BOARD01421

• Board Meeting Date: 9/13/2005
• Description: WSP Section - Aspinall EIS - No Action Alternative Discussion
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Cooperating agencies have met with the USBR regularly since November 2004 to discuss
topics including the following:

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. Roles of lead agency and cooperating agencies
. Summary of Notice of Intent and purpose and need
. General EIS Schedule
. Scoping Resulls
. Hydrologic Modeling
. Public Involvement
. Discussion ofEIS No Action Alternalive and ESA environmental baseline
. Initial Ideas on alternatives

Recent discussions have focused on the No Action Alternative, ils definition, and which
current or future Aspinall operations should be included. It is clear from these
discussions that several fundamental and potentially controversial issues must be
addressed prior to development ofthe No Action Alternative and reasonable Action
Alternatives.

The most recent draft description of the No Action Allernative from the USBR is
included as attachment A at the end of this memo. Suggested changes bv CWCB staff
are highlighted in red. CWCB staff wishes to inform the Board of key issues and
requests their consideration of these matters.

Discussion of Sil!nificant Issues

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1. Authorized purposes ofthe Aspinall Unit

The Aspinall Unit was authorized by the 1956 Colorado River Storage Project
(CRSP) Act. The 1956 Colorado River Storage Project Act (the "CRSP") provides:

In order to initiate the comprehensive development of the water resources of
the Upper Colorado River BasinJor the purposes, among others, of
regulating the flow of the Colorado River, storing water for beneficial
consumptive use, making it possible for the States of the Upper Basin to
utilize, consistently with the provisions of the Colorado River Compact, the
apportionments made to and among them in the Colorado River Compact and
the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, respectively, providingfor the
reclamation of arid and semiarid land, for the control of floods, and for the
generation of hydroelectric power, as an incident of the foregoing purposes,
the Secretary of the Interior is authorized (I) to construct, operate, and
maintain the following initial units of the Colorado River storage project,
consisting of dams, reservoirs, power plants, transmission facilities and
appurtenant works: Wayne N. Aspinall, Flaming Gorge, Navajo (dam and
reservoir only), and Glen Canyon. . . .

The 1956 CRSP Act also provides in Section 8:

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Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Financing. Stream and lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation Planning