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l(') CJ') C'J CHAPTER I GENER.AL DISCUSSIONS high and 700 feet long at the crest, is apparently in good condition. Very little leakage occurs when the reservoir is full and there is no threat of failure. The center of the dam has sagged about 4 feet at the crest. Consolidation probably has occurred both in t he embankment and natural stream fill. The concrete spillway, recently constructed on the right abutment, is in good condition. The outlet control tower rests on rock and extends up through the dam embankment. The out let tunnel is drilled through the bedrock. The upper part of tho; outlet conduit, however, passes through fill and consists of tile pipe embedded in concrete. Approximately 8,500 acres are irrigated from Rifle Creek, inc luding 3,100 acres in valleys adjacent to Rifle Creek and it s trib utarie sand 5,400 acres east of the Rifle Creek drainage area in Dry Elk Valley and onHarvey Mesa which are SErved by the Grass Valley Canal. Approximately 540 acres were formerly supplied water by the Davie di tch but are no longer Irrigated because of water shortages. The lands in lOWEr Rif Ie Creek Valley are irrigated under water rights of early priority and thus are provided with a good water supply. All other lands, however, are irri- gated under junior water right s and suff er extreme water short9.ges after June of eOlch year. It is the purpose of the Silt project t" alleviate these shortages ancf also to provide a good watdr supply for new land in the area that is worthy of irrigation. ;, !', Grass Valley Canal is owned and operated by the Farmers Irrigation Company. Davie di tch, now abandoned, was owned cooperatively by the land-own8rs who were served. t~ Other Water Uses Besides irrigation, water is used locally for domestic. and municipal, stock watering, industrial, power, and recreational purposes. Canals of the area are operated intermittently through the winter to supply domestic and stock water for rural areas. Rifle and Silt receive municipal water through separate pipe distribution systems. Rifle is . supplied from Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River atld from the Colorado Riv~r. Silt is supplied from the Colorado River. The United States Vanadium plant at Rifle receives part of its industrial water from the Rifle City distribution system and the remainder by direct pumping from the Colorado River. The Bureau of Mines oil shale de lll- onstratlon plant pumps its water from the Colorado River. , !.' :~ i\;. ;~ ,;.; ,.. :~. The Riflt Falls power plant, a l25-kilowatt hydr,-,electric plant, is operated on East Rifle Creek by the Public Service Company of Colorado. There is good trout in Harvey Gap Reservoir. in the Colorado River is fishing in East and Middle Angling for river salmon, popular . Rifle Creeks and suckers, and catfish 7