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<br /> <br />~ <br /> <br /> <br />COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD <br />102 columbine Building <br />1845 Sherman Street <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br /> <br />March, 1975 <br /> <br />FRUITLAND MESA PROJECT <br /> <br />The Fruitland Mesa project is located in the Gunnison River <br />basin of west-central Colorado. Project lands are located south of the <br />Smith FOrk of the Gunnison River and east and north of the Black Canyon <br />of the Gunnison national recreation area near the town of CrawfOrd. The <br />project was authorized in 1964 as a participating project of the Colorado <br />River Storage Project Act. The Fruitland Mesa Water Conservancy District <br />was organized in 1960 as the sponsoring and contractual agency for the <br />project. This district includes portions of Delta, Gunnison, and <br />Montrose counties. <br /> <br />Plan of Development <br /> <br />Water provided by a storage reservoir on Soap Creek and from <br />Curecanti Creek will be diverted through the Black Mesa conduit to <br />supplement the flows of Crystal Creek, all tributaries of the Gunnison <br />River. The releases from Black Mesa Conduit and direct flows from <br />Crystal creek will be diverted by existing systems and by the proposed <br />Fruitland Canal. The initial portion of the Fruitland Canal will be <br />a replacement for the existing Gould Canal,from which water is <br />presently supplied to the Gould Reservoir and Gould Canal. <br /> <br />The Fruitland Canal would continue westward to provide <br />irrigation for 16 proposed new farm units and to provide water for <br />private lands not now being irrigated. A pipeline will be constructed <br />to provide the Black Canyon monument area with approximately 15 acre- <br />feet of water annually. Irrigation laterals from the Fruitland Canal <br />will be constructed as needed to serve the new lands. <br /> <br />Recreational facilities will be provided by the Forest <br />Service at the Milly K. Goodwin Reservoir. Fisheries will be created <br />at the reservoir along Soap Creek and at the privately owned Gould <br />Reservoir. Irrigation replacements for the maintenance of a fishery <br />pool at Gould Reservoir will ,be made, to the reservoir owners from <br />Fruitland Canal. Minimum flows for fish will be maintained along Soap <br />Creek, Curecanti Creek, and Crystal Creek. <br />