand Mesa. A waterfowl management area would be developed below the irrigation service area. Acquired and public lands would be rehabilitated as deer winter range to compensate for losses of deer habitat caused by the project. Also project funds would be contributed to a fencing program to abate problems of deer and elk depredation compounded by project development.