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Show 1. COLORADO a. Paonia Project The Paonia Dam was completed in January 1962 and the project was dedicated on September 29, 1962 - the first participating project of the Colorado River Storage Project to be completed. Responsibility for operating and maintaining the project was transferred to the North Fork Conservancy District on June 1, 1962. Delivery of water stored in Paonia Reservoir was made to project lands during the 1963 irrigation season. The project is located near Paonia and Hotchkiss in west-central Colorado on the North Fork of Gunnison River. Water stored in the 21,000-acre-foot capacity Paonia Reservoir is distributed to project lands through the enlarged and extended Fire Mountain Canal. Irrigation water supply is supplemented for 13,070 acres of land previously irrigated 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. b. Smith Fork Smith Fork Project is located in Delta County, along the Smith Fork of the Gunnison River. The principal features include Crawford Dam and Reservoir, Smith Fork Diversion Dam, Smith Fork Feeder Canal, and the Aspen Canal. The Crawford Reservoir, capacity of 13,650 acre-feet, has been constructed on Iron Creek, a tributary of Smith Fork. The reservoir will regulate the flow of Iron Creek and surplus flows of the Smith Fork that will be conveyed to it by the Smith Fork Feeder Canal. Small quantities of reservoir storage water will be released to Iron Creek and diverted by several small existing ditches. The remainder will be released to the new Aspen Canal and conveyed by this canal to existing ditches for distribution. Some of the storage releases through the Aspen Canal will replace present direct flow diversions from Smith Fork, thus permitting additional direct flow diversions to be made higher on the stream through existing ditches. Recreation facilities are under construction at Crawford Reservoir. Smith Fork Project will provide a full water supply for irrigating 1,423 acres of new land and a supplemental supply for 8,056 acres of irrigated land located near Crawford, Colorado. Construction Activities Construction of the Smith Fork Project was substantially completed by the Fall of 1962. Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall participated in a ceremony to dedicate Crawford Dam on 55 |
