WSP11547

• File Number: 8220.116.I
• Description: Fruitland Mesa Project
• State: CO
• Basin: Gunnison
• Water Division: 4
• Date: 10/7/1976
• Title: Public Hearing - Draft Environmental Statement - Crawford-Colorado October 7-1976 - ‎(Part 1 of 2)‎
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: EIS

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lone another.

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All these things really have to be added up and consider

3 together. Impact to elk from this project may also be major.

4 This seeme to be an unknown. Calving areas and the use of Soap

5 Park as a congregating area before migrations will definitely

6 be lost. ,The latter could cause earlier use of winter range,

7 reducing carrying capacity for the herd. Certainly more detaile

8 analyses of these impacts should be made in the final Environ-

, 9 mental Impact Statement to dete,rmine the extent of these adverse

10 impacts. The Bureau has a responsibility to do so when dealing

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with public assets, and should not proceed if these have not

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been thoroughly investigated and efforts made tooffest losses.
An~];' of non-game wildlife species are listed as

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existing on Fruitland Mesa and in the Soap Creek drainage. No

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~pulation' numoers'are given. nor any quantitative asses&ment
of the impacts of converting their habitat into irrigated land

Or a roservoir. Will some species be eliminated altogether?

What about the list of bird species shown in the attachments?

,How dotnese values, in terms of food chains and life cycles

to the whole area, relate to the whole proposal?

In the discussion of fish, it is stated that turbidity

is expected to increase over the five years' construction of

the project, interfering with spawning to some extent. soap,

Creek is described as a very productive fishery now, with

several species of fish, l~at 18 the extant of impact, ahort