A project initiated with a request for water development plans from the US Bureau of Reclamation by a committee of Mesa County farmers and interested residents, headed by Fred Joseph Simpson, who wanted to bring drinking water to rural residents living outside the Grand Valley’s towns and cities. According to Simpson, the committee’s chairman, the committee was a forerunner of the Ute Water Conservancy District.
The Bureau responded with initial plans, given to the committee around 1944, for the development of a water supply from Plateau Creek. According to the Bureau of Reclamation’s page for the Collbran Project, construction on Vega Dam began in 1957 and all aspects of the water storage project, which included the refurbishing of older reservoirs and dams, were completed by 1962.
In addition to drinking water, the project also delivers irrigation water to 21,000 acres and provides electricity via two power plants.
