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<br />'t.. <br /> <br />". ~ <br /> <br />Colorado, but it did not work smoothly in the ESA Section 7 consultation for the Wolford <br />Mountain Reservoir (7,716 acre-foot new depletion) or in the pending consultation with <br />the Ute Water Conservancy District regarding its proposed enlargement and realignment <br />of its Plateau Creek pipeline (4,628 acre-foot historic and 3,195 acre-foot new depletion). <br /> <br />Recent Section 7 consultations provide clear examples of the importance of <br />assistance from the states and water users in assuring that scheduled recovery action plans <br />are implemented on time. The proposed project has already been referenced in the draft <br />Biological Opinion for the Ute Water Conservancy District as a major portion of the <br />"reasonable and prudent alternative" for their proposed pipeline project, and it is expected <br />to serve a similarly important function in the proposed consultation concerning all <br />existing and future depletions affecting the 15 Mile Reach (approximately 400,000 acre- <br />feet existing depletions and 120,000+ acre-feet of new depletions). <br /> <br />Project Description & Background <br />The proposed project will improve the operating efficiency of the Government <br />Highline Canal, also known as the Garfield Gravity Division of the federal Grand Valley <br />Projece. It is operated by the Grand Valley Water Users Association (GVWUA) to divert <br />water at Cameo for the benefit of 1400 water users and 23,340 acres of irrigated lands <br />along the north side of the Colorado River at Grand Junction. Water supplies for the <br />Mesa County Irrigation District, the Palisade Irrigation District, and the Orchard Mesa <br />Irrigation District are also diverted from the mainstem of the Colorado River at the Grand <br />Valley Diversion Dam2, but their supplies and facilities are not included in the proposed <br />project. <br /> <br />The Government Highline Canal is approximately 50 miles in length and serves <br />74 laterals (approximately 160 miles). It is operated as a "flow through" system without <br />any regulated storage capacity and spills approximately 60,000 acre-feet on an average <br />annual basis due to short-term variations in supply and demand. Under current operating <br />conditions, there is approximately a 2-3 day response time between intake adjustments at <br />the headgate and surface elevation changes in western portions of the canal. <br /> <br />In its quest to identify opportunities for improving flow conditions in the 15 Mile <br />Reach for the recovery of endangered fish, the Recovery Program asked the Bureau of <br />Reclamation (BOR) to evaluate water management within the Government Highline <br />Canal system, along with other facilities. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />I The Grand Valley Project was built by the Bureau of Reclamation between 1912 and 1917, and also <br />includes the "Orchard Mesa Division," which includes the Colorado River Siphon, Orchard Mesa Power <br />Canal, Grand valley Power Plant, Orchard Mesa Pumping Plant and Orchard Mesa Canal System, and <br />provides water supplies for approximately 4,800 water users and 6,900 acres of irrigated farmland. <br />2 The Grand Valley Diversion Dam is the third of three diversion structures which impede migration of <br />the endangered fish upstream into historic habitat, all of which are currently the subject of planning, design <br />and NEP A review by the Recovery Program for permitting and construction of fish passage structures in <br />the next few years. <br /> <br />e' <br /> <br />2 <br />