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<br />I'\) <br />, c.o <br />1-- <br />-.:: <br /> <br />Lower Gunnison Basin <br />Salinity Control Project Units 1, 2 & 3 <br /> <br />~~. -', <br />;.-.:.:.. <br />"",.. "' <br /> <br />The Lower Gunnison Salinity Control Project is situated in west-central Colorado, and the <br />irrigated cropland area stretches into two counties, Delta and Montrose, The project's Unit 1 and the <br />parts of Units 2 & 3 that fall within Delta County are serviced out of Delta County. The parts of Units <br />2 & 3 within Montrose County are serviced out of Montrose County. About 169,000 acres are irrigated <br />by gravity flow; Water is diverted either from creeks corning off Grand Mesa or by the Gunnison and <br />Uncompahgre Riversystems, Water is delivered to the fields by unlined canals and ditches. For the most <br />part, the area has an underlying saline marine formation known as Mancos Shale, Since the irrigation <br />water is quite plentiful and inexpensive, considerable over-inigation occurs. This over-irrigation <br />coupled with leakage from the unlined canals contributes about 840,000 tons of salt from the shale <br />through the return flow to the Colorado River system annually. The croplands lie in both valleys and <br />high mesas, The crops are diverse, ranging from hay-alfalfa, mixed grass with alfalfa, small grains, <br />several varieties of orchard fruits, onions, dry beans, sweet com and other produce crops. Production <br />on a per-acre basis is good and the quality of the fruit is excellent <br /> <br />Surge Background <br /> <br />Surge irrigation systems have the reputation of reducing deep percolation and runoff while <br />improving the uniform application of irrigation water. lnigation by the use of furrows or corrugations, <br />for the most part, is the dominant system used for surface irrigation throughout the Lower Gunnison <br />Basin, <br /> <br />The surge concept is a relatively new idea in Irrigation Water Management (IWM), applicable <br />primarily to furrows. The principle involves applying water between two sets of furrows with on and <br />off cycles rather than running one continuous flow, Surge allows the irrigatorto switch to the leftonight <br />between two sets offulTOWS or corrugations by the use of a T-Valve and/or Surge Gate, The controller <br />that switches the t-valve or gate is battery operated, The battery is continuously recharged by a solar <br />panel, The controller is mounted on a surge valve and is programmable to automatically operate, <br />switching the water flow from one side to the other in accordance with the IWM strategies being applied, <br />Therefore, the operator can use the controller to program the inigation time (advance cycle and soak <br /> <br />Page 8 . Lower Gunnison Surge Demonstration Project <br />