OCR Text |
Show E. Initially Authorized Participating Projects Of the eleven participating projects authorized by Public Law 485, five are in Colorado, one is in New Mexico, two are in Utah, and three are located in Wyoming. Participating projects are those which will consume water of the Upper Colorado River System for irrigation, municipal, and industrial purposes, and which will participate in the use of revenues in the Basin Fund to help repay the costs of irrigation features beyond the ability of the water users to repay. It has been impossible for the Bureau of Reclamation to undertake work simultaneously on all eleven participating projects because of the large amount of investigational work needed to firm the development plans and to make cost estimates and repayment studies. Therefore, the Bureau has sought the advice of officials of each State and on their recommendations has selected specific projects on which to concentrate its work in order to get construction underway on three or four of the participating projects as soon ,as possible. At the date of this report none of the participating projects or divisions thereof authorized for construction by Public Law 485 are under construction. A brief description of each of the authorized participating projects and the present status of its investigations follow: 1. Authorized Colorado Participating Projects a. Paonia Project This project is located near Paonia in west-central Colorado on the North Fork of the Gunnison River. The Paonia Reservoir will be constructed to a capacity of 21,000 acre-feet. The Fire Mountain Canal will be completed, enlarged, and extended to distribute the project water. By these means, the irrigation water supply will be improved for an additional 13,070 acres of irrigated land and a full water supply provided for about 2,230 acres of new land. Fish and wildlife values in the area will be enhanced, and flood damages will be decreased. Advanced planning for this project has consisted of detailed surveys and studies that have been concentrated on the determination of storage capacity needed ,at Paonia Reservoir site and on |