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I. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I be presented that show to the satisfaction of the reviewing agencies that the proposed project alternate and configuration is the best and most reasonable one. The proposed proj ect will come under review from the Three States Agreement between Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. During this interim period when the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is being prepared, all new depletions on the river are supposed to be mitigated by a one for one replacement. GASP did file a water rights application for the project prior to the signing of the agreement. The argument could be made that the project was contemplated prior to the agreement and as such should not be required to replace depletions. There is a question on whether a conditional water right would be considered adequate to meet the definitions agreed to by the Three States. Evert if mitigation is a requirement for this project, it will not be imposed until the project actually comes on-line. A possible supply for the project could be the Tamarack Project, which was constructed prior to the Three States Agreement. It has the ability to supply up to 10,000 acre-feet of recharge credits to the river and is scheduled for additional enlargement in the near future. GASP could pursue this as a potential augmentation source to offset projected depletions. Once the EIS is completed for the Three States Agreement, there could be additional requirements imposed on this project. However, speculation on what these might be is beyond the scope or the ability of rational people to foresee. Additional work will be necessary to determine if there are jurisdictional wetlands on the property. A detailed wetlands delineation will need to be completed and approved by the Corps of Engineers prior to proceeding with permitting activities. The Corps of Engineers has visited the site and reviewed the preliminary concepts ofthe proposal. The first indications from Corps staffwere that the project would be environmentally beneficial to the river, that the wetlands were of low quality and could be mitigated, and that they would probably be supportive of an application for a permit depending on how it is configured. Baseline information on groundwater levels needs to be collected as a part of the project for both environmental and engineering design purposes. This will require measuring the piezometers installed by Earth Engineering Consultants (EEC) during the field investigations of the soil. We would recommend taking bimonthly readings for the first 4 months. An evaluation of the results will be made at the end of 4 months to determine the appropriate time interval for future measurements. The location of the groundwater table is critical to the determination of the jurisdictional wetlands. It will also be useful in determining the design parameters for toe drains and the allowable excavation in the reservoir bottom for embankment material. It is anticipated a mitigation plan will be necessary for obtaining a 404 permit for the project. The extent will be based on the wetlands acreage disturbed. The fact that there are wetlands on the property is significant in the fact that it shows the soils to be poorly drained. This supports the technical concept of building a reservoir that would have a relatively watertight bottom. The remaining permits listed in this section are technically based permits. The dam safety review has specific criteria that must be met to allow for construction of the dam. The State Engineer has to approve construction plans and specifications for the proposed dam. The permits through the Colorado Department of Health are straightforward ones based on construction activities. We have not identified any concerns associated with this project that would indicate any problems in obtaining these permits. 11