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Show would not be restricted to the reservoir site and adjacent land would be disturbed by hikers and other recreationists. Some birds and animals would be temporarily driven away by human activity. Hunting pressures in the area would probably increase. ( c) Strawberry Reservoir Enlargement The impacts of Soldier Creek Dam and the access road were discussed previously in paragraph C2b. The following paragraphs will discuss the impacts associated with the impoundment of water behind the dam. Secondary impacts resulting from water that would be delivered from the enlarged reservoir are discussed in paragraphs C4h and C4k. The filling of the enlargement is expected to take 6 to 8 years and the existing Strawberry Dam and Indian Creek Dike would not be breached until the water levels on each side of the existing dam are equal. When Strawberry Dam and Indian Creek Dike were breached, the resulting channels would be sufficiently wide and deep to allow for safe boat travel at minimum pool level. However, at this level, water access to the Indian Creek Dike would not be possible because of the high point of land upon which the dike is constructed. Hazards to boaters could develop as the breaches were constructed. The filling schedule is dependent upon several factors, including the rate with which water would be transported into Strawberry Reservoir through the Strawberry Aqueduct. Thus, some of the environmental impacts connected with inundation would occur quite slowly. At present, about 600 acre- feet of water have accumulated behind Soldier Creek Dam. Further storage will not take place until the spring of 1973 after a " trash" fish eradication program to be carried out jointly by the Bureau of Reclamation and the State Division of Wildlife Resources has been completed. About 3,000 acre- feet of water each year will be available for downstrean release in Strawberry River during the dry seasons of the year. This water is available although Upper Stillwater Reservoir has not yet been constructed. When the enlarged reservoir is full it would cover about 17,160 acres of which about 9,000 acres would be new area. Approximately 200 acres of wet meadow- strearnside willow vegetation which is habitat for beaver and migrating moose would be lost.-*- In addition, about 6,500 acres of sage grouse and deer habitat would be lost. The State Division of Wildlife Resources estimates 226 |
