WSP06617 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

!}~33J8 CHAPl'ER I GENERAL DISCUSSIONS . A number of small ditches have been constructed from the nonperen- nial streams that traverse the O'Neal Park project area. Because of an inadequate water supply, however, most of these ditches have been abandoned. A system of ditches and reservoirs to intercept and store the flows of Martinez, Dutton, and Stollste1mer Creeks to provide essentially a full water supply for about 700 acres of land has been developed in the , Stevens Ranch near Pagosa Springs. The combined capacity of the reser- voirs in the system is estimated at approximately 1,300 acre-feet. Below the Stevens Ranch irrigation is provided for an additional 600 acres of land in smell tracts scattered along the lower reaches of Stoll steimer Creek. An estimated 1,000 acres of land are irrigated from Piedra River below U. S. Highway 160. In addition a number of sizeable blocks of land are irrigated from Middle Fork, Williams Creek, and Weminuche Creek, all major tributaries of Piedra River. These lands for the most part have more than an ample water supply. . Most of the irrigated areas mentioned above contain some lands suitable only for pasture. The costs involved in serving these lands are relatively low, however, making their irrigation an attractive phase of the livestock industry. Transportation and Other Service Facilities The principal means of shipping products to and from the project area is by truck. U. S. Highway 160, oil paved and running east and west between Durango and Pagosa Springs, crosses just to the south of the project area and extends to the east over Wolf Creek Pass to points in eastern Colorado. From a point on U. S. Highway 160 approximately 2 miles west of Pagosa Springs, an all weather gravelled county road extends to the northwest through the project area. Most of the exist- ing farm roads in the area have not been graveled and are nearly impass- able when wet. Development of the project would need to be accompanied by an improvement of these auxiliary roads. Narrow-gage railroad connections are available at Durango, Colo., approximately 60 miles west of the project area and at Pagosa Junction, approximately 20 miles over a dirt road south of Pagosa Springs. The nearest standard-gage railroad connection is at Bexterville, Colo., 61 miles northeast of Pagosa Springs. Regular commercial air service is fUrnished by Frontier Airlines to Durango. The company carries passengers, mail, and express cargo. . Electric energy is f'urnished to the project area by the La Plata Electric Association, Inc., a Rural Electrif1cation Association. 4