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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I SUMMARY Introduction The 1986 Grand Mesa Water Supply Project was sponsored by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), the Grand Mesa Water Conservancy District (GM WCD) and the Colorado River Water Conservation District (CR WCD), PRC Engineering, Inc, was selected under the provisions of H.B. lCf32 to conduct the study, The study's objective is to assess various sources and means of increasing the availability of water to existing irrigated land within the study area, The principal purposes of the project are: o To identify methods to improve water management in the Tongue Creek basin in order to increase the efficiency of water use without injury to existing senior water rights, o To investigate the possibility of storing water which is available for develop- ment (not presently used) in a new storage reservoir of several alternative sizes, o To examine the potential for diversion of water from the Muddy and/or Leroux Creek basin via Overland Ditch to Surface Creek, o To formulate and evaluate alternative plans. Located in the Grand Mesa Water Conservancy District, the Grand Mesa Water Supply Project study area covers 15,230 acres of irrigated land in the Tongue Creek basin, The study area includes all of the irrigated portions of the Surface Creek and Tongue Creek basins above the confluence with the Gunnison River, except the area served by Fruitgrowers' reservoir. The study by PRC Engineering was the most recent action in a continuing planning process initiated by local interests and Colorado State Government to formulate improvements which could be implemented without a major role by the federal government, Previous water supply investigations were performed for the Grand Mesa area by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and by Western Engineers, Inc. of Grand Junction, Colorado, -1-