OCR Text |
Show the way for continued construction of the Strawberry Aqueduct and Collection System. Detailed environmental statements on the Diamond Fork Power System, the Utah Lake Development, and the Municipal and Industrial Water System would be prepared and processed before final construction plans would be formulated and decisions made to proceed. Additional environmental assessments would be accomplished as required. Issue 18: Recommendation that all construction of the Bonneville Unit and the Central Utah Project be terminated because water reclamation projects in the West are no longer necessary. Issue raised by: Sierra Club Friends of the Earth and two individuals Response: The Bureau of Reclamation is no longer concerned only with the reclamation and irrigation of land. Projects are being oriented more and more toward nonagricultural needs in accordance with revised State and Federal priorities of water use. About one- third of the water developed by the Bonneville Unit would be used for municipal and industrial purposes. It is estimated that about two- thirds of the total estimated construction cost of future projects now being studied in this area would be for this purpose. The need for municipal and industrial water in the Bonneville Unit area has been demonstrated and discussed in Section A of this statment. The Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District has a contract with the Central Utah Water Conservancy District for delivery of 50* 000 acre- feet of water annually for municipal use with initial delivery scheduled for about 197^. Other contracts with Central Utah Water Conservancy District are pending. The purpose and objective of the Bonneville Unit would be to make it possible for Central Utah Water Conservancy District to fulfill these commitments. Although relegated to a lower priority, irrigation is still important. This is particularly true for supplemental water supplies conveyed through existing systems which afford economic stability to the area and serve as a catalyst for other industries. A major portion of those persons living in the State of Utah and' outside the Wasatch Front area rely almost exclusively on agriculture or agriculturally- related commerce for subsistence. Management surveys and farm budget analysis have indicated that farm operators, in general, lack sufficient water to maximize output in their farm operations, as is the case throughout much of the arid West. The Bonneville Unit would increase the amount of water available to the farmers in the Unit area, particularly in the late summer, and would give them an opportunity to increase their incomes. 671 |