Paonia Reservoir turns 50

Kathy Browning

Published on Thursday, 23 February 2012 13:18

Photo by Kathy Browning

Paonia Reservoir as it looks today in its 50th year.

The year 2012 has been designated the Year of Water by Gov. John Hickenlooper. That coincides with the 50 year anniversary of the completion of the Paonia Reservoir.

The Paonia Reservoir was the first project to be completed in the Colorado River Storage Project. Crawford Reservoir was another of those projects but it was not completed until later.

"We are going to have a 50 year celebration this summer," Dixie Luke of the Gunnison Round Table said. "Paonia Reservoir was built for and by the people of the United States."

The celebration will be Aug. 6. A lot of the details are still being completed at this time.

Photo submitted by Kathy McKee

Four widows of men who worked hard on the Paonia Reservoir were honored at the 1962 dedication. They are (left to right) Opal Hartman, Hortense Smith, Margaret Patton, and Ruth Hotchkiss. At the front of the stage are boxes of local fruit. Among the dignitaries that day were Felix Sparks, director of Colorado Water Conservation Board and master of ceremonies, Royden Girling, president of the North Fork Water Conservancy, Gov. Stephen McNichols, R. W. Jennings, Congressman Wayne Aspinall, Under Secretary James K. Carr and F. M. Clinton, Bureau of Reclamation regional director.

The Gunnison Round Table will host the celebration for Paonia Reservoir and use it as an opportunity to educate the public about water issues. Others involved are the Bureau of Reclamation and the Colorado River Conservation District.

Luke would like those who have historic photographs of the Paonia Reservoir to send those to the Hotchkiss-Crawford Historical Society, attention Chuck Farmer or Kathy McKee. The photographs will be used in a display. Call the museum for more details at 872-3780.

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Category: North Fork