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" SUBSTANTIATING MATERIAL TO THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR'S. REPORT GENERAL DESCRIPTION North Fork River Valley The Paonia project is in western Oolorado in the valley of the North Fork of the Gunnison River 56 miles southeast of Grand Junc- tion. The North Fork of the Gunnison River, commonly called the North Fork River, is a deeply entrenched stream formed immediately above the project area by a number of tributary streams draining the south side of Grand Mesa and the West Elk Mountains. Several watershed peaks rise to elevations over 12,000 feet with the major portion of the upper watershed boundary ranging in elevation from 10,000 to 11,000 feet. The short steep canyons, with shale as the predominant bedrock, and the lack of deep soil cover for storage of ground water, result in severe variation in river flow. It is. not uncommon for the river flow to vary from 6,000 to 8,000 second-feet during the high run-off period in the spring to as low as 40 to 60 second- feet late in the summer. The North Fork River Valley begins a short distance above the town of Paonia and extends downstream some 22 miles to its junction with the main Gunnison RiVer. Arable lands of the valley are on a series of terraces both north and south of the river. Project lands, however, are confined to 'the north side. The nature of the watershed and the lack of a'ttractive reservoir sites have retarded agricultural development of the entire valley. This condition has resulted in an overappropriation of water on the. tributary streams and .the serving of lands with water from these streams which can and should be irrigated from' the main river. The project is planned to serve the greatest acreage practicable by direct diversion from the main North Fork River and thus release the waters of Leroux Oreek and other tributary streams for use on upstream land. Investigations Irrigation farming is well established and the need for additional water has long been recognized by local water users and State officials. Beginning in the drought year of 1934, the office of the State engineer of Oolorado investigated a number of reservoir sites in Western 0010- rado, four of which are on the project watershed. As a result of these investigations and the activities of local water users, a request was made of the Bureau of Reclamation in 1936 to investigate reservoir storage possibilities in the North Fork River drainage basin. Studies were immediately started. As first initiated, project studies were directed toward development of water supplies for lands of the entire North Fork V/1lley. Later the project area was divided into the Fire Mountain, the Minnesota, 9