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J DOMI~.qUEZ Location: Wesl-cenlral Colorado in Delta and Mesa Counties. between the cities 01 Grand Junction and Delta. Sponsors: Mesa County Dominguez Reservoir Advisory Council, Grand Junction and Delta Chambers 01 Commerce. Primary Purpose of the Project Peaking and Conventional Hydroelectric Power. Secondary Benefits: Municipal and Industrial waler development: Recreation: Fish and Wildlife enhancement; Cultural Resource Protec- tion and Water Quality ImprOllement. History and Background: Regulation and storage of Gunnison River lIows in the canyon south of the city 01 Grand Junction have been considered for many years. A report prepared in 1946 included a proposed Whilewater Reservoir as part of the Cisco.Thompson Project. The damsite for this early plan was on the Gunnison River about 6 miles above its confluence with the Colorado River This reservoir would have had a capacity of about 1.5 million acre-feet and would have supplied irrigation water to more than 90,000 acres and produced 18 megawalls of power It would, however, have inundated the town of Whitewater and the stretch of Colorado Highway 141 which now passes through Unaweep Canyon. In December 1950, a report recommendedtheWhitewater Unit as one of five major project units, and would have included an aao,DOO-acre.foot impoundment known as Bridgeport Dam and Reservoir, about 2 miles south of the town of Whitewater. The project would have provided long.term storage, irrigation flows, and 48 MG of power produced by three generators The normal water surface elevation would have required construction of three dikes along the east side of the reservoir to prevent flooding 01 the area where Highway 50 now exists. In the final Commissioner's report dated December 1950. the nameol the site was changed to Whitewater Dam and Reservoir. This site was later to become the Dominguez Damsite, although it was changed slightly in 1978toavold a surface slide area on the lelt abutment (moved 700 feet farther downstream). The Gunnison River ProJecl Reconnaissance Report 01 1951 included plans almost identical to Whitewater Dam. except that this proposal would have provided water for irrigation in the Whitewaler and Kanna Creek areas, as well as power and storage In the early 1970.s, a smaller reservoir known as Dom inguez lake was proposed as part of the Uncom- pahgre Project ImprOvement and Extension Project. Con- gress later divided the prOJect into the Uncompahgre Improvement Project and the Dominguez Reservoir Pro- ject (the extension portiOn). The present investigation of the Dominguez Reservoir PrOject was authorized by the Water Resource Developments. Feasibility Studies Act of OctOber 27, 1972, (Public law 92-Sn). Feasibility investigations were initiated in January 1975 with the formation of the multiobjective planning (MOP) team. The team has studied a multItude of alternatives in the planning process. These alternatives will be presented in the feasibility report and the environmental impact statement. The alternatives to be covered include No Development. the Non-Structural Plan, the Environmental Quality EmphaSis Plan, the Environmental Development Emphasis Plan, several other structural plans, and the recommended plan The Feasibility Report is scheduled for mid-calendar year 1981 The Draft Environmental Impact Statement and public meeting are due lale calen- dar year 1981. and the Final Environmental Impact Statement in mid-calendar year 1982. The recommended plan considers both economic development and environmental values_ Two dams. two reservoirs, and two powerplants would be constructed tor power generation. Dominguez Reservoir, the larger of the two. would provide water for municipal and industrial use, with some recreational development of both the reservoir and the river below. The plan would provide lor preserva- tion and enhancement of fish and wildlife potential above and below Ihe reservoir and for preservation of cultural resources and scenic values of the area. (Continued on next page} II I 2