C150307 Final Supplimental Impact Statement

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Refined Alternative 4 Refined Alternative 4 includes both structural and non-structural elements designed to achieve the fundamental purpose of securing the Colorado Ute Tribes an assured water supply in satisfaction of their water rights as determined by the 1986 Settlement Agreement and the 1988 Settlement Act and by providing for identified M&I water needs in the project area. Refined Alternative 4 includes measures to mitigate fish and wildlife,wetlands, and cultural resource impacts. The structural component of Refined Alternative 4 would include an off-stream storage reservoir at Ridges Basin with an active capacity of approximately 90,000 af(approximately 120,000 af total capacity), a pumping plant with a pumping capacity of up to 280 cubic feet per second(cfs); a reservoir inlet conduit(all designed to pump and store water from the Animas River); and the NNMP to transport treated municipal water to the Shiprock area,New Mexico. Consumptive use of water from the structural portion of the project would be restricted to M&I uses only and would be allocated as shown in Table ES-1. Under this allocation,the Colorado Ute Tribes would still be approximately 13,000 af short of the total quantity of depletion recognized in the Settlement Agreement. Therefore,the non-structural component of the project would establish a$40 million water acquisition fund which the Colorado Ute Tribes could use on a discretionary basis to purchase land to satisfy non-structural water rights(approximately 13,000 afy). To provide flexibility in the use of the fund,authorization from the US Department of Interior to the Colorado Ute Tribes would allow some or all of the funds to be redirected for on-farm development, water delivery infrastructure,or for water-related economic development activities. The primary source of the water for the structural portion of Refined Alternative 4 is the Animas River. The water supply for the non-structural component would include the Pine,Florida,Animas, La Plata, Mancos and Dolores Rivers and McElmo Creek. The supply could be developed from existing uses within each basin,with the associated historic shortages, so that no additional water would be needed to meet the demands of the non-structural components. For Refined Alternative 4,it is estimated that the purchase of about 10,300 acres of irrigated land, distributed in four river basins,could be necessary to obtain the 13,000 afy of depletion described as part of the water acquisition fund. The acreage could be distributed among the four basins approximately in this manner: ❑ Pine River Basin-Purchase 2,300 acres of land and leave the water on the land. ❑ La Plata River Basin-Purchase 2,300 acres of land and leave the water on the land. ❑ Animas/Florida River Basins-Purchase 2,300 acres of land and leave the water on the land. ❑ Mancos River Basin-Purchase 3,300 acres of land and leave water on the land. Refined Alternative 6 Refined Alternative 6 proposes that water rights under the Settlement Act be obtained through (1)augmentation and the coordinated operation of existing federal projects in the area proximal to the Colorado Ute Tribal reservations; and(2)purchase of water rights on irrigated agricultural lands; or(3)a combination of both. Other elements of Refined Alternative 6 include the NNMP and measures to avoid impacting wetlands as a result of purchases of water and transferring it to M&I use. Refined Alternative 6 has been modified to the equivalency of the depletion amounts in Refined Alternative 4 in order to ES-7