9631

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9631
• Author: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
• Title: Operation of Flaming Gorge Dam Draft Environmental Impact Statement Executive Summary.
• USFW Year: 2004.
• USFW - Doc Type: Salt Lake City, UT.
• Copyright Material: NO

S.3 BACKGROUND
Flaming Gorge Dam, located on the Green River in northeastern Utah about 200 miles
northeast of Salt Lake City, is an authorized storage unit of the CRSP. Flaming Gorge
Dam was completed in 1962, and full operation of the dam and reservoir began in 1967.
The powerplant, located at the base of the darn, began commercial operation in 1963 and
was completed in 1964. Reclamation operates the dam and powerplant, and Western
markets the power.
S.3.1 Brief History of Flaming Gorge Dam and Reservoir
S.3.1.1 Authorized Uses of Flaming Gorge Dam and Reservoir. Colorado
River Development
Flaming Gorge Dam was authorized for construction by the CRSP Act of 1956
(Public Law [P.L.] 84-485). The underlying project purposes are defined by Section 1
of the Act (43 United States Code [U.S.C.] Section (§) 620) that authorized the Secretary
of the Interior to "construct, operate, and maintain" Flaming Gorge Dam:
... for the purposes, among others, of regulating the flow of the Colorado River,
storing water for beneficial consumptive use, making it possible for the States
of the Upper Basin to utilize, consistently with the provisions of the Colorado
River Compact, the apportionments made to and among them in the Colorado
River Compact and the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, respectively,
providing for the reclamation of and and semiarid land, for the control of floods,
and for the generation of hydroelectric power, as an incident of the foregoing
purposes ....
While an incident of the other listed project purposes, power generation finances the
majority of both project repayment and the irrigation component of participating projects.
Section 7 of the CRSP Act of 1956 mandates the operation of CRSP powerplants to
produce "...the greatest practicable amount of power and energy that can be sold at firm
power and energy rates.... " However, as described in the DEIS in section 1.4.4,
continued Upper Basin development of water resources is dependent on the success of
the endangered fish recovery efforts, which in turn, may affect the practicable amount of
power and energy generated. This Executive Summary analyzes these effects.
In 1968, Congress enacted the Colorado River Basin Project Act (43 U.S.C. § 1501 et
seq.) which provided for a program for further comprehensive development of Colorado
River Basin water resources. Section 1501(a) states:
This program is declared to be for the purposes, among others, of regulating the
flow of the Colorado River, controlling floods; improving navigation; providing
for the storage and delivery of the waters of the Colorado River for reclamation
of lands, including supplemental water supplies, and for municipal, industrial,
and other beneficial purposes; improving water quality, providing for basic
public outdoor recreation facilities; improving conditions for fish and wildlife;
and the generation and sale of electrical power as an incident of the foregoing
purposes.
Executive Summary 1 S-3