Crawford Dam and Reservoir

Crawford Dam is on Iron Creek, a tributary of the Smith Fork about 1 mile south of Crawford, Colorado. The Crawford Reservoir regulates flows of Iron Creek and its tributaries as well as the surplus flows of the Smith Fork of the Gunnison River, diverted to the reservoir by the feeder canal. Small quantities of reservoir storage water are released to Iron Creek and diverted by several small private ditches. The remainder is released to Aspen Canal for conveyance to private ditches for distribution. Some of the storage releases through Aspen Canal replace former direct flow diversions from Smith Fork, permitting additional direct flow diversions for project land higher on the stream. Crawford Dam is an earthfill structure 162 feet high and 580 feet long, with a volume of 1,006,000 cubic yards. The uncontrolled overflow spillway is in the left abutment of the dam and has a capacity of 1,400 cubic feet per second. The outlet works in the right abutment of the dam carries water through a 34-inch-diameter steel pipe controlled by four 2.25-foot-square high-pressure gates. Maximum discharge capacity to Aspen Canal is 125 cubic feet per second. Crawford Reservoir has a total capacity of 14,395 acre-feet and an active capacity of 14,064 acre-feet. Project: Smith Fork Project. Region: Upper Colorado. Elevation: 6565ft.