Gunnison Tunnel
Montrose County
By 1894, Montrose farmer F.C. Lauzon had generated enough interest so that funds were secured to begin construction of the tunnel which would bring irrigation water from the Gunnison River to the arid farmlands of the Uncompahgre Valley.
Gunnison Tunnel (1966 photograph.)
The bore was completed in July of 1909, and dedication ceremony attended by President William H. Taft were held on September 23, 1909. A major element of the Uncompahgre Reclamation Project, the tunnel is 5.8 miles in length, and at its deepest point runs approximately 2,200 feet beneath the dome of Vernal Mesa.