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<br />J(;~e <br /> <br />Report, of the Regional Director <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />the higher elevations hay, tame pasture, and small grains <br />predominate. They are marketed chiefly through livestock. <br />The foothills area in Fremont and Pueblo Counties, in addi- <br />tion to general irrigated crops, produce fruits, vine, and <br />truck crops. Below Pueblo the principal irrigated crops <br />are alfalfa, corn, grain sorghum, sugar beets, barley and <br />wheat, truck crops, and dry beans. Cantaloupes, onions, <br />cucumbers, pickles, tomatoes, and red beets are highly suc- <br />cessful truck crops. Dairying and poultry raising are im- <br />portant enterprises near market outlets. <br /> <br />15. The size of irrigated farms varies from small <br />truck farms and orchards to general purpose farms of sev- <br />eral hundred acres. In 1940 the average irrigated farm be- <br />low Salida consisted of 356 acres of which 81 acres were <br />irrigated. Irrigated land values range up to $250 an acre <br />depending upon soils and water rights. Gross crop values <br />also vary considerably. On the basis of 1939-1944 crop <br />prices, the average irrigated gross crop values ranged from <br />$30 to $40 an acre over the critical 1930-1941 period. <br />Specialty crops and seed crops often provide gross returns <br />many times the average. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />16. Ninety-s~ percent of the irrigated land in the <br />Arkansas Valley is identified as Classes 1 and 2 according <br />to Bureau of Reclamation standards. It is of high to medi- <br />~ productive capacity; consists of silty loam, clay loam, <br />and clay soils; and generally has good surface drainage. <br />Alkalinity and salinity are not serious problems. <br /> <br />NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT <br /> <br />17. The Western Slope diversion area proper is Na- <br />tional forest land not suitable for irrigation. Other areas <br />in the Colorado River Basin have irrigated and irrigable <br />lands. Present water uses in Western Colorado will undoubt- <br />edly expand and new uses may materialize. The increased uses <br />may result from expansion of irrigation and from such poten- <br />tial industrial developments as mining, lumbering, wood pulp <br />production, and oil shale refining. Investigations of the <br />Gunnison-Arlcansas Project were based upon the principle that <br />all present and potential uses of Colorado River water in <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />R <br /> <br />6 <br />