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-I's PAONIA PROJECT} COLORADO 13 difficult to be undertaken by the water users themselves. This condition accounts for the development of the small reservoirs on tributary streams as previously described. Population of North Fork Valley totaled 6,146 in 1940. Communi- ties in the valley are well established and provided with public schools, churches, electrical service, and transportation facilities. Local industry Irrigation farming for a period of more than 50 years has proved the climate and soil favorable for the growing of crops common to the Temperate Zone. . A condition of air drainage _over parts of the project lands makes it possible to grow fruits successfully and where water supplies are adequate a large acreage of prosperous horticulture has become well established. . . The higher lands, less adapted to the growing of fruits, are largely used for the production of livestock feeds. Project landowners hold grazing privileges on a large adjacent area of national forest. lands. Since project lands are well adapted to the growing of all types of livestock feeds, a program of pen feeding and fattening of livestock is expected to be undertaken by project farmers. Such a program would not only produce additional income, but the fertilizer derived would assist in maintaining the productivity of soils. The well-known North Fork coal-mining district of Colorado is located in the North Fork Canyon a short distance upstream from project lands. Agricultural employment is at a peak during the sum- mer months when coal-mining operations are reduced, thus making a good combination for balanced employment in the project area. Forage crops are consumed locally. Only a small portion of the other crops produced is marketed locally, the nearby coal-mining camps being the principal consumers. Outside markets are Denver, Chicago, and Kansas City. Some livestock is sold on the west coast market but the major portion goes to Denver and points farther east. The area is served by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad and a surfaced road connecting with the main State highway system branching north, south, east, and west. Climate The climate is semiarid. . Project lands lie at the foot of a high mountain range bordering the western Colorado desert. Heavy winds are uncommon but the mountain and desert proximity causes local air currents up and down the mountain slope resulting in a wide range of daily temperature. Records collected at the Cedaredge wel.ther station 3 miles northwest of the project area show erratic precipitation. The average annual precipitation over the past 50- year period is 11.82 inches, ranging from a minimum of 7.68 inches in 1903 to a maximum of 18.05 inches in 1941. Approximately 43 per- cent of the annual precipitation, or 5.08 inches, occurs during the crop-growing season. Mean annual temperatures over the 50-year period averaged 490 F., with the extremes of 280 below and 1010 above zero. .The average frost-free period is 140 days extending from May 13 to September 30. Records collected at Grand Junction show the relative humidity to be low, averaging ll,bout 39 percent. Irrigation begins about the middle of April and lasts well into October.