OCR Text |
Show more research a must s Word this week that the Four Corners Reg- ional Commission has approved funding for the I second phase of the Grand and San Juan Counties Agricultural Development Program was received I with pleasure by the Grand County Water Con- servancy District and Economic Development Committee. The project was started in early 1972 when six demonstration plots of high value horticultural horticult-ural crops were planted.- Although water systems in Grand County were installed late in the summer, sum-mer, results from the systems in San Juan County which were installed earlier in the year have shown that this effective utilization of the water is a great boon to the semi-arid Southeastern Utah area. While it is apparent, that while water im pounded in the proposed Mill Creek Dam may provide extra water resources for the Spanish Valley area, it is equally important that the water be used to irrigate the most acreage possible. The second phase of the project will not only-consist only-consist of further expansion of the six demonstration demon-stration plots, it will make a detailed marketing study to determine the correct method of transporting trans-porting the crops to other areas, if they are produced prod-uced in commercial quantities. : Ultimately, the success of the project in Grand County will be the construction of the dam on Mill Creek. The success in San Juan will be completion . T- of a pump irrigation system near Bluff. The com- H, bined projects in the two counties have over 7,000 . acres available for production with high value ' horticultural crops. Because of the early success in these two '. areas, planners have now intensified their efforts to develop a combined program for both counties. The success of such a project will not only be ' measured in terms of tonnage of fruits and other crops, but also in employment opportunities, v This too, is important if the two counties are to expand their economic base in the next decade. |