7850

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7850
• Author: Hydrosphere Resource Consultants.
• Title: Yampa River Basin Recommended Alternatives, Detailed Feasibility Study
• USFW Year: 1994.
• USFW - Doc Type: Draft.
• Copyright Material: NO

Executive Summary

Development Schedule
The proposed schedule for implementation of the enlargement project includes a period
of about 7 years, from 1995 through 2001, for detailed planning and design and a period of
about 3 years, from 2001 through 2004, for actual construction. Water deliveries could begin
in 2004.
The critical aspects of the planning phase, and of the project as a whole, are the
development of consensus regarding water management strategies, the obtaining of certain
agency permits, and the negotiation of cost-sharing and financing agreements. It is
recommended that near-term efforts be directed at the development of a basin water
management plan and the evaluation of critical permitting issues such as wetlands mitigation.
Cost Estimate
The cost estimate for the enlargement project was developed from quantity takeoffs and
unit costs for construction items and contingency factors for construction-related items such as
engineering and environmental mitigation. All costs were expressed in 1994 dollars. Table
S-2 provides a breakdown of project costs by major category.
Table S-2
Project Cost Estimate
Construction $20,200,000
Engineering $4,045,000
Acquisitions/Relocations $3,100,000
EIS/Mitigation $3,035,000
Adminsitrative $1,210,000
Financing $910,000
Other/Unlisted $100.000
$32,600,000
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION
A Preliminary Environmental Assessment was prepared as part of the present study and
is included as a chapter in this report. This assessment was carried out according to BLM and
USBR guidelines. It relied heavily on existing information, although some reconnaissance-
level field studies were carried out related to wetlands, riparian vegetation and habitat, and
reservoir and stream fishery conditions.
The principal on-site impacts of the project would be loss of wetlands and non-wetland
habitat areas. It is estimated that approximately 75 acres of wetland will be lost, primarily in
the area of the reservoir inlet and at the heads of tributary gulches. Roughly 600 acres of non-
wetland habitat, mainly for deer, elk and sage grouse, would also be lost. This habitat is
predominately sagebrush shrubland used as winter range.
S-9