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<br />'[ <br /> <br />3i9 G'7 <br /> <br />FRYINGPAN-,'\RKA...VSAS PRO.JECT, CO,LORADO <br /> <br />is used for grazil1g. Cultiyatecllantls comprise 10 percent of the area <br />of which about one-fourth, or 322,000 acres, is irrigated. The irll!';ated <br />land exerts an extrrm(dy significant influence on the economy of the <br />valley, It stahilizes the economy of an area many times greater than <br />that. actually irrigated. <br />14. .l\-fany irrigntcd crops arc grown successfully in the. Arkansas <br />'-'alley \,,"hen wnter supplies are adequate. In the. higher elevations <br />ha.y, tame pasture, and smllll groins; predominate. They arc marketed <br />chieny through livesto"k. The foothills area in Fremont autl Puehlo <br />Countips, in addition to general irrigat.ed crops, produce fruits, vine, <br />and truck crops. Below Pueblo the principal irrigated crops are <br />alfalfn., earn, grain sorghum. sugar bc(,ts~ barley and wheat, truck <br />crops, and dry beans. Cantllloups, oIliollS, cucumhers, pickles, to- <br />matoes, and red beet.s HI'C highly su('ce~sful truck crops. Dllirying <br />and pou}t.ry rnisillg are important ent.erprisl'-s nr81' market. outlets. <br />15. The size of irrigat.ed furms varies from smull truck furms and <br />orchards to generH.I purpose farIns of several hundrcd acres. In] 940 <br />the Ilvcrage irrigated farm helm\' Saljda eonsisteJ of 350 ael'ps of which <br />81 ficres werc inigated. Irrigated land values range up to $250 an <br />acrc depcnding upon ~oils and water rights. Gross erop values also <br />vary considerably. On thc basis of 1939-44 crop prices, the average <br />irriga ted gross crop YRlues ranged from $30 to $40 nn acre oYer the <br />critielll 193G-41 period. Specialty erops and seed crops often pro- <br />vide gross returns many times the average. <br />16. Ninety-six pel"Cent of the irrignted land in the Arkansas Vnlley <br />is identified as classes ] and 2 according to Bureau of Reclamation <br />st.andards. It is of high to medium productive capacity; consists of <br />silty 10amJ day loam, and clny soils; and generally has good surface <br />drainnge. Alkuliuity and sulinity are not serio LIS problems, <br /> <br />NEED FOn. DEVELOPMENT <br /> <br />,. <br /> <br />17. The western slope diversion area proper is no t.ionalforest land <br />not. suit.ahle for irrigation. Other areas in thc Colorado River Basin <br />have irrigated and irrigahlp, lands. Present water uses in western <br />Colorado will undoubt.edly expand and new uses may nlaterialize. <br />Tile increased uses may result from expansion of irrignt-iDll and from <br />such potential industrial developments as mining, lumbering, wood <br />pulp prodlletion, and oil shale refining. IIlvestigat,ions of tbe <br />Gunnison-Arkansas project were based upon the principle that <br />all present. and poteutial nses of Colorado River water in the <br />Jlnt.urnl basin in Colorndo lIlusL be protect,eel. Extensive st.udies hy <br />the Bureau and by committees appointed by the Colorndo Water <br />Conservation Board <:onfirm the existence of fi plentiful supply of <br />wuter in the djve-rsion arNl. The studies also "Sub~tnntiate tlw Con- <br />elusion that part of thnt water can feasibly hc diverted without <br />netriment to t.hc diversion area or to other eXlstmg and potentiul <br />water uses on the western slope-even though complete fut,ure Wflter <br />requirements for all possible uses (,Bnnot, be foreseen for nll of W(.~S~erll <br />Colofndo. The relatively small diversions proposed for t.he InItial <br />development.-n~placed iil t,iI1le. t111Il11t.ity. find pla~e by n re.srT"olr <br />near Aspen u.nd by judicious operation of the proJect, ~ased OB rJw <br />operat,jng principles hereinafter set forth-will not impl1lr the future <br />.ecollOlnic growth of the west.ern slope, harnl prcse.nt waler lIsers, or <br />