WSPC166

• File Number: 8240.200.45.J
• Description: Colorado River Threatened-Endangered - RIPRAP - Red Lands Project-Fish Ladder - Enviro Studies
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 9/1/2003
• Author: DOI-BOR
• Title: Draft Environmental Assessment - RE- Redlands Power Canal Fish Screen - 09-01-03
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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CHAPTER 3 - AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSEQUENCES

This chapter discusses resources that may be affected by actions taken to provide fish screening
in the Red1ands Power Canal. During preparation of this draft environmental assessment,
information on issues and concerns was received from affected water users, resource agencies,
private interests, recreational interest groups and citizens, and other interested parties (see
Chapter 4, Consultation and Coordination, for further details).

For each resource, the potentially affected area and/or interests are identified, existing conditions
described, and impacts predicted under the No Action and Proposed Action Alternatives. This
chapter is concluded with a summary comparison of the alternatives and a list of mitigation
measures.

GENERAL

The project is located in Mesa County, Colorado along the Gunnison River. Mesa County has a
population of about 110,000. Grand Junction, the largest city in the area, was founded in 1881.
Construction of the first irrigation project began in 1882 with the construction of the Pacific
Slope Ditch to supply Grand Junction with water.

The Redlands Diversion Dam is a privately owned and operated structure located on the
Gunnison River approximately 2.3 miles upstream from the confluence with the Colorado River
(frontispiece map). The Red1ands Water and Power Company constructed the diversion dam in
1918 and has since modified and upgraded it. The concrete dam is 8.5 feet high and consists of a
312-foot-10ng spillway with a 6-foot-wide crest and two lO-foot-wide by 6-foot-high sluice
gates. A flow of 850 cubic feet per second (cfs) is diverted through four 14-foot-wide headgates
on the west side into the Red1ands Power Canal. This flow is used for irrigation water and
hydroelectric power generation. In 1983, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
exempted the Red1ands Water and Power Company from licensing under FERC regulations.
This exemption required that fish passage be allowed around the dam.

In 1996, the Recovery Program constructed a selective fish passageway at the Red1ands
Diversion Dam to provide endangered fish access upstream to additional critical habitat (Figure
2). The Service has operated the fish passageway seasonally since 1996. Additional information
about the Red1ands Fish Passageway can be found in the Service's 1996-2000 evaluation report
(Burdick, 2001) and the fish screen's biological assessment (Reclamation, 2003).

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