OCR Text |
Show sion Canal would extend southwest 49.2 miles to project lands in the LaPlata River Basin. The canal would also intercept flood flows of the LaPlata River and serve as a feeder for the potential 50,000 acre-foot Hay Gulch Reservoir. The Dry Side and Red Mesa Canals would convey water from Hay Gulch Reservoir to project lands. The McDermott and Ring Cone Canals would receive and distribute water from the Animas-LaPlata Diversion Canal. The Meadows Diversion Canal would head on the LaPlata River below much of the project area and serve as a feeder for the 12,000 acre-foot Meadows Reservoir. Its water supply would include flood flows of the river plus return flows from higher irrigated lands .and releases from the Hay Gulch Reservoir. Water released from the Meadows Reservoir would be used on presently undeveloped lands north of Kirtland, New Mexico. The potential plan of development for the Animas-LaPlata Project was outlined in a status report dated November, 1954. Very little detail work has been undertaken since that time. The Bureau of Reclamation awarded a contract last year for photogrammetric mapping of project lands in the LaPlata, Colorado, McDermott and Dry Side areas. The lands of the Ute Mountain Indian Tribe in the Dry Side area were originally included in the contract but were excluded when the necessary rights of ingress and egress could not be obtained. The Tribe has now reversed its stand and is asking that its lands be included as part of the potential project. Limited detailed land classification work has been planned for the winter of 1957 if weather conditions permit. The large land classification job cannot be accomplished, however, until similar work on the Pine River Extension, the Florida, and the Dolores Projects is finished. e. West Divide Project Surplus flows of Crystal River, a tributary of the Colorado River, would be regulated by the Osgood Reservoir, 99,500 acre-feet capacity, formed by a dam 250 feet high at a point about 30 miles south of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Water released from the reservoir would flow in a westerly direction successively through the Redstone Conduit, 10 miles, West Divide Tunnel, 15.8 miles, and Horsethief Canal, 72.6 miles to project lands. Branches from this conveyance system would include the Four Mile Canal, 22.8 miles long, heading at the lower end of the Redstone Conduit, and -51- |