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/ . October 1972 SUMMARY SHEETS Fruitland Mesa Project LOOATION: Gunnison River Basin in west-central Colorado. are between town of Crawford and Black Canyon National Monument. Project lands of the Gunnison AUTHORIZED: Authorized September 2, 1964, as a participating project with the Colorado River Storage Project--Public Law 88-568 (78 stat. 852). ~' . Water will be provided from SOBP, Curecanti, and Crystal Creeks--all trib- utaries of Gunnison River. Soap Creek flows will be regulated at Soap Park Reservoir on the creek and conveyed to Crystal Creek by the Black Mesa Co~ duit. Natural flows of Curecanti Creek will also be diverted into the con- duit. Releases from the Black Mesa Conduit along with flows of Crystal Creek will be diverted from the creek into the existing Crystal Valley ditch and the potential Fruitland Canal and used for irrigation. A diversion from Dyer Fork, a Crystal Creek tributary, will be increased and the water will be replaced to downstream users on Crystal Creek from the project. Flood ease- ments will be obtained and protective measures provided for the portion of Crystal Creek channel used to convey additional project water. The first 2~ miles of the 21-mile-long Fruitland Canal will be a replace- ment of the existing Fruitland ditch. Three major turnouts will be made from the canal to existing facilities, including (1) Cattlemens ditch; (2) Gould Feeder Canal, a section of the Fruitland ditch which will be re- ne.med; and (3) Castle Canyon, a nat=al cha~el. Minor turnouts will be made directly to pr~ject lands Bnd to distribution laterals. Eleven miles of'the Gould Canal west of Castle Canyo!\ will be enlarged by the canal owners except for some structures which will be replaced as a part of the project. The existing Gould Reservoir will proVide regulation of project water delivered to it by the Gould Feeder Canal. A pipeline will be constructed by the National Park Service to convey a small amount of proj- ect water from the Fruitland Canal for public use at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument. Irrigation laterals and drains will be constructed as needed. Recreational facilities will be provided and operated by the Forest Service at the Soap Park Reservoir. Fisheries will be created at the Soap Park and Gould Res- ervoirs. Irri~tion yield reductions at Gould Reservoir resulting from the maintenance of a fishery pool will be made up to the reservoir owners from project water supplies. Certain minimum flows for fish will be main- 'tained in Soap and Curecanti Creeks.