WSPP286 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

000972 irrigation season (April- October) approximately 70 cfs is pumped up 120 feet to the shareholder's service area. When fish enter canals they are lost from the river, either by being injured or killed in hydropower turbines or by being transported to irrigated lands. Therefore, the Recovery Program in cooperation with R WPC is proposing to install a fish screen in the Redlands Canal. The RWPC would assume ownership of the fish ladder and fish screen, and be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the screen. The Service would continue to operate the fish ladder. The Recovery Program will provide funding to RWPC to maintain the fish ladder and operate and maintain the screen. An agreement among R WPC, Reclamation, and the Service outlines the responsibility of each party in regards to the proposed fish screen and existing fish ladder (Appendix A). This agreement facilitates the transfer of ownership from Reclamation to R WPC. The Recovery Program identified the construction and operation of a fish screen at the Redlands Canal as a necessary"action in their Recovery Action Plan: The proposed fish screen will be configured in a "V" shape in the canal with each leg of the screen 160 feet long. The screen is designed for a total diversion flow of 890 cfs, with 40 cfs returning fish and debris back to the Gunnison River. The fish return pipeline will be a 36-inch diameter PVC pipe approximately 460 feet long. A bypass chanriel would be constructed around the section of the canal where the screen would be placed. ~e purpose ofthe bypass channelis to have the ability to continue to operate the canal if the screen is not functioning because of iCing, clogging, 'mechanical failure, or other reasons. Gates will be 'installed in the canal to direct flows either into the fish screen'or into the bypass canal. Water depletions associated with RWPC's operations include an average annual diversion from the Gunnison River of734 cfs or 503,429 acre-feet. Approximately 490,410 acre-feet of water is returned to the Colorado River downstream of the Gunnison and Colorado River confluence below the power plant tailrace 4.5 miles downstream of the confluence. Approximately 7 cfs is delivered to properties along the Gunnison River with return flows to the Gunnison of approximately 3.5 cfs. In addition, 63 cfs is pumped and delivered to properties up on the Redlands. Water depletions associated with irrigation are approximately 11,737 acre-feet/year. This large diversion from the Gunnison River significantly reduces flows under certain hydrologic conditions in the lower 2.3 miles ofthe Gunnison River and several miles ofthe Colorado River below the confluence. RWPC holds a very senior water right, which provides , water for endangered fish in the Gunnison River down to their point of diversion. Also, the large return flow to the Colorado River below the power plant contributes flow to critical habitat. The overall water depletion below the tailrace return on the Colorado River is approximately 11,737 acre- feet/year. Conservation Measures Conservation measures are actions that the action agency and applicant (Redlands" Water and Power) agree to implement to further the recovery of the species under review. The beneficial effects of conservation measures were taken into consideration for determining jeopardy, adverse 3