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<br />00D744 <br /> <br />'. <br /> <br />obtaining a final settlement, where S. 1771 may not. <br /> <br />Adequacv of Existinv Studies to Support a Modirled Animas-LaPlata Proiect <br /> <br />The original Animas-LaPlata Project's major features include two off-stream dams and reservoirs <br />(Ridges Basin and Southern Ute Dams and Reservoirs); two major pumping plants (Durango and <br />Ridges Basin Pumping Plants); three major water conveyance systems (Dry Side and Southern <br />Ute Inlet Canals and Ridges Basin Inlet Conduit); and two diversion dams on the La Plata River <br />(La Plata and Southern Ute Diversion Dams). It was described in a 1979 Definite Plan Report, in <br />the 1980 Final Environmental Statement (INT FES 80-18) (1980 FES), and in the 1996 Final <br />Supplement to the Final Environmental Statement (FSFES). <br /> <br />In April 1996, Reclamation published its Final Supplement to Final Environmental Statement <br />(FSFES) on the Project. The purpose of the FSFES was to provide additional information <br />concerning environmental effects initially described in the 1980 FES. It offered new information <br />relevant to environmental concerns and having a bearing on the proposed action or its impacts. <br />The FSFES also incorporated revisions as a result of public input since publication of the Draft <br />Supplement Final Environmental Statement published in 1992. Additional information describes <br />changes in the Project's environmental effects since 1980 as a result of design refmements, new <br />information, Indian water rights settlement, and additional compliance requirements. Reclamation <br />undertook the FSFES to analyze new information and to determine if refmed, additional, or new <br />environmental mitigation measures are needed if the Project as proposed were constructed. The <br />document also is intended to provide information for compliance with Project land certification <br />requirements, the Clean Water Act (CWA), and Reclamation's Indian Trust Assets (ITAs) policies <br />and procedures. <br /> <br />The FSFES contains a preferred alternative for the original Animas-La Plata Project that would <br />store water pumped from the Animas River into Ridges Basin Reservoir and would store water <br />diverted from the La Plata and Animas Rivers in Southern Ute Reservoir. <br /> <br />The total water supply developed by the Project would average 191,230 acre-feet annually for <br />agricultural irrigation and municipal and industrial (M&I) uses. About 111,130 acre-feet of <br />Project water would be delivered to 17,590 acres of non-Indian land currently being irrigated and <br />48,310 acres of Indian and non-Indian land not presently being irrigated. An annual M&I supply <br />of 40,000 acre-feet would be available to non-Indian communities in Colorado and New Mexico. <br />An annual supply of 40,100 acre-feet ofM&1 water would be provided to the Southern Ute <br />Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Navajo Nation. <br /> <br />Reclamation participated in surveys of endangered fish in the San Juan River from 1987 to 1989. <br />In February 1990, Reclamation reinitiated formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife <br />Service (Service) under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) based upon new <br />information about Colorado squawfish. The Service then issued a draft Biological Opinion that <br /> <br />5 <br />