WSP03721

• File Number: 8276.300
• Description: Lower Gunnison Basin Unit - Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Project
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 4
• Date: 12/1/1989
• Title: Colorado River Water Quality Improvement Program Lower Gunnison Basin Unit North Fork Area Preliminary Findings Report December 1989
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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CHAPTER I

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INTRODUCTION

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Findings and Recommendations

preliminary studies in the Lower Gunnison Basin Unit - North Fork Area
failed to identify any significant salinity control options with cost
effectiveness values less than $lOO per ton. Therefore, it is the
recommendation of this report to conclude salinity control investigations for
the unit. The purpose of this report is to document pertinent study results
and to terminate the program.

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Background

The Lower Gunnison Basin Unit-North Fork study has been conducted under
the Federal Water pollution Control Act of October lB, 1972, (Public Law
92-500): the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of June 14, 1974
(Public Law 93-320).

The study was conducted to identify the source and quantify the amount of
salts entering the Colorado River system from the study area, to analyze the
salt loading mechanisms, and to formulate solutions that would reduce the salt
contribution. The study concentrated on: 1) seepage losses from unlined
irrigation delivery systems that dissolve and transport salts to the river:
and, 2) on point source contributions from abandoned gas and oil exploration
wells.

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The study area is located in Delta, Montrose, and Ouray Counties in
west-central Colorado and consists of irrigated lands along the Gunnison,
North Fork of the Gunnison, and Uncompahgre Rivers. The major portion of the
study area is bounded by the Gunnison River to the south, Grand Mesa National
Forest to the north and west, and the Gunnison National Forest to the east. A
small portion of the area is located in the Uncompahgre River Valley south of
the city of Montrose. The study area is shown on the frontispiece map.

Colorado State Highways 92, l35, 65, and U.S. Highway 550 traverse the
study area. The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad parallels the
North Fork of the Gunnison River in an east-west direction and terminates just
east of the Delta county line. Larger communities in the study area include
Paonia, Hotchkiss, Crawford, Delta, and Cedaredge. paonia and Delta have
small airports, while the nearest commercial airport is at Montrose, about
20 miles south of Delta. Elevation in the area ranges from about 5,000 feet
near Delta to almost 9,000 feet north of Cedaredge.

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