Project Title: Remove Hartland Diversion Dam (FFS #R6UA, R6TA)

State: Colorado

Initial Project Description: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS, the Service) will use $1,000,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funds, as well as $400,000 in National Fish Passage Program funds, to remove a dam in western Colorado. The project will create jobs and benefit three fish species of concern.

The Service, in partnership with the Colorado Water Conservation Board, private landowners, and other private and public entities, awarded Painted Sky Resource Conservation and Departmental Council (Painted Sky) a contract for the removal of the Hartland Diversion Dam. Painted Sky, the primary project sponsor, formed as a partnership between the Federal Government and local communities to improve the general level of economic activity and to enhance the environment and standard of living in a six-county area in western Colorado.

Workers will replace a section of the six-foot Hartland Diversion Dam in the Gunnison River with a more natural boulder field in order to increase safety for boaters and fish swimming upstream.

The current structure prevents three fish species of concern from swimming upstream and mixing with populations above the dam. Dam modifications should enable the flannelmouth sucker, roundtail chub, and bluehead sucker populations to travel upstream and increase the amount of available habitat. The modifications could also potentially create a more suitable area for spawning.

The concrete dam is also a safety hazard for boaters. Over the years, several recreational boaters and rafters died or required rescue after getting stuck in the undercurrent at the bottom of the dam. Boaters had to dismount their craft and trespass on private property to get around the dam.

Planners expect the dam removal to increase tourism by providing a continuous path for kayakers and rafters. River users will no longer have to step foot on private land to bypass the dam. The new configuration features a natural-looking boulder field upriver with water diversion points for irrigation use.

Denver-based McLaughlin Whitewater Design Group will complete the final design. At that time, Painted Sky will select a contractor to perform the work.

The Hartland Irrigation Company originally built the dam in 1881 and modified it over the years. The dam’s main purpose today is to divert water for irrigation of crops.

December 2011 Project Update: Project construction on the Hartland Dam near Delta, Colorado began September 1, 2011 with an expected construction period of approximately 130 days. After the completion of in-the-water construction, workers will breach the coffer dam, which has kept the site dry during construction, and restore the river channel through the new structure.

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Originally posted 04/14/2010
Updated 12/22/2011