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A <br />United States Department of the Interior <br />Bureau of Reclamation <br />Fish and Wildlife Service <br />FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT <br />FISH PASSAGE AT THE GRAND VALLEY IRRIGATION COMPANY <br />DIVERSION DAM ON THE COLORADO RIVER <br />In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and based on the <br />following, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) <br />have determined that construction and operation of the fish passage at the Grand Valley Irrigation <br />Company (GVIC) Diversion Dam on the Colorado River near Palisade, Colorado would not <br />result in a significant impact on the human environment. <br />A draft environmental assessment was prepared on the project in July, 1997 and a final in August, <br />1997. The fish passage will allow two endangered fish--the Colorado squawfish and the <br />razorback sucker--to move upstream past the GVIC Diversion Dam with the ultimate goal of <br />establishing a reproducing population of the fish in a 54-mile long reach of the Colorado River <br />upstream. To simulate a "natural-like" stream feature, the proposal includes a 30-foot wide notch <br />in the existing GVIC dam to allow the fish to swim upstream through the notch at flows of less <br />than 5,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). Rocks (2-foot diameter) would be placed downstream <br />from the diversion dam in a series of pools and riffles and on a slope designed to reduce velocities <br />significantly to accommodate the swimming abilities of the endangered fishes. The series of 20- <br />foot long pools with intervening riffles about 50 feet long would extend over 400 feet. <br />All funding for the construction and operation of the passage would be the responsibility of the <br />Recovery Program for Endangered Fishes in the Upper Colorado River Basin or the Fish and <br />Wildlife Service. The Recovery Program is a cooperative effort among the States of Colorado, <br />Utah, and Wyoming; Reclamation, the Service, Western Area Power Administration, water <br />development interests, and environmental organizations with the goal of allowing water <br />development to proceed to meet the needs of society while recovering the endangered fish. <br />Comments on the draft environmental assessment centered around three general concerns. First, <br />many commentors believe that the proposed action is a waste of taxpayers money; that is the <br />public benefits are far outweighed by the costs. Second, at the time of the draft assessment, only <br />one endangered fish had used a fish ladder built on the Gunnison River and it was not believed <br />that the GVIC passage would be used by the fish. The third general area of comments was that <br />water users should not have water rights or water uses affected; nor should they be responsible if <br />endangered fish were lost in the GVIC canal; nor should they bear the costs of the construction or <br />operation of the project. These concerns have been addressed in detail in the final environmental <br />assessment.