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4 <br /> PROJECT PROPOSAL and SCOrr <br /> PROJECT—Bull Creek 2012 Wetlands Monitoring <br /> GRANT RECIPIENT—Bull Creek Reservoir, Canal, and Power Company <br /> FUNDING SOURCE— Severance Tax Trust fund Operational Account <br /> TOTAL PROJECT COST - $33,500 <br /> CWCB APPROVED FUNDING - $16,700 (approved by CWCB on March 21, 2012) <br /> INTRODUCTION <br /> This project will be a joint effort of Bull Creek Reservoir Company (BCRC)and NatureTech Consultant <br /> Services Corp (NTCS). <br /> BACKGROUND <br /> The Grand Mesa in western Colorado supports over 350 natural lakes and reservoirs. These water <br /> resources are protected under the Clean Water Act administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and <br /> many are located on U. S. Forest Service lands. Permits from both agencies (as well as other Federal, <br /> state, and local agencies) are usually required for work on or around these lakes and reservoirs. During <br /> the summer of 2010, BCRC completed construction on Bull Creek Reservoir#4 and was authorized to fill <br /> the reservoir under their original 404 permit. The final permit conditions stipulated that for the first 3 <br /> years of reservoir filling monitoring was to be done to assess the potential effects of periodic inundation <br /> on wetlands and fens associated within and adjacent to the reservoir basin. Working with NTCS and <br /> Westwater Engineering, BCRC began the monitoring work in 2010 by laying out the study area <br /> (transects) and gathering baseline data for the wetland values in the reservoir basin. In 2011 the first year <br /> of monitoring and reporting was done. Study protocols were established, followed by multiple site visits <br /> by the Project Manager and a team of technicians who gathered data pertaining to wetlands and fens <br /> values. When the field work was done the data was analyzed and compiled in a collection of reports <br /> submitted to the USACE and the CWCB. It is expected that the information collected at the Bull Creek <br /> Reservoir#4 site will be used to develop future monitoring requirements and management <br /> recommendations for other water development projects on the Grand Mesa. <br /> OBJECTIVES <br /> The overall project objective is to assess what if any effects are associated with the periodic inundation of <br /> the wetlands and fens that exist within the Bull Creek Reservoir#4 reservoir basin. The first purpose will <br /> be to meet the monitoring requirements identified in the BCRC's special permit conditions, but the larger <br /> purpose is to implement developed monitoring protocols that may become the standard requirements for <br /> other water development projects on the Grand Mesa. A Grand Mesa irrigation company with a pending <br /> reservoir project is already using Bull Creek study results in its planning. <br /> TASK DESCRIPTION—Field Observation and Data Collection <br /> This task will consist of site visits by the Project Manager and a staff of technicians who will observe and <br /> document changes in vegetation composition, foliar cover and frequency as outlined in the monitoring <br /> requirements on file with U. S. Army Corps of Engineers in Grand Junction, Colorado. <br />