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<br />FRYINGPAN-ARKANSAS PROJECT, COLORADO
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<br />is used for grazing, Cultivated tands comprise 10 percent of the area
<br />of which about one-fourth, or 322,000 acres, is irrigated, The irrigated
<br />land exerts a,n extremely significant influence on the economy of the
<br />valley. It stabilizes the economy of an area many times greater than
<br />that actually irrigated. '
<br />14. Many irrigated crops are grown successfully in the Arkansas
<br />Valley when water supplies are adequate. In the higher elevations
<br />hay, tame pasture, and small grains predominate, They are marketed
<br />chiefly through livestock, The foothills area in Fremont and Pueblo
<br />Counties, in addition to general irrigated crops, produce fruits, vine,
<br />and truck crops, Below Pueblo the principal irrigated crops are
<br />alfalfa, corn, grain sorghum, sugar beets, barley and wheat, truck
<br />crops, and dry beans, Cantaloups, onions, cucwnbers, pickles, to-
<br />matoes, and red beets are highly successful truck crops. Dairying
<br />and poultry raising are important enterprises near market outlets,
<br />15. The size of irrigated farms varies from small truck farms and
<br />orchards to general purpose farms of several hundred acres, In 1940
<br />the average irrigated farm below Salida consisted of 356 acres of which
<br />, 81 acres were irrigated, Irrigated land values range up to $250 an
<br />acre depending upon soils and water rights. Gross crop values also
<br />vary considerably. On the basis of 1939-44 crop prices, the average
<br />irrigated gross crop values rangcd from $30 to $40 an acre over the
<br />critical 1930-41 period. Specialty crops and seed crops often pro-
<br />vide gross ret,urns many tinles the average, '
<br />16, Ninety-si.'C percent of the irrigated land in the Arkansas Valley
<br />is identified as classes 1 and 2 according to Bureau of Reclamation
<br />standards. It is of high to medium productive capacity; qonsists of
<br />silt.y loam, clay loam, and clay soils; and generally has good surface
<br />drainage. Alkalinity and salinity are not serious problems.
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<br />NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT
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<br />17. The western slope diversion area proper is national forest land
<br />not suitable for irrigation_ Other areas in the Colorado River Basin
<br />have irrigated and irrigahle lands. Present water uses in western
<br />Colorado will undoubtedly expand and new uses may materialize,
<br />The increased uses may result from expansion of irrigation and from
<br />such potential industrial developments as mining, lumbering, wood
<br />pulp production, and oil shale refining, Invest.igations of the
<br />Gunnison-Arkansas project were based upon the principle that
<br />all present and potential uscs of Colorado River water in the
<br />natural basin in Colorado must be protected. Extensive studies by
<br />the Bureau and by committees appointed by the Colorado Water
<br />Conserva,tion Board confirm the existence of a plentiful supply of
<br />waLeI' in the diversion area, The studies also substantiate the con-
<br />clusion that part of that water can feasibly be diverted without
<br />detriment to the diversion area or to other existing and potential
<br />wat.er uses on the western slopc-even though eomplete future water
<br />requirements for all possible uses cannot be foresecn fOl; all of western
<br />Colorado, The relatively small diversions proposed for the initial
<br />development-replaced in time, quantity, and place by a reservoir
<br />neur Aspen and by judicious operat,ion of the project based on the
<br />operating principles hereinafter set forth-will not impair the future
<br />economic growth of the western slope, harm present water users, or
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