PROJ00357

• Contract/PO #: C153383
• Contractor Name: Grand Mesa Water Conservancy District
• Contract Type: Grant
• Water District: 0
• County: Delta
• Bill Number: XB 99-999
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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PROJECT SUMMARY

GENERAL

The Grand Mesa Project, as proposed by the Grand Mesa Water Conservancy

District, has resulted from experiencing many years of irrigation water

shortages within the District. The need for water in the area has spurred

numerous feasibility studies involving the Bureau of Reclamation and

landowners from almost the entire North Fork of the Gunnison River Valley.

Past studies have been much larger, costly and without adequate benefit to

cost relationships. The Grand Mesa Water Conservancy District is proposing a

scsled-dawn project which offers benefits to the most intensively farmed

region of the valley with several advantages: hydropower generation to help

offset the costs, a limited amount of new construction, more efficient use of

available water, and the creation of additional storage to alleviate the

effects of drought.

The Grand Mesa Water Conservancy District is located on the foothills and

mesas flanking the south side of Grand Mesa in West Central Colorado. Located

in Delta County, the towns of Cedaredge, Eckert, and Orchard City serve as

economic centers for the primarily agricultural economy. The county seat,

Delta, is located approximately 15 miles to the southwest.

WATER NEEDS

Irrigation water shortages are frequently experienced by farmers on the

upper lands in the project area. First use of available irrigation water is

concentrated on lands in the lower portion of the project area. This is

because the earliest ranches and farmers were established there and therefore

hold the most senior water rights. The Grand Mesa Project would increase the

efficiency of water use by allowing first use to occur on the upper lands in

the area. Return flow would augment natural flows in the spring and reservoir

releases in the late summer. This scheme can only be accomplished by the

creation of additional storage (Cactus Park Reservoir) and an exchange program

among water users. Storage releases from Cactus Park Reservoir in exchange

for out-of-priority diversions to the upper lands is essential to the

Project's success.

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