PROJ00279

• Contract/PO #: C153572
• Contractor Name: North Poudre Irrigation Company
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 3
• County: Larimer
• Bill Number: HB 85-1042
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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suitable for growing a wide range of crops if irrigated.
Under dry land conditions these soils are primarily
suited only to production of wheat or barley.

B.

Service Area Map. Refer to Appendix A for a map showing the
approximate limits of the area served by The North Poudre
Irrigation Company. The shaded area on the map highlights
the area irrigated from North poudre Reservoirs. Also on the
map is an outline of the land irrigated by water from
Reservoir No.2. This data was taken from maps used by North
Poudre to control their system.

C.

Land Use.

1. Present. There are approximately 42,000 acres served by
the North Poudre Irrigation Company which could grow
crops, of which approximately 30,000 acres are in
irrigated agricultural use. Based on discussions with
North Poudre personnel and review of area maps, we have
estimated approximately 2,000 acres may be municipal and
industrial use.

The water distributed through Reservoir No. 2 supplies
irrigation water to users to irrigate approximately
3,400 acres of crop and pasture land. No municipal or
industrial users are supplied from Reservoir No.2.

Crops generally cultivated in the area are corn, pinto
beans, alfalfa, beets, wheat, and barley. The average
yield of these crops for 1987 , as taken from the report
Colorado Aqricultur~ Statistics published by the
Colorado Department of Agriculture, is as follows: 22
tons of silage per acre; 123 bushels per acre for
shelled corn; 1410 pounds per acre for dry pinto beans;
3.4 tons per acre for alfalfa; 81 bushels per acre for
barley, 21 tons of sugar beets per acre, and 75 bushels
of wheat per acre. Table III-2 shows the breakdown of
crops, the number of acres of each type, the yields, and
dollars of production.

2. Future. Farm ground has continually been converted to
urban use in the past and will continue to be in the
future. A report by Ray L. Anderson entitled Urbaniza-
tion of Rural Lands In The Northern Coloradq Front Ranqe
- 1955 to 1983, Shows Larimer County to be losing
approximately 500 acres per year to urbanization. The
total acreage in production for dry and irrigated land
in Larimer County is approximately 95,000 acres. Thus a
loss of 0.5% per year could be expected in Larimer
County or a 20% loss over the 40 year project applica-
tion. This could potentially indicate a reduction of
6000 acres irrigated by the North Poudre system or 680
acres in the area served by Reservoir No.2. However,

III-2