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<br /> <br />Ditch Name <br />Structure <br />ID Fruitland Mesa Area Water Rights <br />Approp. Date Admin. <br />Source Number <br />Decreed <br />Amount <br />Cattlemens Ditch (aka <br />10-24-1883 <br />12350 <br />00000 <br />49 <br />588 cfs <br />Cedar Canon Iron 504 Crystal Creek 5-15-1882 . <br />31924 <br />11823 . <br />5 <br />000 cfs <br />Spring Ditch) . . <br />Crystal Valley Ditch 533 Crystal Creek 5-10-1888 21263.14010 13.35 cfs <br /> 5-10-1888 31924.14010 1.00 cfs <br />Dyer Fork Ditch 543 Crystal Creek 5-15-1901 21263.18762 1325 cfs <br /> 5-17-1901 21263.18764 67.44 cfs <br /> 5-17-1901 25807.18764 300.00 cfs <br />Fruitland Canal 549 Crystal Creek 7-01-1914 2580723557 74.70 cfs <br /> 5-17-1901 31924.18764 95.00 cfs <br /> 11-13-1957 39398.00000 600.00 cfs <br />Fruitland Res 5-17-1901 21263.18764 2,800.00 AF <br />. <br />(Gould Res.) 3395 Crystal Creek 5-17-1901 25807.18764 6,397.95 AF <br /> 9-01-1949 36403.00000 1,000.00 AF <br />All of these systems obtain the majority of their water supplies from Crystal Creek, a <br />tributary of the Gunnison River at Crystal Reservoir. The Crystal Valley Irrigation Ditch <br />irrigates lands riparian to Crystal Creek. The other ditches (the Cattlemens Ditch, the <br />Dyers Fork Ditch, and the Fruitland Mesa Canal) transport the water over a small divide <br />into the Iron Creek basin, a tributary of the Smith Fork. Return flows from this <br />transbasin irrigation all return to the Smith Fork. <br />The senior right on Crystal Creek is the 50 cfs water right owned by the Cattlemens Ditch <br />Company (note that the right is listed in the State's tabulation as the Cedar Canon-Iron <br />Spring Ditch). This ditch irrigates approximately 2,960 acres of irrigated hayland <br />situated generally to the north of Gould Reservoir, east of Iron Creek, and adjacent to the <br />Muddy Creek and Alkali Creek drainages. Return flows accrue to Iron Creek above <br />Crawford Reservoir. This right is the controlling right on Crystal Creek, and the <br />availability of divertible water for the other rights on Crystal Creek is dependent on flows <br />generally being greater than 50 cfs. <br />The next major senior right on Crystal Creek is the Crystal Valley Irrigation Ditch (13.35 <br />cfs), which is used to irrigate approximately 500 acres of hay adjacent to Crystal Creek. <br />The owner of this right (Meeks) also owns several junior rights that are located to divert <br />any flows not needed by the larger ditches as well as irrigation return flows from the <br />Crystal Creek Ditch. <br />The Dyer Fork Ditch holds the next maj or priority (13.25 cfs) and is used to irrigate <br />approximately 650 acres of hayland in the upper reaches of the Iron Creek basin on the <br />east side of the stream. The majority of the irrigation return flows are intercepted by the <br />Cattlemens Ditch in the area above Gould Reservoir. This transbasin ditch actually <br />diverts from Dyers Fork, a tributary of Crystal Creek, upstream of the Cattlemens Ditch <br />head gate. <br />Gunnison River Basin Information 2-18 <br />