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OOlOS3 Final Environmental Assessment-Chapter 3-Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences are usually below 5,500 cfs for 9 months each year, from August through April. Dam removal would negatively affect Ute Water's ability to pump water from their existing facility. Modification to the existing pump plant or a back-up water supply from other sources would be necessary to mitigate impacts to Ute Water. Water Rights Issue: Owners of existing water rights with decreed points of diversion at the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam have raised issues regarding potential impacts and the future utilization of their water rights under the Dam Removal alternative. Existing Conditions: Three existing water rights cite the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam as their decreed point of diversion. The fust of these is a 573 cfs water right for power generation with an appropriation5 date of October 1, 1889 and adjudication6 date of July 22, 1912. This right is owned by the Palisade Irrigation District (PID) and was used to operate hydraulic pumps to lift their irrigation water. The power right has not been used since 1918; since then, PID's water has been delivered through the Government Highline Canal. The Palisade Irrigation District has retained the right to use the power right to pump irrigation water if irrigation deliveries cannot be made through the Government Highline Canal. The second right is a 2,100 cfs conditional water righe for hydroelectric power generation with an appropriation date of December 20, 1980 and an adjudication date of December 31, 1983. This right is owned by Mr. Eric Jacobson and is associated with the proposed Jacobson Hydro No.1 Project, which would use the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam to divert Colorado River flows to its hydropower plant. As discussed previously, it is assumed that the Hydro No.1 Project would not be constructed because of the terminated FERC license. The third right is a 120 cfs water right for domestic, municipal and industrial uses with an appropriation date of February 17, 1947 and adjudication date of July 25, 1959. Eighty cfs of this right is owned by the City of Grand Junction, 20 cfs by the Clifton Water District and 20 cfs by the Water Development Company. The decree for this right lists five alternate points of diversion, with the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam being one of the decreed points. Approximately 19 cfs of this right has been made absolute8. The right was perfected by pumping from the Colorado River at the Clifton Water District Treatment Plant approximately 6 miles downstream from the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam. No water has been diverted at the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam under this water right. 5 Appropriation: applying water to a beneficial use. Often used interchangeably with the term water right. 6 Acijudication: the judicial process through which existence of a water right is confirmed by court decree. 7 Conditional water right: an appropriation that has not yet been made absolute by the water court. S Absolute: In Colorado, a conditional water right owner must prove diligence in completing work necessary to apply the water to a beneficial use before the water court makes the water right absolute (also termed perfected). 27