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Show o CUP MEMO II October 17, 1973 » Bonneville Basin 43,500 additional acre feet of water will be available through return flows and storage of same downstream, to wit, south in such structures as Mona Reservoir and Sevier Bridge Reservoir. The 136,600 acre feet diverted to the Bonneville Basin are picked up in the headwaters of the Duchesne River and the Strawberry River. To avoid further confusion in this document, this operation can be summarized as the construction of several dams, many diversions from streams and creeks, and an extensive aqueduct system. The scope of this endeavor is best illustrated by David Raskin's (Uintah Chapter Conservation Chairman) calculation that the result would be the destruction of 193 miles of trout streams. Parenthetically, Dave calculates that 25,000 acres of marsh and water habitat on Utah Lake will be destroyed and 9,400 acres of important wildlife habitat would be inundated by three of the reservoirs contemplated, to wit, enlargement of Strawberry Reservoir, construction of the upper Stillwater Reservoir on Rock Creek, and construction of the Current Creek Reservoir. Commitment to the Bonneville Unit must carry with it commitment to returning to the Ute Indians sufficient water for irrigation of 15,242 acres of the 36,450 acres apparently deferred in the 1965 _ agreement. * As a result, the Upalco, Uintah, and Ute Indian units come into the picture. The Upalco and Uintah units continue_the reservoir building, stream diversion, and aqueduct construction activities eastward from the Rock Creek tributary of the Duchesne River, including generally Lake Fork and the Uintah River and their tributaries. The Ute Indian Unit, apparently not completely reduced to definite planning, envisions further extension of aqueducts to the Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the north side of the Uintahs and a 100 mile or so Uintah Aqueduct traversing the Uintahs (and presumably the wilderness area) and ending at the upper Stillwater Reservoir on Rock Creek. All of this additional activity, according to the environmental impact statement is necessary for eventual fulfillment of all the deferral commitment under the 1965 agreement with the Utes. It would even appear that construction of the Uintah and Upalco units alone would not satisfy the Bonneville diversions;.in other words, to some extent the Ute Indian Unit will also be required just to # replace water taken for Bonneville Basin. Preliminary investigation by the writer would indicate that the small Jensen Unit would play no part in the Indian picture. The Vernal Unit which is practically complete also seems removed from the Indian picture and limited to the" vicinity of Vernal, Utah. " The Denver Office of SCLDF is still not clear on the entire Indian acreage figures, much less on average annual water requirements per acre for such irrigation. However, further investigation continues -3- |
