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PAONIA PROJECT, COLORADO 11 from charges made for the use of Spring Creek Reservoir water arid by income from the sale of Leroux Creek water rights to parties needing water upstream on that creek. The plan was not favored by the water users and construction was not undertaken. Water users were of the opinion that an enlargement of the Fire Mountain canal is a neces- sary prerequisite to the sale of Leroux Creek water and that full use of water stored at the Spring Creek site could only be made with an enlarged canal. Financing the outright sale of water rights was also a problem of concern to the water users involved. As now planned the project will furnish a supplemental supply of water for 12,750 acres of land presently irrigated anda supply for 2,000 !tcres of new land, all in the North Fork River Valley. In addi- tion, 4,000 acre-feet of reservoir capacity will be provided for future expansion in the valley and incidental flood control will be realized. Storage water will be made available by the construction of a dam and appurtenant works to impound 14,000 acre-feet of water in a reservoir at the Spring Creek site on East Muddy Creek, a tributary of the North Fork River. Two existing canals, the Fire Mountain a,nd the Overland canals, will be improved, enlarged, and extended for delivery of water to project lands. Transfer of the use of water to upstream lands on Leroux Creek will be accomplished either by a year-to-year water exchange for an equivalent amount of water from the North Fork River, or by transferring ownership of rights to Leroux Creek water for a comparable' right to North Fork River water to be made available by the project. This plan of development meets the approval of and is desired by the water users of the project area. The project will not provide a full irrigation supply for all arable lands on Leroux Creek above the Fire Mountain carial. The develop- ment of supplemental storage water for these lands is the principal feature of the potential Leroux Creek project being considered for additional investigation. Present irrigation development Several canals' serve North Fork Valley lands. The Fire Mountain canal is the major diversion from the main North Fork River and the Overland canal is the principal diversion from Leroux Creek. . The lands under these two canals receive water under junior appropriations on the respective streams and are in real need of additional water. The Fire Mountain Canal & Reservoir Co., operating the Fire Mountain canal, holds several water appropriations, on the North Fork River and on Terror and Jay Creeks. The canal, some 30 miles in length, heads on the north bank of the river a short distance below the town of Somerset and extends west serving lands along the north side of the valley to Leroux Creek. At the end of the present main canal, water is flumed across Leroux Creek and discharged in.to the main canal of the Leroux Ditch & Enlargement Co. The Fire Mountain canal thus furnishes some water for the irrigation of lower lands under ditches diverting from Leroux Creek. Water is delivered to the stockholders of the Fire Mountain Co. itt canal turn-outs and the Leroux Creek flume in proportion to the stock held in the company. Operation and maintenance costs are likewise assessed to stockholders in proportion to the amount of stock held. In addition to rights for diverSIOn of natural-flow water from the North Fork River and the several creeks crossed by the Fire Mountain canal, the Fire Mountain