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001073 Final Environmental Assessment-Chapter 3-Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences Water Resources Ute Water Conservancy District Pump Plant Intake Issue: Dam modification or removal could adversely affect Ute Water's ability to pump water from the Colorado River. Existing Conditions: Ute Water provides water to about 60,000 residents of the Grand Valley. Their primary water supply is transported via a pipeline from the Plateau Creek drainage off the Grand Mesa. Ute Water's pump plant is located approximately 2,000 feet upstream of the dam and is normally used as an emergency backup water supply. Pumping operations require a water surface elevation of about 4,722 feet in the river (Collins, 1999). The dam helps maintain the required water elevation for pumping operations, especially during low flow conditions. Ute Water has stated that any loss in water surface elevation would negatively affect their ability to operate the pumping plant. Impacts No Action: The No Action alternative would allow Ute Water to operate their pump plant as they have historically. Conventional Fish Ladder: A control gate would be installed in the fish passage to address Ute Water's concern and allow the fish passage to be closed to maintain historic water elevations for pumping if needed. Downstream Rock Fish Passage: It is estimated that the downstream rock fish passage would result in less than a 2 inch reduction in water surface elevation under the most extreme low river flow conditions. To address Ute Water's concerns, stop-log channels have been incorporated into the fish passage design to allow Ute Water to close the fish passage under low river flow conditions if needed to maintain historic water surface elevations for pumping. Downstream Rock Fish Passage with Whitewater Recreation Features: Predicted similar to the Downstream Rock Fish Passage Alternative. Stop-log channels would be incorporated into a second notch for boats to also address Ute Water's concerns. If the Jacobson Hydro No. 1 Plant were constructed in the future, an Obermeyer Gate could be installed in the boater notch to ensure deliveries to the hydro plant. Dam Removal: As discussed above, the Ute Water pump plant requires a river elevation of at least 4,722 feet. With the dam removed, the river elevation would drop below 4,722 feet whenever the flow is less than 5,500 cfs. Review of historic flow data (average of monthly mean flows from 1933 through 1996) shows Colorado River flows 26