A Brief History of the Fruitland Domestic Water CompanyFruitland Mesa is arid, high mountain desert country. Since the times of the native peoples roamed here and then when the first settlers came in the early 1900’s, those who have lived here have wrestled with the problem of getting water to this mesa.
The Goulds of Aspen built a reservoir south of Fruitland Mesa in Onion Valley at the turn of the last century. Then they built the Fruitland Mesa Ditch (aka Gould Ditch), and by 1910 the farms and ranches on Fruitland Mesa had irrigation water. To this day, Gould Reservoir and the Fruitland Mesa Ditch deliver irrigation water from one end of the mesa to the other. By 1963, water rights to private springs located at Cathedral Peak, which is southeast of Fruitland Mesa, were purchased by area landowners who formed the Cathedral Water Company. A pipeline was built that serves many homes in the Clear Fork area and on Fruitland Mesa. Until Cathedral Water Company came into operation, measured amounts of water had to be withheld from irrigation every year to fill the ponds and cisterns of ranches and farms to provide water for livestock and residents. Many residents also hauled water from town. Those who purchased water taps from Cathedral Water Company had a direct source of water for their livestock and homes. However, the company was limited by the amount of spring water available and the size of the supply pipe and not every Fruitland Mesa landowner had Cathedral water. It was during the hot, drought stricken summer of 1977 that two Fruitland Mesa ranchers Dick Steckel and Al Zion thought of a way to bring more water onto the mesa. A pipeline would be build to deliver water already owned by Fruitland Irrigation Company. Fruitland Irrigation Company is a shareholder in the Cattlemen’s Ditch, which is fed by Crystal Creek. The Cattlemen’s Ditch Company had a Priority No. 1 for 50 cubic feet of water per second from Crystal Creek, which is a tributary of the Gunnison River. Steckel, Zion and others from Fruitland Irrigation Company negotiated with the Catttlemen’s Ditch Company for a portion of Fruitland Irrigation’s first decree rights totaling 128 gallons per minute to be changed from irrigation to domestic purposes. An agreement was reached in which the Cattlemen’s Ditch Company also converted to domestic purposes part of its first decree rights totaling 50 gallons per minute and Fruitland Irrigation Company would deliver this amount through its pipeline without charge. In total, the arrangement calls for 178 gallons of water per minute to be delivered through the pipeline. Cattlemen’s 50 gallons is delivered along the first nine miles of the pipeline between Crystal Creek and the east side of Fruitland Mesa. Fruitland’s water is delivered on Fruitland Mesa. A low interest loan and grant were obtained with the former Farmer’s Home Administration (now USDA) to finance the nearly 20 mile pipeline project stretching from Crystal Creek to the west end of Fruitland Mesa. Construction began in 1979 and by 1980 the domestic system of Fruitland Irrigation Company was in full operation. Eventually, the directors of Fruitland Irrigation Company determined that it would be best to split the irrigation and domestic water systems into separate entities and in 1982 the Fruitland Domestic Water Company was formed. Those who served on the first Fruitland Domestic Water Company board of directors were Fruitland Mesa ranchers Steve Allen, Charles Klaseen, Bill Mugford, Erwin Palmer and Dick Steckel. When Fruitland Domestic Water Company began, it served about 40 families. It now serves more than 150 properties on Fruitland Mesa. |
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