PROJ00061

• Contract/PO #: C153366
• Contractor Name: Ridges Metropolitan District
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 72
• County: Mesa
• Bill Number: SB 81-439
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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Distribution lines for present and future development are a part of the
overall system but will be funded separately by the Ridges Metropolitan
District.

B.

Location

The Ridges is a residential Planned Unit Development located in the Red-
lands area of Grand Junction, Colorado, approximately one mile southwest
of the Grand Junction city limits on State Highway 340. The service area
for the District is 816 acres in size, and will include such amenities as
school, park and recreational facilities.

The terrain is generally hilly with frequent large rock outcroppings.
Elevations vary between 4600 and 5000 feet. Nearly vertical cliffs along
the southern boundary and on either side on the Red Canyon drainage pro-
vide the spectacular topographic features. From the top side of the cliffs
the ground slopes in a northeasterly direction towards the Colorado River.
The area is underlain with sandstone and shale, with a relatively thin
overburden of alluvial soil (sandy loam). Some swelling clays are present,
. primarily along the Red Canyon floodplain.

The area is well drained, on-site drainage being collected by several
prominent arroyos which feed into a well defined drainage way exiting at the
northeast corner of the service area.

Major access to the property is from State Highway 340 (Broadway) at the
northeast corner of the. property. Additional access is presently being con-
structed to the east to join the road which enters the Colorado National
Monument.

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The location is further illustrated by the project map, Figure l-D, as well
as Figures I-A and I-B.

C. Climate

The climate is marked by a wide seasonal range. Sudden or severe weather
changes are infrequent mainly due to the high ring of mountains around the
valley. This protective topography results in a low annual precipitation
of approximately 8.3 inches. The usual occurrence of precipitation during
the growing season is in the form of light showers from thunderstorms which
develop over the western mountains. The nature of the valley and its loca-
tion, with typical valley breezes, provides some spring and fall frost pro-
tection resulting in an average growing season of 190 days from April to
October. Temperatures range in the middle and low 90's in the daytime to
the low 60's at night. Relative humidity is usually low throughout the
year. The winters are mild, with low temperatures usually above zero and
the highs in the mid 30's.

The monthly distribution of precipitation and temperature is shown in
Figure I-E. The data for Figure l-E was obtained from the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration records at Walker Field.

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