Bids opened February 6, 1906, for cement, Uncompahgre Valley project. The contract for two wooden bridges across the canal was awarded to J. B. Elliott and H. E. Dunbar, of Montrose, Colo., on June 20, 1906. These bridges are 90 and 92 feet long, and the prices bid were $138 and $150, respectively. All material will be furnished by the Government. During October and November, 1905, A. S. Bent, of Los Angeles, Cal., constructed 1,724 feet of 24-inch and 920 feet of 36-inch cement pipe to be used as culvert pipe on the canal. The prices paid were 92 cents for the 24-inch pipe and $1.14 for the 36-inch pipe. The cement and water used were supplied by the Government. EAST CANAL. The proposed east canal will serve the land lying between the foothills on the east side of the Uncompahgre Valley north of Montrose and the bottom lands along the east bank of Uncompahgre River. Water discharged from the south canal will flow down Uncompahgre River and be diverted by a low dam at a point near the western corner of the town of Montrose. A slough, formerly part of an old bed of the river, about a quarter of a mile from the headworks, affords an economical means of settling out material in suspension. For 4 miles the canal will run in a northerly direction. It will carry 650 second-feet of water to the first drop, 52 feet in total height, at the bottom of which it will branch. Division 1 will have a capacity of 400 second-feet; it will run westerly and northwesterly along the edge of the north mesa, and then northeasterly across this mesa to a large arroyo, about 16 miles from its head. At this point the capacity will be reduced to 217 second-feet, and the canal will then run northerly, and near the twenty-third mile will tail into an arroyo which leads into Gunnison River about 2 miles below the railroad bridge at Cory. Division 2 will run northerly along the base of the hills in the vicinity of the Devils Elbow. Division 2 and the last 4 miles of division 1 are through very rough ground. On the remainder of division 1 the topography is not a serious obstacle. The treacherous nature of the adobe soil found all along the line will necessitate great care in the construction of the embankments and masonry structures. Three large arroyos will be crossed by means of inverted siphons. WEST CANAL. The west canal will carry water for the lands west of Uncompahgre River. It extends in a northwesterly direction from a point in the SE. sec. 36, T. 48 N., R. 9 W., about 7 miles south of the sec. 19, T. 51 town of Montrose, to Roubideaux Creek, in the SW. As this canal will follow the broken country lying along the western boundary of the Uncompahgre Valley, numerous creeks and gulches will be crossed and a large amount of side drainage will have to be provided for. It is proposed to cross the larger depressions, such as Happy Canyon and Dry Creek, by inverted siphons, while the drainage from smaller streams will be taken under the canal. All siphons, flumes, culverts, etc., are to be of concrete. In order to avoid building and maintaining a canal along 1 miles of steep side hill, a tunnel 1,675 feet in length, and having a cross section of 8 by 10 feet, will be driven through the shale ridge between Horsefly and Dolores creeks. The location of the west canal was completed in the fall of 1905. Plans and specifications have been prepared for the portion between Uncompahgre River and Coal Creek, but on account of prevailing high prices for contract work no bids have yet been asked for. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. In that portion of the Uncompahgre Valley covered by the proposed works of the Reclamation Service there are 110 ditches and laterals, having an aggregate length of something over 475 miles. Forty of these canals carry all of the priority waters of Uncompahgre River, and ten of them carry a little over 70 per cent of the water decreed. Considerably less than one-half of the present ditches can be advantageously incorporated into the larger system contemplated, the others being too small for use except as farm laterals. In order to remove as far as possible conflicting interests and to avoid burdening the lands with a multiplicity of channels, as well as to reduce the cost of building and operating the irrigation system, efforts are now being made to bring into the project such of the existing canals and ditches as can be beneficially used. Alternative plans for distributing the water from the main canals to the irrigable lands have been outlined. The first of these includes such of the existing ditches as can be used to advantage, while the other is based on the assumption that an entirely new system is to be built to cover the whole valley so completely that the principal canals now in operation could be abandoned without causing any inconvenience to the water users. The plans of distribution to be finally adopted will, of necessity, depend largely on the result of the negotiations now in progress for the purchase of such of the private ditches as can be profitably incorporated into the project. IRRIGABLE LANDS. During the fall and winter of 1905-6 field surveys were made to determine the amount of irrigable and nonirrigable lands under this 1 project. At the same time the public records were examined to ascertain the ownership of the lands to be watered. The result of these investigations are summarized below. Lands included in Uncompahgre Valley project. The expenditures on the Uncompahgre Valley project are summarized in the following tables: Expenditures according to physical features on Uncompahgre Valley project to June 30, Expenditures, according to purpose and nature, on Uncompahgre Valley project to June property.. 300.00 84.57 326.53 11,785. 12 $228, 058.99 5,994. 42 1,049. 75 697.49 Building... 539,018. 38 2, 201. 40 12, 875. 45 79,221. 55 $48, 599. 45 209, 668.77 Administration. 35, 222. 11 3,877. 38 1,231. 19 4, 746. 86|| PROPOSED GRAND VALLEY PROJECT. No work has been done on the proposed Grand River project during the last fiscal year. The condition of the reclamation fund did not warrant the allotment of a large sum for work in this area. A water users' association has been organized by the residents of the valley and the conditions are such that a final investigation can easily be made whenever the necessary funds are available. A summary of the expenditures is given in the following table: Expenditures, according to purpose and nature, on proposed Grand River project to June 30, 1906. The Fourth Annual Report contains a description of the work done on reservoir sites in Colorado in connection with the study of methods of conserving the water supply in the Colorado River basin. The field work in connection with these storage reservoirs was brought to a close late in 1905 and no additional examinations have been made since those described in the Fourth Annual Report. The expenditures for this work are summarized in the following table: Expenditure, according to purpose and nature, on proposed Colorado River storage project to June 30, 1906. PROPOSED WHITE RIVER PROJECT. No surveys have been made in connection with the White River project since June, 1904. The practicability of this project from the financial standpoint is very doubtful, although when land becomes more valuable in this region the project may be considered feasible. A summary of the expenditures is given in the following table: Expenditures, according to purpose and nature, on proposed White River project to June 30, 1906. |