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<br />,~'J <br />cc <br />"~ <br />.-! <br /> <br />~, <br />..- <br /> <br />c:~ <br /> <br />Four irrigation entities divert water from the Colorado River. These <br /> <br />2 include the Grand Valley Water Users Association (Bureau of Reclamation <br /> <br />3 Project), Grand Val ley Irrigation Company, Pal isade Irrigation District, <br /> <br />4 and Mesa County Irrigation District. A fifth irrigation company, the <br /> <br />5 Redlands Power and Water Company, diverts water from the Gunnison River. <br /> <br />6 A number of other sma 11 compan i es have carr i age ag reements wi th the <br /> <br />7 major canal companies for del ivery of water. <br /> <br />8 First irrigation in the valley began in 1882 with the construction <br /> <br />9 of what is now the Grand Valley Canal (Grand Valley Irrigation Company). <br /> <br />10 Other private systems were built during the period between 1882 and 1908. <br /> <br />11 Construction of the last major system, the Grand Valley Project under <br /> <br />12 the Reclamation Service, began in 1908 with the major construction <br /> <br />13 completed in 1926. This project consists of two divisions, the Garfield <br /> <br />14 Gravity and the Orchard Mesa Divisions, on the north and south sides of <br /> <br />15 the river, respectively.. <br /> <br />16 The so i 1 s of th i s genera I area are der i ved f rom the Mancos Sha I e <br /> <br />17 formation. This marine formation has a very high salt: content and <br /> <br />18 ground water percolating over and through the shale picks up high concen- <br /> <br />19 trations of salt which are transported to the Colorado River through <br /> <br />20 wasteways, ditches, or by natural ground water movement to the river. <br /> <br />21 Because of the arid cl imate, these salts have not been leached naturally, <br /> <br />22 and high quantities remain. Lenses of white crystalline salts are often <br /> <br />23 exposed during excavation operations. The Mancos formation consists of <br /> <br />24 3,000 to 5,000 feet of relatively uniform silty clay shale with veinlets <br />25 of gypsum, calcite, and sodium sulphate. <br /> <br />14 <br />