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Col1bran Project . Colorado: Mesa County Upper Colorado Region Water and Power Resources Service The Collbran Project, in west-central Colorado, has developed, for multiple purposes, a major part of the un- used water in Plateau Creek and its principal tributaries. Supplemental irrigation water can be furnisbed to 19,710 acres and full irrigatiou service can be supplied to 2,500 acres of land. Electrical energy is generated for use in west-central Colorado. Major project works include Vega Dam and Reservoir, two powerplants, two major diver- sion dams, about 37 miles of canal, and about 18 miles of pipeline and penstock. East Fork Diversion Dam and Feeder Canal, along with tbe Bonham-Cottonwood Col- lection System, carry water into the 1,OOO-acre-foot capacity Bonham Reservoir, which in turn supplies the major portion of the water to operate the Molina power- plants. The project also has rehabilitated and modified the operation of 17 small privately owned storage reser- voirs on the Grand Mesa situated in the Cottonwood Creek and Big Creek watersheds. Fifteen of the 17 reser- voirs provide water for power generation through the ex- change of storage water on Grand Mesa for irrigation ,,\rater from Vega Reservoir. The other reservoirs also are reserved for irrigation exchanges. PLAN Vega Dam was constructed across the channel of Plateau Creek, forming a reservoir with a total capacity of 33,800 acre-feet and an active capacity of 32,980 acre-feet. The reservoir stores surplus flows of Plateau, Leon, and Park Creeks. The Leon and Park Creek flows are brougbt to the reservoir through the 2.7-mile-Iong Leon-Park Feeder Canal. The Southside Canal extends west from Vega Reservoir 32.8 miles to a terminal drop structure on Mesa Creek about 3.25 miles south of the town of Mesa, Colo. The canal crosses several north-flowing tributaries of Plateau Creek to which releases are made but does not intercept their flow. Most project water from Plateau, Leon, and Park Creeks, including both storage and direct flow, is releaged from Vega Reservoir and de- livered by the Southside Canal. Some water is released at Vega Reservoir into Plateau Creek for diversion by downstream ditches. 17:0(2... ros-\ I %:z. Water used for the generation of power is collected from the Big and Cottonwood Creek drainage areas at eleva- tions of more tban 9800 feet above sea level. These ,-vaters are stored by the 17 previously existing reservoirs on Grand Mesa or collected by the Bonham-Cottonwood pipeline and piped down the mesa slopes througb two hydroelectric powerplants and released into Plateau Creek. The 1\-vo powerplants have a combined capacity of 13,500 kilowatts. Vega Dam and Reservoir Vega Dam is near the Grand Mesa in western Colorado, about 10 miles east of the town of Collbran. Tbe dam is a zoned, rolled earth and rockfill structure with a max- imum height above foundation of 162 feet, a crest length of 2,100 feet, and a volume of 981,825 cubic yards of material. The outlet works is near the left abutment and consists of an intake structure, 5-foot-diameter concrete pressure conduit, concrete gate chamber for a 3.S-foot- square high-pressure emergency gate, 8-foot-diameter concrete horseshoe conduit containing a 51-inch-diameter steel pipe, control house containing two 2.25-foot-square high-pressure control gates. concrete stilling basin, and an outlet cbannel wbich discharges into tbe Southside Canal. Vega Reservoir has a surface area of about 900 acres, with a capacity of 33,800 acre-feet, and a shoreline of ap- proximately 7 miles. Leon-Park Feeder Canal The Leon-Park Feeder Canal conveys water from Leon and Park Creeks to Vega Reservoir. The 350-cubic-foot- per-second-capacity canal begins at the Leon Creek Diversion Dam on Leon Creek and extends about 2 miles to a siphon under Park Creek. Water diverted from Park Creek by the Park Creek Diversion Dam, about 1,000 feet above the siphon outlet, then combines with the Leon Creek diversions. and flows about 0.7 mile to Vega Reservoir. 241