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PAONIA PE-OJECT:; COLORADO 5 PROJECT WORKS AND ESTIMATED COSTS 15. In order to provide the facilities required for 'accomplishing the general purposes of the project, three features are proposed for Federal construction. These features and their estimated construc- tion costs are as follows: 008t . A. Earthfill dam, 126 feet high above stream bed with crest length of 800 feet, and appurtenant works to provide 14,000 acre-feet of storage capacity (13,000 acre-feet active) in a reservoir at the Spring Creek site on East Muddy Creek___u_u____________ $1,050,000 B. Enlargement of the Fire Mountain canal, which diverts from the North Fork of Gunnison River, from its present capacity of 70 second-feet to a capacity of 165 second-feet at its head, and a 3.3-mile extension of the canal west of Leroux Creek to serve lands on Roger.. Mesa___________________________u_______ 461,000 C. Reconstruction and enlargement of the Overland canal, which diverts from Leroux Creek to Redlands Mesa, from its present capacity of 70 second-feet to a capacity of 140 second-feet at its head___~_______________________________________________ 40,000 Total estimated cost_ u __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ u _ u _ _ _ _ _ u __ _ _ _ _ u 1, 551, 000 16. The total. estimated cost of $1,551,000 is based upon 1940 prices. While Bureau of ReQlamation cost indexes indicate that if the project were constructed at prices now prevailing, it would cost (\0 percent more than under 1940 prices, the cost,s at the time the works \ are actually built must naturally prevail, and it is quite conceivable that they may be measurably less than those indicated by current costs. When considering such changes in costs, it must be realized that the monetary values of the estimated benefits, which were based on prewar prices, also are likely to vary upward or downward. If costs go up, the monetary values of the benefits are likely to go up, and vice versa. Hence the relations between costs and benefits shown in this r:eport are not apt to be materially affected by any reasonable change III costs. ~ ANNUAL BENEFI1'S AND COSTS 17.. The analysis in the following paragraph is presented for con- venience in appraising the economic justification of the project. It is expected that the basis for allocating costs, as provided in section 9 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, subject to the special pro- visions contained in paragraph 30 hereof, will result in an equitable and appropriate distribution of allocable costs among the purposes to be served. - 18. Direct benefits from irrigation and flood control are measurable and summarized. The incre~se in gross crop returns resulting from the project is taken as a measure of the national direct economic benefit from irrigation. Flood-control benefits resulting from opera- tion of the Spring Creek Reservoir are measured by the decrease in average annual flood damages along the North Fork River. Numer- . ous public benefits not separately evaluated in dollars are outlined in the following three paragraphs. Even without the unevaluated benefits,. the development will have a national economic. return of $2.60 for each dollar required to construct, maintain, and operate the project. The evaluated annual direct benefits and costs, based on average prewar crop prices and Jnnllary 1940 construction prices, are summarized as follows: