OCR Text |
Show G. IRREVERSIBLE AND IRRETRIEVABLE COMMITMENTS OF RESOURCES The Bonneville Unit would involve an extensive commitment of the inter- mountain area's natural resources through a proposed large- scale trans- basin diversion of water and development of additional intrabasin water sources. Under present Utah water law the commitments of water resources would essentially remain permanent so long as they were beneficially used. The changing needs and goals of people and land use are increasingly being recognized and could result in some future modification in those laws which would facilitate the transfer or allocation of water rights between various beneficial uses, i0e., agriculture to municipal and recreation. An example of this trend is the act of a recent Utah Legislature which authorizes the State Engineer to reject a water application which would have serious environmental impact on a flowing stream. Certain sociological trends along the Wasatch Front such as increased urbanization, population concentration, and industrial development, have already been established and are placing greater demands on the area's resources. While development of the Bonneville Unit would certainly be in harmony with these trends, it is questionable whether it would significantly alter present growth patterns. Future growth projections would be influenced to the extent that the availability of municipal and industrial water is assumed to be a constraint. On the other hand, in less populous areas such as the Sevier and Uinta Basins, the availability or lack of availability of additional water would be a significant factor affecting rural- to- urban migration, industrial potential, and other indices of economic health. These in turn would affect pressures for local resource development. Specifically, the proposed action would result in the following irreversible or irretrievable commitment of various resources: 1. Land Use The Bonneville Unit would inundate approximately 20,000 acres of land now vegetated with native plants and a small amount of crops. This land would be irreversibly lost to present purposes and converted to reservoir uses. About 3,000 acres would be cleared for other uses. Approximately 30,000 acres of new land would be irrigated. About 7,000 acres would result from diking and draining Provo Bay and the balance would be from conversion of dry lands to irrigated farmland. The changes in vegetation would be partially irreversible. As municipalities expand there would also be a loss of open and green space to building use. The amount of open and green space lost would depend on the zoning laws of the municipalities involved. Some individual wilderness type recreational use lands would be converted to a group or family managed type use with more diversification. 483 |