PROJ00113

• Contract/PO #: FS0032X
• Contractor Name: San Miguel Project USBR 1966
• Contract Type: Miscellaneous
• Water District: 0
• County: San Miguel
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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CRAPrER I

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Pro,Ject Settinp;

The San Miguel project area is in the Dolores River Basin, a part of
the Upper Colorado River Basin, in southwestern Colorado. The center of
the area is about 30 miles from Colorado's western border and 80 miles
from its southern border. The area includes portions of San Miguel and
Montrose Counties.

The project irrigation service area lies east of the Dolores River
and south of the San Miguel River, chief tributary of the Dolores. The
northeastern portion of this area includes the rural communities of Nor-
wood and Redvale. North across the San Miguel River are other agricul-
tural lands on a mesa in the vicinity of the town of Nucla. These would
not receive project service but their water resources are closely related
to those of the project and they would receive some indirect benefits.

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Mining communities lie along the San Miguel River on three sides of
the agricultural areas. On the east in the high San Miguel Mountains are
Placerville and Telluride which were established in the 1870's primarily
for mining of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. On the west in the
San Miguel River canyon is Naturita, which started with vanadium develop-
ment during World War I, and Uravan, which largely came into being in the
1950's with the expanded development of uranium and vanadium ores in the
area. On the north is a strip coal mine near Nucla.

The po]?ulation in the vic'nity of the project is about 4,800 accord-
ing to 1960 census data. The largest towns are Uravan (1,005), Naturita
(979), Nucla (906), and Norwood (443).

The project area is remote from trade centers. Montrose, about 70
miles to the northeast, can be reached only by a circuitous route in the
winter when the direct road is closed. Cortez is about 100 miles to the
south and Grand Junction 125 miles to the north. The nearest commercial
air service is provided at Montrose and the nearest railhead is at Ridg-
way about 50 miles to the east.

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Transportation problems, which long were a major deterrent to de-
velopment of the project area, have been relieved in recent years by the
construction of hard-surfaced roads. A system of State highways extend-
ing from Naturita to Federal arteries is now essentially complete. The
system includes Highway 141 extending from Naturita to the northeast,
Highway 90 to the west, Highway 80 to the southwest, and Highway 145 to
the east. County roads provide access to all parts of the project area.

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