Correspondence on Bonneville Unit of Central Utah Project

Page 132

•jrri •. "A" 0 V ' - ^ H -'"': A' F a x o g r a m - U *A ^'. .•'••'';' -.•• . . • * v . ' • • delivering the water to the points of use would also be higher. If constructed now, the place of use for Little Dell Reservoir water would be west of Jordan River and the cost of a delivery line would be about $6 million. This would be unnecessary after Bonneville Unit" is operating. Therefore, Little Dell Dam and Reservoir would best fit into the total development of Salt Lake County if constructed after the Bonneville Unit. Based on a firm yield of 8,^00 acre-feet, Little Dell would meet the growing M&I needs in the County for only about 2 years. Frontal stream canyons are steep in grade, heights of dams to control flows are high, and storage capacities are low. Such sites are. not economical and are not without environmental problems The proposed alignment of Goshen Bay Dike would make available about 76,000 acre-feet of evapotranspiration water savings on an average annual "basis. Utah Lake has been operating as a reservoir since about 1872. The savings efach year would actually depend on the lake stage for that year (savings would be zero at minimum level during drier years). Thus a credit must be built up in Jordanelle Reservoir by exchange before a dependable M&I supply becomes available from Utah Lake. This "phase-in" period depends upon a firming-up and interim supply from Strawberry Res­ervoir to meet the growing M&I demand in Salt Lake and Utah County. Considering^ the environmental studies yet to be performed, the development of complex operating criteria, and resolution of water rights and stage construction problems of the Goshen .Bay Dike oh soft foundation conditions, Utah Lake water would likely not be available until about 1990. The Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District is preparing to issue notice that it is no longer possible to honor agreements to deliver additional firm municipal water commitments for water occurring within their jurisdictional area. This.ac- "; tion arises because'-of the acute problem they face in supplying water through a system already delivering at.125 percent of its capacity and because in years of . short supply the demands for ..water will be considerably greater than their avail­able supply. This further points out the urgency for the need to develop, in a timely and uninterrupted fashion, water supplies available through the Bonneville Unit including the Strawberry Aqueduct. The present plan for the Bonneville Unit makes 12,700 acre-feet available to meet fish^requirements out of a total 37,000 acre-feet requested by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources'. About 6,200 acre-feet of the requirement is met by spills ; and irrigation bypasses (see page 293, EIS). We believe the" problems of developing water supplies for the Indians have been and || are being faced in good faith. If the deferral agreement concept is voided, the Indian would be;immediately faced with a unilateral development of Rock Creek and Duchesne River water. Such development would recreate problems for these streams similar to those settled under the Bonneville Unit. In addition, other Indian water right claims would be directed toward the Lake Fork and Uintah River Systems. The. result of such unilateral development of water by the Indians would be disast­rous to the non-Indians presently utilizing the stream flows under State water rights. Faxogram - U • € * J & r . -:Av : A - V ' t. ...#•*• '•..••v-.v A ' ^ ' A . ^ . - •-•.•.-••;• .1 • v - > • • ' - • ' - • ^ r A.-**-.'A A.;- . - - • "-..•'..-->. .*•« .-. .•• .. '•».•*-.*.* :.:.,:7. r A . . .....; -*.-.- '. .•..1.-!-A*c-i-.-