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<br />DRAFT -121'22J94 - NOT FOR A1TIUIIUTlON <br /> <br />The Grand VaUey of Colorado <br /> <br />Larry MacDonnell I <br /> <br />I. <br /> <br />As the Colorado River works its way west out of the Rocky Mountains in western <br />Colorado, it cuts through a large, open expanse about 30 miles long and 12 miles wide known <br />as the Grand Valley, Since the 18805, water bas been diverted from the river to irrigate <br />farmlands in this valley, Construction of the Grand Valley Project by the Reclamation <br />Service in the early 1900s greatly expanded irrigation activity in the valley, and a flourishing, <br />largely agriculturally-based economy developed. <br />Today the Grand Valley is urbanizing. The city of Grand Junction, built at the <br />confluence of the Colorado (originally the "Grand") River and the Gunnison River has a <br />population of nearly 30,000, and subdivisions are filling in fields that once grew crops. <br />Agriculture, virtually all of it irrigated, continues to be an important part of the economy of <br />the valley, particularly the orchard lands in the higher, eastern end of the valley and the <br />croplands in the more rural, western part of the valley, In total, there are about 70,000 acres <br />of irrigated lands in the valley and, from a vantage point up on the high, red-colored <br />sandstone ridge that is the Colorado National Monument, irrigated fields still dominate the <br />landscape, To the north, beyond the irrigated areas, sage-covered desert lands that once <br />covered the valley are still readily visible, <br />Water from the Colorado River created this mountain valley oasis. Getting the water <br />from the river to the lands was no easy matter, however, As the Colorado leaves the confines <br />of DeBeque Canyon and enters into the Grand Valley, its channel cuts down through the <br />alluvial layers forming the adjoining lands. Not until the river is well into the valley does it <br /> <br />I Conrad Laues, University of Colorado School of Law. CIlSs of 1994, prepared an extensive paper on the Grand <br />Valley Project IS part of an intemshipunder the supervision of Robert Wigington of The Nature Conservancy and in <br />support of this project. The contributions of Robert Wigington to this chapter are IlJlIletbUy acknowledged IS is the <br />extensive ISsiSlance provided by Robert Norman of the Bureau of Reclamation. Peter Johnson, CllSs of 1996, <br />ISsisted with the footnotes. <br /> <br />I <br />