Hello. I'm Carol DeAngelis, Area Manager for the Bureau of Reclamation's Western Colorado Area Office. Welcome to our website. Our mission is "to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources of Western Colorado, Northwestern New Mexico, and Northeastern Arizona in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public." We offer this website in the spirit of this mission.
The Western Colorado Area Office (WCAO) consists of two offices: one in Grand Junction and the other in Durango. WCAO has 4 field offices: Bonham, Navajo Dam, Paradox, and Cortez. The WCAO is responsible for Reclamation program activities in the Upper Colorado, Gunnison, Yampa, White, Dolores, Uncompahgre, Animas, and San Juan River Basins and works with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the Navajo Nation.
On the mainstem of the Upper Colorado River and its upper basin tributaries (including the Gunnison, Uncompahgre, and Dolores Rivers) the WCAO provides or oversees the operation, management, and maintenance of several projects: Bostwick Park, Collbran, Dallas Creek, Dolores, Fruitgrowers, Grand Valley, Paonia, Silt, Smith Fork, Uncompahgre, and the Paradox Valley Unit of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Project. The area office sets operations and coordinates with the Colorado River Storage Project Power Office for water operations decisions regarding releases from the Aspinall Unit (Crystal, Morrow Point, and Blue Mesa Dams).
The WCAO is also responsible for providing or overseeing the operation, management, and maintenance of five projects in the San Juan River Basin: Florida, Mancos, Pine River, Hammond, and the Navajo Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project. Together, these Reclamation projects provide over 3 million acre-feet of water storage and serve approximately 453,382 acres of land with irrigation water in western Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. This valuable water also provides recreation opportunities, hydropower, flood control, and benefits for endangered fish.