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<br />OOJ812 <br /> <br />Cimarron Dredging Environmental Assessment <br /> <br />assets. There have been no trust assets identified in the project area, and therefore no impact on <br />these assets is predicted. <br /> <br />Environmental Justice <br /> <br />Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice provides that Federal agencies analyze <br />programs to assure that they do not disproportionately adversely affect minority or low income <br />populations or Indian Tribes. There are no potentially affected populations in the project area <br />and no adverse effects related to environmental justice are predicted. <br /> <br />Socioeconomic <br /> <br />Socioeconomic resources related to the proposed action can be broken into two general <br />categories: I) Hydrooower Production from the Aspinall Unit and 2) Commercial Guiding <br />Services for fishing and float guides. <br /> <br />Hvdrooower Production <br /> <br />The Aspinall Unit is operated to meet daily peak power demands, and power production and <br />marketing is managed by the Westem Area Power Administration. Peaking power means that <br />higher releases are made ar those times during the day when energy demands are highest. <br />Typically, peak power periods arc from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Blue Mesa and Morrow Point <br />Dam releases are made during this time period to meet power demands. This results in large <br />changes in flows between Blue Mesa Reservoir and Morrow Point Reservoir, and between <br />Morrow Point Reservoir and Crystal Reservoir. <br /> <br />Crystal Reservoir is operated differently than the other two reservoirs. Crystal Reservoir <br />provides storage space for smoothing peaking power releases from Morrow Point Reservoir to <br />relatively uniform flows required to provide the existing Uncompahgre Project diversions <br />through the downstream Gunnison Tunnel in the summer months. Within a 24 hour period. <br />releases for power production from Blue Mesa Dam can fluctuate between 0 and 3,400 cfs, <br />Morrow Point Dam between 0 and 5,000 cfs. while Crystals releases typically fluctuate in the 50 <br />cfs range. When the Aspinall Unit is at maximum power production. daily fluctuations in <br />releases from Crystal Dam may increase to the 200 cfs range. <br /> <br />Under the proposed action. dredging activities would be restricted to a 6 hour window when <br />releases from Morrow Point Reservoir were at zero. The Western Area Power Administration <br />does not foresee that there will be any financial impacts to CRSP during the planned dredging. <br />There would be no overall loss in CRSP generation during the dredging period; generation <br />patterns within the CRSP system would be altered during that period. consistent with existing <br />operating parameters. The improved power efficiency, after completion of the dredging project, <br />is expected to result in an estimated 5,608 MWh per year increase in power generation. At <br /> <br />17 <br />