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<br />0301 <br /> <br />; b ~ .. <br />.' '". ~ <br /> <br />Final Environmental Assessment - Board ot Water Works ot Pueblo <br /> <br />July 2000 <br /> <br />storage space, the Board is forced to use that water even though the Board's direct flow rights <br />could have met the demand. As a result, stored water is used unnecessarily. Storage at Pueblo <br />Reservoir will allow the Board to use stored water only when necessary. This would allow the <br />Board to manage its water supply more efficiently and could reduce the Board's demand on <br />Colorado River Basin water until such time that the Board needs to fully utilize those rights to <br />meet the demands ot the citizens ot Pueblo and to satisfy contractual obligations. <br /> <br />Colorado Springs has indicated that if additional water conveyance pipelines or other facilities to <br />deliver water are not constructed, CSU will not be capable of meeting Colorado Spring's <br />forecasted water demands by 2010. Lack of adequate water supplies may contribute to <br />disruption of community master planning efforts, limitations on growth and development, <br />increased pressure on existing infrastructure, restrictions on residential irrigation, and loss of <br />population. <br /> <br />ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING. <br /> <br />Much of the information in this section is taken from Pueblo Dam, Safety of Dams Final <br />Environmental Assessment (Bureau of Reclamation, 1998). <br /> <br />The climate in the area of Pueblo Dam is semi-arid characterized by little precipitation, high to <br />moderate winds, high evaporation rates, and widely ranging temperatures. Annual precipitation <br />in Pueblo, located just downstream of the dam, averages 11.69 inches with 70-75% occurring <br />during the growing season. Summer precipitation occurs mainly as thunderstorms. The driest <br />period occurs during fall and winter with less than one inch of precipitation. Snowfall averages <br />about 32" per year. Winds prevail from the west from October through March and from the <br />southeast throughout the remainder of the year. Annual wind speed averages about nine miles <br />per hour. Chinooks are frequent during the winter and early spring and can cause <br />temperatures to rise quickly. Monthly temperatures average 53.6 degrees F in October, 29.8 <br />degrees F in January, 51.8 degrees F in April, and 77.1 degrees F in July. The growing season <br />averages about 165 days. The last killing frost occurs in April and the first killing frost is usually <br />in October. <br /> <br />Pueblo Dam and Reservoir are located where the Great Plains meets the Southern Rocky <br />Mountain physiographic province. West of the area, foothills rise to meet the Wet Mountains <br />which give way to the higher Sangre de Christo Mountains. The Arkansas River valley and <br />terraced high plains extend to the east. Steep valley sides confine much of Pueblo Reservoir to <br />the Arkansas River canyon. The land surface is generally rolling when underlain by soft shales <br />, and other sedimentary rocks but is broken by sharp bluffs and cliffs when underlain by more <br />erosion-resistant formations. Geologic formations are generally deposits of sediments <br />(alluvium or colluvium) or sedimentary rocks (limestone, sandstone, and shales). <br /> <br />Soils in the vicinity are varied and complex and include loamy plains, limestone breaks, sandy <br />bottomlands, salt meadows, and saline overflows. Soil pH generally ranges from 7.9 to 8.4 and <br />is classed as moderately alkaline. When underlain by resistant limestone, a shallow stony soil <br /> <br />3 <br />