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Grand Junction. Fruita is surrounded by unincorporated areas of Mesa County. The total land area contained within Fruita is approximately 2.25 square miles. According to U. S. Census Bureau figures, the 1976 population was 2,276, an increase of 25 percent since 1970 (Reference 2). The 1990 population was 4,045, an increase of 78 percent since 1976 (Reference 3). William E. Pabor, a lieutenant under Horace Greeley, settled in the area in 1882 and laid out the original townsite. From its beginning, Fruita has been agriculturally oriented. Early settlers planted orchards of many varieties, some of which remain today on scattered acreage that is still devoted to fruit production. Sugar beet cultivation and processing started around 1894 and was an essential part of the area economy until around 1929. Farming has since become more diversified, with such main crops as grains for livestock feed and various fruits and vegetables. Cattle and sheep ranching began as large-scale operations around 1904, encouraged, in part, by an abundance of beet tops and pulp byproducts which were valuable as feed. Farming, with some fruit production and livestock raising, continues to form the economic base of the community. There are extensive irrigation facilities in the area to support these activities. Both the Little Salt Wash and Colorado River floodplains are undeveloped in Fruita. Little Salt Wash originates in Book Cliffs approximately 11 miles north of town, where its headwaters are at approximately 5,100 feet. It flows through the northern corporate limi t s of Frui ta, then forms the western corporate limits of the town as it flows southwesterly to its confluence with the Colorado River. Little Salt Wash flows into the Colorado River approximately 0.5 mile downstream of Fruita. The drainage area at Fruita is approximately 33 square miles. The Colorado River originates high in the Rocky Mountains on the western slope of the Continental Divide. The headwaters, in Rocky Mountain National Park, are at approximately 12,000 feet. The nver flows southwesterly from its headwaters, approximately 200 miles upstream of Fruita. At Grand Junction, approximately 11 miles upstream of Fruita the river turns northwest and flows just south of the Fruita area. It continues that direction of flow through Colorado. The drainage area at Fruita is approximately 17,100 square miles. Recent geologic history of the area, which includes Little Salt Wash and Colorado River drainage basins, extends back approximately 100 million years. Uplift of the land began approximately 68 million years ago during periods of intense volcanic activity and massive coastal upheaval. The cycle of erosion that followed carried away vast quantities of rock material. Formation of a vast lake in the western Colorado area approximately 61 million years ago resulted in the deposition of layers of sands, clays, and gravels. An erosion cycle began again approximately 25 million years ago that established the primary drainage patterns 4