7397

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7397
• Author: Resource Consultants, I.
• Title: Draft Supplement to the Final Environmental Statement Colorado-Big Thompson, Windy Gap Projects Water Marketing Program for Green Mountain Reservoir, Colorado.
• USFW Year: 1985.
• USFW - Doc Type: Fort Collins.
• Copyright Material: NO

as a source of water because it is available and it is relatively inexpensive,
and, in theory, could be obtained with a minimal amount of legal expense.

Although numerous alternative scenarios could be formulated considering other
potential sources of water for many of the requestors, it is beyond the scope of
this document to identify specific alternate sources or assess the environmental
impacts associated with their use. The central issue of this Supplement is to
evaluate the environmental consequences of alternative levels of water sales
under long-term contracts from Green Mountain Reservoir and the impacts directly
associated with those sales. It should be noted that where an alternate water
source implies the use of water by upstream exchange, the environmental impacts
for small, headwater streams in Summit, Grand, and Eagle counties would be
essentially the same as those determined by analysis of Alternatives 2 and 3 of
this Supplement.

Full sales or expanded sales under Alternatives 2, 3, and 4, as considered in
detail in this document, are conditioned by the possibility that shortages of
from zero to 30 percent (full sales) or from 20 to 50 percent (expanded sales)
might have to be imposed in some months of some years. This condition results
from operational limitations on the ability of the Green Mountain Reservoir and
Colorado River System to deliver water under certain hydrologic conditions. As
with alternate water sources, numerous alternatives could be formulated for the
distribution of these shortages among water requestors. It is beyond the scope
of this document to assess impacts related to either policies or criteria for
distributing these possible shortages. Since the potential for shortages must
be considered in negotiating water service contracts for Green Mountain Water,
the possible levels and timing of shortages are revealed by the Bureau's
reservoir and river system analysis.

Environmental Consequences

The environmental effects of the different alternatives are due to the quantity
of water sold from Green Mountain Reservoir and the various hydrologic
constraints and flow restrictions placed on the streams.

The changes in stream flows resulting from the various water sales scenarios
would create different losses in fish habitat as well as economic impacts to the
tourism economy in Summit, Grand, and Eagle counties. The major impact in these
counties is primarily confined to winter withdrawals by exchange for snowmaking
at the ski resorts.

A complete analysis of environmental impacts by alternative is presented in
Chapter 4 and summarized in Table 2.2 found in Chapter 2.

vii