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I I I, I I I I I I I I I, I II I. I' I I, I OOlg58 Scoping Document I Williams Fork Hydroelectric Project FERC Project No. 2204 Denver Water is hopeful that NEPA scoping and the identification of any additional studies or information will be completed by the end of December 2003. The ALP is a cooperative effort, with input from the participating parties, to address Project related issues in the PDEA. It encourages greater participation and improved communication among the license applicant and the participating parties. Many participating parties have already signed Denver Water's Communications Protocol, which sets forth guidelines for communication and coordination among the participating parties. Participating parties who have signed the Communications Protocol include the United States Department of Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment - Water Quality Control Division (CDPHE), Colorado Department of Natural Resources (CDNR), Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), and Trout Unlimited (TU). During the initial joint scoping meeting, Denver Water will discuss the Communications Protocol, goals of the process and other logistical and procedural steps of the ALP that may need resolving. If necessary, technical working groups will be formulated. 2.0 PROJECT HISTORY AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION The Project is located on the Williams Fork River near its confluence with the Colorado River at Parshall, Colorado (Figure 2.1). Williams Fork Reservoir is located approximately 100 road miles west of Denver, Colorado, on the western slope of the Continental Divide. The elevation at Williams Fork Reservoir is approximately 7.800 feet. The drainage area of the Williams Fork basin is approximately 230 square miles. The Project is located entirely on Denver Water land. In 1918 the City and County of Denver acquired the Denver Union Water Company's water system and began investigating other sources of water. A 1921 survey conducted by the City and County of Denver revealed additional water potential by diverting water from the Williams Fork headwaters through a tunnel to Denver. But it was the Bureau of Reclamation's (Bureau's) Colorado Big-Thompson project, a northern transmountain diversion, which first prepared plans for a 75,000 acre-foot reservoir on the Williams Fork River. However, when assessing the project, the Bureau determined that a reservoir on the Blue River, rather than the Williams Fork River, would be most favorable. In 1936 the City and County of Denver, using its 1921 survey, began construction on the Williams Fork transmountain diversion. The original 100-foot-high concrete gravity dam and the resulting water supply reservoir were completed and put into use in 1941. The water was to be used as dilution for the Denver Department of Parks and Improvement's sewage treatment plant]. After the City and County of Denver had finished the first phase of the project. modifications in the design of the sewage plant eliminated the need for the imported dilution water. Consequently in 1955, Denver Water purchased the City and County of Denver's original Williams Fork facilities, consisting of real property, water rights, right-of-way grants, 4.3 miles of collection conduit, a 6,623 acre-foot reservoir and a 15,616-foot tunnel, for the purpose of developing the facilities for municipal water supply. Denver Water has decreed water rights in the upper and lower Williams Fork watershed. Denver Water's upper and lower basin water right decrees are junior to the Shoshone hydroelectric plant 1 The Denver Department of Parks and Improvements primary purpose was waSlewater treatment while Denver Water's purpose is to develop municipal drinking water supply. 3