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CHAPTER I PURPOSE AND NEED to the south and southeast. One, the relatively flat Orchard Mesa, is • situated at the foot of the Grand Mesa; the other, a rolling mesa known as the Redlands, lies west of Orchard Mesa at the foot of the Uncompahgre Plateau. Lands within the valley range in elevation from 4,400 to 4,700 feet. Irrigation Delivery Systems Irrigation delivery systems in the Grand Valley, shown on the Fron- tispiece Map, consist of both private and Federal developments. The pri- vate portion was essentially constructed before 1910 and consists of the facilities of the Grand Valley Irrigation Company; the Palisade, Mesa County, and the Orchard Mesa Irrigation Districts;l~ and the Redlands Water and Power Company. The Federal portion of the system is the Grand Valley Project, constructed between 1912 and 1917 by the U.S. Reclamation Service (now the Bureau of Reclamation), and includes the Grand Valley Powerplant. The Grand Valley Project now carries water to the Palisade, Mesa County, and Orchard Mesa Irrigation Districts in addition to its own facilities. An additional 500 acres are served by private diversions directly from the Colorado River. Private systems Grand Valley Irrigation Company i The Grand Valley Irrigation Company system serves a strip of land approximately 27,720 acres in size north of the Colorado River and south of the lands served by the Government Highline Canal and the Price Ditch. The system is composed of the Grand Valley Mainline Canal, the Grand Valley Highline Canal, the Independent Ranchmen's Ditch, and the Kiefer Extension. The Grand Valley Mainline Canal consists of two segments; segment one is referred to as the Grand Valley Canal and segment two as the Grand Valley Mainline Canal. The first segment, starting at the diver- sion of the canal at Palisade and extending for 12.6 miles, serves 4,370 acres using 52 independent laterals. At the 7.7--mile point of the first segment, water is diverted to the 3.2-mile-long Mesa County Ditch, which parallels the Grand Valley Canal about 1 mile south and serves an addi- tional 1,080 acres using 19 independent laterals. At the end of the first segment, the Grand Valley Canal splits into the Grand Valley Main- line and the Grand Valley Highline Canals. The second segment of the Grand Valley Mainline Canal continues for 14 miles, is located about 3 miles south of and parallel to the Government Highline Canal, and ter- minates just north of Fruita. The Grand Valley Mainline Canal and 60 independent laterals provide irrigation water to approximately 7,770 acres. 1/ In 1922, the Orchard Mesa Irrigation District became part of the Federal Grand Valley Project. 4