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001689 Revised Supplemental Draft Environmental Assessment-Chapter 3-Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences Existing Conditions: The Colorado River provides recreation opportunities for a growing population with an increasing interest in whitewater boating. The 8 foot-high Price-Stubb Diversion Dam is an extremely dangerous barrier to river navigation, and boaters must currently trespass to portage around the dam. No established take-out sites are near the dam; an undeveloped access site exists about 0.6 miles downstream. The dam is at the lower end of DeBeque Canyon, which runs about 23 miles from the Town of De Be que to the Town of Palisade. Through most of the canyon, the river is bordered by Interstate 70 on the left bank of the river, and the Union Pacific Railroad on the right bank of the river. A potential "put-in" site within the canyon is at Island Acres State Park, about 3 miles upstream of the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam (Figure 9); however, there currently is no established boat ramp or boat launch (telephone conversation with Colorado State Parks, 3111/2004). Potential funding sources to construct a boat ramp/launch could be Great Outdoors Colorado and/or the Federal Aide in Sport Fish Restoration-Wallop-Breaux. Limited access and the navigation barriers of the GVIC, Price-Stubb, and Gran~ Valley Project Diversion Dams have made recreational boating impracticable in DeBeque Canyon reach ofthe Colorado River (see Frontispiece Map). State Parks has expressed an interest in pursuing a boat ramp/launch at Colorado State Parks-Island Acres. For a variety of reasons, there is less recreational boating on the Colorado River in DeBeque Canyon and within the Grand Valley when compared to Glenwood Canyon, Ruby Canyon, and Westwater Canyon areas. Glenwood and Westwater Canyons have superior river conditions for whitewater boating and are advertised by the commercial rafting industry. Ruby Canyon is very scenic and provides access to a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wilderness Study Area. The Colorado River is primarily flat water (Class I), for about 25 miles from Island Acres State Park to Loma, Colorado. There are few Class II rapids in this section, depending on river flows (Table 1). Though recreational use data is not available for the Colorado River upstream ofthe GVIC Dam at Palisade; it is estimated at 300 to 400 float trips annually. In addition, little information is available regarding river use within the Grand Valley; the BLM estimates about 2,000 users annually recreate on the River between Palisade and Lorna. Table I-River Difficulty Classes Class I Easy, Riffles and small waves. Class II Novice. Easy rapids with waves. Class III Intermediate. Large waves, obstacles. Class IV Advanced. Long, difficult rapids. Class V Expert. Nearly impossible to run. -from the Internet web page of Colorado State Parks River Safety 30