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Great Cut Ditch In 1873. modem development began in south- west Colorado when the Federal Government opened the nearby San Juan Mountains to min- ing In the early , 880s. settlers moved Into the Montezuma Valley near whalloday IS the City of Cortez. These early settlers began farming the land but soon realized thatlo ensure good har. vests they needed more water than was available from lhe small streams in the Montezuma Valley_ To meet this need, they built irrigation canals that conveyed waler from the Dolores River to the fertile but dry valleys In the San Juan River Ba. sin. The canals they constructed included the Great CuI Ditch. The canals helped, but they earned too little water and shortages still plagued the farmers and resKlents. The Dolores Project was proposed In partnership with the U,S Bu- reau 01 Reclamallon to ensure an adequate sup. ply of water was available to meet both the eXIst- Ing and future agricultural and municipal needs. McPhee Reservoir was created wlth the con. structlon of McPhee Dam and the Great Cut Dike, which was located in the saddle on the Dolores-San Juan DlVKfe. The reservOir has a total capaCity of 381.195 acre-feet. McPhee Dam, located on Ihe Dolores River, was con- structed as part of that Delores project. An inle- gral part of the McPhee Dam and Reservoir is the Great Cui Dike, which can be seen in the background in this photograp/l. II is a rolled eartMlI structure with a crest length of 1,900 feet and crest width of 30 feet II has a maximum height of 64 feet above the original ground sur- face. The embankment has a volume of about 189.000 cubic yards and was constructed at the site of the onginal Great Cut Ditch that was cre- ated by the earfy settlers ...- ~__-;.Nlr~- ~:-'C" '" . . June 2005 , , . , , ., , . . . , . . . . .. .. "" ,. .. " ., .. " " .. .. .. .. .. " .. .. " .. .. . " " " " " " " . " . .. .. .. IT .. " . " . " " Sun I Mon Tue , Wed Thu Fri I Sat I I 1 1 2 31 4 I 1 I I - ~ I 1 ~ , 5 7 8 9 101 11 1 I 1 I 131 I 1 - - - -. - 12 14 15 16 17 18 I 1 I I I I 1 : F/agDay 1 , 231 I - - - - --. - 19 20 21 22 24 25 1 I 1 Father's Day I - i , . - , , 26 27 28 29 30 I 1 1 1 I I I AoolP.<1rlle ~mlJn Jnr::