The Rural Colorado Project

The Rural Colorado Project

The Uncompahgre Valley 

First, we are going to explore the Uncompahgre Valley of Western Colorado.  The valley is nestled between the Grand Mesa, the Uncompahgre Plateau, the San Juans and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

 The Uncompahgre Valley is naturally arid land with inconsistent rainfall.  In the late 1800's it was realized that a large scale irrigation system was needed if the agriculture potential of the valley was ever to be realized. By the early 1900's  there were about 10,000 irrigated acres in the valley.  The system included three small diversion dams on the Uncompahgre River, but this system proved to be inadequate with  unpredictable Uncompahgre River flows and inconsistent rainfall it became evident a larger system of irrigation was needed if the fertile valley was to ever reach its agricultural potential

At this time there was support for construction of a tunnel linking the Gunnison River to the Uncompahgre Valley to bring much-needed irrigation water to the area.  In 1894, the Geological Survey completed a survey and found that a tunnel project was feasible.  The tunnel project was too expensive for local interests to build, but in 1901 the sate of Colorado provided $25,000 to start the project, only 900 feet of tunnel was constructed before the funds were depleted  The Federal Government was also interested in getting water into the valley and provided the funds for the project.  The Uncompahgre Project was the first major project approved by the Secretary of the Interior under the Reclamation Act of 1902.








The East Portal in the Black Canyon of  the Gunnison

 The drilling of the massive tunnel began in 1904 and was completed in 1909 The tunnel is 5.8 miles long,  beginning at the East Portal in the Black Canyon and ending at the West Portal just east of the city of Montrose.  This tunnel brought much-needed water to the fertile but dry valley floor.

The workers were paid well, but worked under very dangerous and hazardous conditions.  There were approximately 500 men working on the tunnel at any given time. Even though the pay was good the turnover rate of workers was high, but there was always someone waiting to fill the vacated position.  The tunnel was hot due to the hot water seepage from underground, floods and natural gas also made for dangerous working conditions. Cave in and the misfiring of explosives along with the exhausting work also took it toll on the workers.  Many men developed deep coughs due to the poor ventilation,  the dampness and heat in the tunnel   Over the construction period 24 men died and 71 others were injured


Men working on the tunnel

The Uncompahgre Project is still bringing the lifeblood of agriculture to the Uncompahgre Valley.  The project begins at Taylor Park, 30 miles northeast of Gunnison, Colorado.  The Taylor Dam, which is operated by the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users can store 106,000 acre-feet of water this water flow is supplemented by water held in the Blue Mesa Reservoir located on the Gunnison River and the Ridgway Reservoir on the Uncompahgre River   Th project provides water to over 80,000 acres of agriculture land located in Delta and Montrose Counties

The system is completed and diverse encompassing 128 miles of major canals and over 438 miles of laterals and 216 miles of drains, The laterals carry the irrigation water to each headgate here the water enters into private ditches owned and maintained by the farmer.  The tail water flows from the property into drains to be reused and eventually flows back to the river

This system has been carrying water to the farmer and back to the river for over 100 years.  The tunnel and main canals are maintained by the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users.  The system is divided into subsystems and a ditch rider oversees the water usage of each farmer.

The system has been bringing water to the farmers in the valley for over a hundred years.  Over the years farmers have raised potatoes, sugar beets, wheat, barley for the Coors brewery corn, onions pinto beans, alfalfa, and other crops.  Like everything else, crops have evolved, today there is sweet corn, hops, and grapes to add to the list.  There is also a healthy cattle production and dairy industry flourishing in the valley.