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CHAPTER I PURPOSE AND NEED LJ Negative Determination included a commitment to complete an FEIS on the remainder of the unit before beginning Stage Two construction. The Negative Determination on Stage One development stipulated that further development of the Grand Valley Unit would depend upon information ob- tained from monitoring in the Stage One area and included the following environmental commitments. 1. Approximately 280 acres of land would be acquired and de- veloped for wildlife to compensate for wildlife habitat losses. A watering pond would be constructed north of the Government Highline Canal to replace wildlife watering areas. 2. Water quality, wildlife, and vegetation would be monitored in the Stage One area. 3. Disturbed areas would be reshaped and reseeded. 4. No additional lands would be irrigated by the Grand Valley Unit and right-of-way changes would be minor. 5. Further development of the Grand Valley Unit would depend upon information from Stage One monitoring. Impacts of • the remainder of the unit would be addressed in the FEIS before a decision would be made on further construction. The wildlife commitments made under Stage One did not receive con- gressional approval and therefore were not acted upon. Public Law 98-569, enacted in 1984, included provisions for wildlife habitat re- placement under the Grand Valley Unit; therefore, the wildlife plan for Stage Two development- includes measures to replace both Stage One and Stage Two wildlife losses. Monitoring was undertaken as planned, and results have been pub- lished in a final report by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW 1984b). Construction areas were reshaped, and most of the disturbed lands in the Stage One area were reseeded. Private lands affected by lateral construction were not reseeded because the use of this land was left up to individual landowners. In some cases, these lands have been included in adjacent irrigated fields. It is estimated that field ex- pansion in the Stage One area has totaled 75 acres. Land Features The Grand Valley (see Frontispiece Map) is bounded on the north by the Book Cliffs, on the southwest by the Uncompahgre Plateau, and on the east by Grand Mesa, a flat-topped mountain more than 10,000 feet in ele- vation. The elongated valley is relatively flat, sloping gently upward to the northeast to low rolling hills near the Book Cliffs. To the southwest, the Uncompahgre Plateau rises above the valley floor, while two large, low-lying mesas separated by the Gunnison River are prominent 3