| OCR Text |
Show ( m o r e , if ground w a t e r r e c h a r g e is used), 30,000 a c r e feet of D e e r Creek w a t e r , and 35, 000 a c r e feet of Big and Little Cottonwood w a t e r s t i l l being used for i r r i g a t i o n . The Salt Lake County 208 p r o j e c t has proposed a $40 m i l l i on d o l l a r (4% of C U P ' s cost) dual w a t e r s y s t em which would allow the use of Utah Lake w a t e r for n o n c u l i n a r y p u r p o s e s as i r r i g a t i o n use d e c l i n e s and produce u l t i m a t e l y 350,000 a c r e feet of w a t e r . 50% of Salt L a k e ' s m u n i c i p a l w a t e r is used for outside w a t e r i n g . Such a l a r g e supply of c h e a p w a t e r would be of value to the homeowner and to the i n d u s t r i a l u s e r . Conservation m e a s u r es can help s t r e t c h Salt L a k e ' s w a t e r supply and reduce s u b s t a n t i a l l y sewage t r e a t ment c o s t. Agricultural: 1) Through l o s s of w a t e r in the Uintah B a s i n , a g r i c u l t u r e will be h a r m e d . This w a t e r would b e t t e r s e r v e a g r i c u l t u r a l n e e d s if left in the Uintah Basin. 2) The s a l i n i t y p r o b l em in the Lower S e v i e r River would be b e t t e r c o r r e c t e d by a s a l i n i t y c o n t r o l plan (such as developed by the Soil C o n s e r v a t i o n Service for the Uintah Basin) than by d e l i v e r i n g CUP w a t e r to the S e v i e r R i v e r. 3) I m p r o v e m e n t s in i r r i g a t i o n m e t h o d s , i m p r o v e m e n t s in d i s t r i b u t i o n of i r r i gation w a t e r , and c o n s t r u c t i o n of s m a l l e r i r r i g a t i o n r e s e r v o i r s would do m o r e for a g r i c u l t u r e in Utah than the Bonneville Unit of CUP. Some of the C U P ' s s m a l l e r Uintah Basin Units a r e p r a i s e w o r t h y in t h i s r e g a r d. WHAT UTAH AND THE NATION LOSES 1) Of the 5477 m i l e s of s t r e a m s and r i v e r s in Utah, only 513 a r e considered to be high q u a l i t y s t r e a m s . In c o n t r a s t , Wyoming and Idaho have r e s p e c t i v e l y 19,000 and 5, 340 high q u a l i t y s t r e a m m i l e s . The CUP will d e s t r oy 140 m i l e s of s t r e a m , impact 200 m i l e s , and the impact on 164 m o r e m i l es i s u n c l e a r . S t r e a m s affected by the CUP include: S t r a w b e r r y R i v e r , Rock C r e e k , Duchesne R i v e r , P r o v o R i v e r , C u r r a n t C r e e k , Diamond Fork, S p a n i s h F o r k , West F o r k Duche s n e , Lake Fork, White r o c k R i v e r , and Uintah R i v e r. 2) Not only fish will be lost by d e w a t e r e d s t r e a m s but e n t i r e e c o s y s t e m s will be a l t e r e d . S t r e a m flow r e d u c t i o n will r e s u l t in l o s s of i m p o r t a n t s t r e a m s i de v e g e t a t i o n - e s s e n t i a l to m a n y wildlife s p e c i e s . Floods will be more s e v e r e. More s i l t will be d e s p o s i t e d in d o w n s t r e am r e s e r v o i r s , and c a n a l s. 3) S e v e r a l e n d a n g e r e d s p e c i e s a r e found d o w n s t r e am from the CUP. The effect of the CUP on t h e s e s p e c i e s is unknown. |
