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<br />" <br /> <br />r .,~ <br />" <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />o <br />o <br />~ <br />Ii;,. <br /> <br />. j.... <br /> <br />CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />This environmental assessment (EA) addresses impacts of the East Side Laterals salinity <br />control project in portions of Montrose and Delta Counties, Colorado. A lateral is a small <br />ditch or pipeline that delivers irrigation water from a larger canal to fanns. The Bureau of <br />Reclamation (Reclamation) is proposing a plan to place open laterals and small capacity <br />canals east of the Uncompahgre River in underground pipelines. The east side of the valley <br />fonned from marine shales that are high in salt content. The project is the result of further <br />study of a "1984 Plan" for the Lower Gunnison Basin Unit (Unit) of the Colorado River <br />Water Quality Improvement Program to line the ditches with concrete instead of placing <br />them in pipe. Congress authorized this 1984 Plan in an amendment to the Salinity Control <br />Act (Public Law 98-569). Autborization followed completion of a Feasibility Repon/Final <br />Environmental Statement (FR/FES, Reclamation, 1984)1 for the Unit. Lining canals and <br />laterals has not been funded due to high costs. Cost saving changes for the East Side <br />Laterals Project are recommended by a recent Supplement to the Feasibility Repon <br />(Reclamation, 1994). This EA discusses changes as they relate to the analysis of <br />environmental impacts and commitments for the project. <br /> <br />This EA is prepared to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (Public <br />Law 91-190), under current guidelines of the Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. <br />Department of the Interior and Reclamation. It's also intended to comply with other laws <br />and regulations such as Executive Order 11490 entitled "Protection of Wetlands." <br /> <br />Settin~ <br /> <br />The project area is in the portion of the Lower Gunnison Basin east of the Uncompahgre <br />River between the cities of Montrose and Delta and south of the Gunnison River. The area <br />is dominated by about 31,000 acres, or 34 percent, of lands irrigated by the Uncompahgre <br />Valley Reclamation Project since the early 19oos. Except for the riparian corridors of the <br />Uncompahgre and Gunnison Rivers, natural ponds, pennanent streams and open marshes are <br />rare. Irrigation ditches are a major open water resource. Barren hills of the marine shale <br />(the Mancos Fonnation), locally called the "adobes," are east of the project area. <br /> <br />The Gunnison and Uncompahgre Rivers supply irrigation water for the Uncompahgre <br />Project. Five canal and lateral systems distribute water to Uncompahgre Project lands east <br />of the river: the South (or "A" system), Loutzenhizer (D), Selig (E), East (G) and Garnet <br />(H) (see Frontispiece Map and Figure 1). The 5.8-mile-Iong Gunnison Tunnel diverts <br />water from the Gunnison River to the South Canal. Some of this water is "turned out" to <br />"A" system laterals. The remainder is released into the Uncompahgre River for diversion <br />into the other systems. <br /> <br />I All references cited are available for review at Reclamation's office in Grand Junction, <br />and are listed in the References Cited section at the end of this EA. <br /> <br />I <br />