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. . . CllAPl'ER I GE}~ DISCUSSIONS h01,ever, over a secondary road extending 16 miles tlxrough the project area from Cra1'Tford. Public facilities Colorado State Higlway No. 92, extending from Delta to Sapinero, Colo., crosses the eastern part of the project irrigable area and joins U.S. High- vlay No. 50 at both of its extremities. HighvJaY 92 has an improved bitumi- nous surface between Delta and Crawford and a gravel surface from Crawford to Sapinero. A portion of the graveled section vU1ich extends across the southern end of Black Mesa is not l,ept open during the 1linter. Trucl,lines serve the area. The nearest railhead is at Hotchl:.iss llhich is on a b..'anch line of the Denver and Rio Grande Hestern Railroad. Commercial airports operate at Grand Junction, Montrose, and Gunnison, while a number of smaller towns operate landing strips. COJlllllunication service in the area is provided by the 110untain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, Delta County Cooperative Telephone Com- pany, and the llestern Union Telegraph Company. The Delta-Montrose RUl'al J!m',er Lines, a cooperative financed by the Rural Electrification AcJrainis- tration, distribl:tes p011er in the project aJ.'ea. This company preserrtly purchases p011er from the i-lestern Colorado Pover Company. Recently the Delta-Hontrose Cooperative joined Vlith other coo']?eratives in the construc- tion of a pOllerplant at Nucla, Colo., 1lhich 11ill provide additional pOl,er to the w:ea. 1110 or three large hydroelectric pO<lerplants on the Gtumison River near the project area are in the plan for the authorized Curecanti tU1it of the Colorado River Storage project, further described later in this chapter. Grade and high schools are at Cra1;ford. Institutions of higher learn- ing are located at various places throughout Colorado. Irrigation developraent Apl':tm:.imately 6,930 acres of land are presently irrigated in the proj- ect area. Hater shortages are experienced every year and average about 26 percent of tl1e irrigation requirement. Most of the irrigation vater is obtained from Cl"Jstal Creel:. ana, Dyer Fork, its tributary, the only peren- nial streams easily accessible by gravity diversions. The remainder is obtained from Iron Creek, which drains lUOSt of the eastern portion of the project irrigable area. The Gould Reservoir on Iron Creel:., "ith a capacity of 8,300 acre-feet, stores "a tel' diverted from C1"Jstal Creek plus a small amount contributed by Iron Creek. This reservoir is o;med and operated by the 'Fruitl.and Irrigation Company. Lands above the reservoir in the Iron Creek drainage area are Im01m as Upper Iron Creek lands "hil.e those bel011 are ImoVln as LOVler Iron Creek lands, The Cattlemens ditch, constructed by the Cedar Canyon and Iron Springs Di tch Company, diverts vater from Crystal Creel, to both Upper and 1011er Iron 5