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<br />.-l <br />00 <br />C"? <br /> <br />Evaluation Area A <br /> <br />Evaluation area A comprises 2,835 acres of presently irrigated land and <br />383 acres of new land. The new land is intermingled with presently irri- <br />gated land and will likely be used to enlarge existing operating units. <br />Evaluation area A lands will receive water either by diversion from East <br />Rifle Creek or by pump from the Colorado River. <br /> <br />The soils are deep, medium to fine textured, generally on slopes from 1 <br />to 6 percent. They have medium water intake rates, moderate to slow per- <br />meability in subsoil and substratum and high water holding capacity. Most <br />of the project soils having saline, alkali and high water table problems <br />are included in this evaluation area. Proposed project drainage, supple- <br />mented by on~farm drainage, should correct these problems and result in <br />crop yields equal to other lands in the evaluation area. <br /> <br />Lands within this evaluation area can be farmed intensively and will produce <br />high yields. All of the sugar beets now grown in the project area are on <br />these lands and the majority of the expanded acreage of sugar beets with <br />the proposed project is expected to be on these lands. <br /> <br />Effectiveness of the past water supply has been increased by the improved <br />distribution provided by use of the Harvey Gap Reservoir. There are 213 <br />acres included within this evaluation area that have had a full water supply <br />by pumping from Cactus Valley ~ttch. Benefits on these lands will be cal- <br />culated separately from the other lands in this evaluation area. Presently <br />irrigated lands will receive approximately .9 acre-foot per acre of addi- <br />tional irrigation water and new lands will receive approximately 2.7 acre- <br />feet per acre wi th developnent of the proposed project. Crop yields have <br />been good but substantial improvement is expected from the addi tronal water. <br /> <br />Evaluation Area B <br /> <br />This evaluation area comprises 1,286 acres of presently irrigated land and <br />176 acres of new land. The new land is in small scattered tracts inter- <br />mingled with presently irrigated land, and it is anticipated that the new <br />lands will be added to existing farm units. <br /> <br />Evaluation area B lands are intermingled wi th lands of evaluation area A. <br />It is ve~ unlikely that a farm unit will have lands of evaluation area B <br />only. Soils are similar to evaluation area A but slopes are steeper, <br />generally from 6 to 12 percent. <br /> <br />A small acreage is affected with water table, salt and alkali. Another <br />small acreage has stones on the surface. Project drainage is not planned <br />for the wet areas, but farm drains may be installed by individual operators. <br />It is not anticipated that drainage or stone removal will be applied to the <br />degree to develop these lands to their maximum productive capacity. <br /> <br />Because of the steep slopes and the degree of developnent anticipated for <br />these lands, types of crops will be restricted and crop yields will average <br />lower than yields in evaluation area A. Cropping s,ystems will include <br /> <br />- 6 - <br />