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<br />BUREAU OF RECLAMATION REPORT <br /> <br />39,530 acres and thus relieve lands now irrigated of part of the reser- <br />voir cost obligation. It would also increase the area of Indian lands <br />benefited from the reservoir by 1,940 acres. <br /> <br />Industrial and Ap;riculturaLDevelopment <br /> <br />Several industries, including lumber milling, coal mining, ,and <br />natural gas production, prosper in the general vicinity of the project. <br />Agriculture, particularly livestock raising, is the principal industry <br />in the immediate project area, however, and supports most of the area's <br />4,100 residents. Irrigation is necessary for successful crop produc- <br />tion as precipitation averages only about 6 inches during the growing <br />season. The frost-free season is short, averaging only about 109 days, <br />because of the high 6,000- to 7,OOO-foot elevations of the project <br />lands. The major crops grown are early-;maturing grain and forage crops <br />with some potatoes, pinto beans, and early vegetables and berries also <br />produced. Most of these crops are consumed locally, the grain and for- <br />age crops being used to supplement the range resources of the surround- <br />ing forests and of other nearby grazing lands. Any surplus is readily <br />marketed in neighboring States. Shipping facilities are available via <br />a narrow gage line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad which <br />makes standard gage connections at nearby Alamosa, Colo., and via U. S. <br />Highway 160 which provides good connections for truckers with all parts <br />of the country and with the Santa Fe Railroad at Gallup, N. Mex. Com- <br />mercial air freight and passenger service is also available to the area. <br />Durango, Colo., with a 1950 population of 7,437 and located about 20 <br />miles west of the project area, is the principal trading center in the <br />project area. <br /> <br />Project Extension <br /> <br />Purpose of Extension <br /> <br />The Pine River project extension is planned primarily for irrigation. <br />Provisions would be made in the extension for the maintenance of certain <br />minimum stream flows for domestic purposes and fish and wildlife conserva- <br />tion. Drops in potential canal enlargements could be utilized for the pro- <br />duction of nonfirm electric energy. Power plants would not be installed, <br />however, until markets for nonfirm energy develop in the area or until <br />an outlet for the energy is provided through interc,onnections with power <br />systems in other areas. Potential power heads at the Vallecito Dam or <br />at any points on Pine River above the irrigation canal diversions are <br /> <br />7 <br />