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1965 Map of Gray Reservoir

Name: 1965 Topographic Map of Gray Reservoir
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1979
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1979

About this map

The High Country of western Colorado is defined here by an intricate network of water management features throughout the Grand Mesa National Forest. Cattle and irrigation interests dominated this landscape in the mid-1960s, evidenced by a dense concentration of high-altitude storage including Gray Reservoir, Lost Hunter Reservoir, and the Patterson Reservoirs. This infrastructure supported agricultural operations on the mesas below, while the presence of the Schoneman-Ditch Camp indicates the seasonal labor required to maintain these vital systems.

Resource extraction and transit routes crisscross the terrain, from the Burdick Mine and Fitzsimons Mines to the historical Overland Pack Trail. The map reveals how local topography, such as Oak Mesa and Wakefield Mesa, dictated the placement of water diversions like the Wakefield Ditch and Overland Ditch. These features illustrate the complex engineering required to harness the spring runoff for the arid regions of Delta County.