OCR Text |
Show of the Bonneville Unit, including the proposed Diamond Fork Power features, Utah Lake developments, and storage and distribution facilities associated with municipal and industrial water and irrigation and drainage. This section ( Sec. A) of the environmental statement is devoted to a description of the proposal. As an introduction and a basis for this description, a brief history of the Bonneville Unit is given, including the objectives, purposes, and authority for construction of the Unit. Where possible, the various features of the Unit are described in downstream order, or as water would flow through the system from the source of water supply to points of use. The Bonneville Unit area is located in central and northeastern Utah. The portion of the Unit area east of the Wasatch Mountains is in the Uinta Basin, a segment of the Colorado River Basin. The portion west of these mountains is part of the Bonneville Basin, a segment of the Great Basin. The Great Basin has no outlet to the sea. The Bonneville Unit area forms an inverted L- shaped pattern which extends west from the Green River, along the south flank of the Uinta Mountains to the Wasatch Front area, and south through the heart of Utah from Salt Lake City to and including the Sevier River drainage area. . This area encompasses an estimated 28,000 square miles, or about a third of the State of Utah. Portions of three National Forests-- Ashley, Uinta, and Wasatch- are included in the Bonneville Unit area and comprise the major watershed area. 2. Need for the Bonneville Unit a. General With its abundant land and mineral resources, favorable location and climate, and excellent labor force, Utah is in an unusually favorable position for continued economic growth. Use of the existing water supply has been the key to past development and is a limiting factor in the future progress and development of the Central Utah Project area, as well as the entire state. Water is essential for municipal, industrial, agricultural, fish and wildlife, and water- oriented recreation uses. Utah, the second driest state in the nation, receives an average of 13 inches or approximately 59 million acre- feet of water per year through precipitation. About 97 percent of this precipitation is either beneficially consumed or wasted within the state boundaries. Beneficial consumption results from evapo- transpiration from forest range and dryland crop area ( 86%), evapotranspiration from irrigated lands ( 3.5%), municipal and industrial consumption ( 0.3%), and use on managed wetlands ( 0.6%). 4 |