Inter-Water-Shed Diversions by Tunnels on United States Reclamation Projects

Trans-mountain diversions, from the Colorado River drainage area to adjacent basins, for irrigation and other uses, have received much consideration in connection with the proposed construction of the Boulder Canyon ' Reservoir and the proposed compact for the allocation of the Colorado River waters. The aggregate total of such diversions is expected to exceed, in the ultimate, 500 000 acre-ft. per year. One of the most important of these is the Strawberry Tunnel Project, constructed by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation to irrigate lands in the vicinity of Provo, Utah. Another transmountain diversion, although not diverting away from the Colorado River Basin, is the Uncompahgre Tunnel, between Uncompahgre and Gunnison Rivers in Colorado, serving the Uncompahgre Project. This 6-mile tunnel, at the time of its construction (beginning in 1904) was the longest tunnel in the United States, and the most imposing undertaking up to that time in connection with irrigation.