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<br />DrainagE: <br /> <br />About 300 acres of preSE:ntly irrigatE:d lands will nE:E:d farm <br />drainagE:. Drainage will not bE: difficult and the necessary outlets <br />are readily available. Based on the cost of comparable drainage work <br />in this vicinity, drainage measures are estimated to cost $150 an <br />acre on the average for the 300 acres. <br /> <br />Irrigation Requirements <br /> <br />Considerable information from past studies is available from which to <br />determine probable irrigation requirements in the Paonia Project. <br />Consumptive water Use varies slightly between the Leroux Creek and <br />Fire Mountain Divisions but averages about 20 inches per year. <br />Irrigation efficiencies are now low but anticipated improvement in <br />irrigation facilities and management resulting from the improved water <br />supply is eJq)ected to produce an over-all farm efficiency of 57 percent. <br />This results in irrigation water requirements at the farm headgate of <br />34.7 inches in the Leroux Creek Division and 36.0 inches in the Fire <br />Mountain Division. . <br /> <br />The 12,280 acres of presently irrigated lands will need an average of <br />8.5 inches of supplemental water. The 2,100 acres of new land proposed <br />for irrigation will need a full supply of about 35 inches. The Paonia <br />Project should deliver sufficient water to supply thE:se requirements in <br />almost all years. As is true of virtually all irrigation projects, <br />the Paonia Project probably will occasionally experience slight <br />deficiencies in water supply in years of extremely low water yield. <br /> <br />Projected Agricultural Economy <br /> <br />To obtain data for the economic analysis of the Paonia Project, <br />economists of the Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Reclamation <br />jointly collected information from 43 farms. The total acreage on the <br />43-farm sample was 25 percent of the land now irrigated. <br /> <br />Three general farm typE:S are found. In the report these are called <br />frui t farms, frui t-general, and general. These farms average 27 , <br />60, and 100 acrE:s, respectively. The fruit farms are almost entirely <br />in peaches, apricots, cherries, and apples with only a few acres of <br />general crops. Fruit-general farms have considerable acreage of <br />apples but most of the farm is in general crops. General farms produce <br />virtually no fruit and the irrigated crops are chiefly fed to live- <br />stock. The livestock enterprises include grade-A dairy and beef <br />production. <br /> <br />Because all soils have about the same potential productivity, only <br />one set of crop yields (shown in table 12 of the report) was used. <br />Land development costs and annual production costs will vary among <br />the land capability classes and these are used in the economic analysis. <br />When all anticipated costs and returns are considered, anticipated net <br />farm returns of projected budgets with the project are estimated at <br />$3,135 as a we! ghted average. Thes,e net returns allow a charge for <br /> <br />vi <br />