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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br />irrigated lands, bringing the total to 11 blocks within the project. Every block is divided <br />into fields, or water-delivery units, with access roads and individual sprinkler systems. <br />Water for the irrigation activities will be brought from Navajo Reservoir on the San Juan <br />River through tunnels, siphons, open concrete-lined canals, and pipelines. All of the <br />infrastructure to deliver the water from Navajo Dam to the project boundary is sized for <br />full development and is in place. Completion of NIIP will require further development. <br />and expansion of water delivery systems within the project itself. One pumping plant <br />(Kutz) exists to lift the water from the main delivery network to open laterals to the <br />fields. Completion of NIIP will require the addition of two more pumping plants, <br />Gallegos and Moncisco. One regulating reservoir will be required to meet peak irrigation <br />demand during the summer when the total irrigated area exceeds about 97,000 acres. <br />Two alternative sites have been selected and are under investigation for feasibility. The <br />active storage requirement for either reservoir option is 7,735 af; either dam would be a <br />zoned earth embankment dam with concrete spillway. <br /> <br />The acreage through Block 8 that will be completed and in full operation by 2002 totals <br />76,481 acres. The currently authorized depletion for these first eight blocks is 149,420 <br />acre-feet (af), requiring 8,000 acres of conservation reserve and additional conservation <br />measures for irrigation of all acreage in the first eight blocks. Included in the 149,420 <br />af depletion allowance is 16,420 af of depletion transferred from other Navajo Nation <br />projects to the NIIP. Completion of NIIP will result in agricultural development of <br />110,630 acres. Future planning excludes conservation acreage and plans for full <br />irrigation on the aggregate 110,630 acres. Hence, the current proposed action is to <br />fully develop the agricultural lands within NIIP, removing the acreage restrictions of the <br />previous consultation. This action will increase annual depletions from the San Juan <br />River by about 120,580 af on average under equilibrium conditions and by about 137, <br />580 af on average until return flows reach equilibrium. This depletion will require an <br />average annual diversion of about 337,500 af. <br /> <br />The proposal for full development of NIIP also includes project elements designed to <br />support the recovery of the endangered Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker. In <br />1998, three fish rearing ponds were constructed within the boundaries of NIIP. Ojo <br />Pond was constructed to accommodate up to 1 O,OOO.early life stage razorback suckers <br />transferred from the Lower Colorado River. The pond is used for rearing of these fish to <br />a size suitable for stocking in the San Juan River as part of the razorback sucker <br />augmentation plan of the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program. The pond <br />has a surface area of about 2.4 acres. It was constructed by raising an existing earthen <br />dam on a tributary of Ojo Amarillo that collects seepage and runoff water from NIIP <br />lands. The shallow areas were deepened, a fish screen was installed and a boat ramp <br />constructed to facilitate fish harvest. The water level can be lowered by about 2.0 feet <br />for harvesting fish by removing flash boards in the outlet structure. Avocet Ponds were <br />also constructed in 1998 but have not yet received fish. The 2-cell configuration <br />covers a total area of about 7.5 acres. Water is supplied from a turnout on the NIIP <br />water supply system. Each cell can be filled independently and each has an emergency <br />overflow. Each cell has the capacity of at least 10,000 fish. Water levels will be <br />maintained by releases from the NIIP water supply system with water requirements a <br /> <br />'. <br />