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<br />/ ~ 13 <br /> <br />..,J <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Draft <br /> <br />September, 2005 <br />No Action Alternative and Existing Conditions Description for NEP A document <br />Environmental Baseline for ESA consultation <br />Aspinall Unit Operations EIS <br /> <br />I. No Action Alternative <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The No Action Alternative represents a projection of current operating practices to the <br />most reasonable future conditions that would occur €lllRng the life 8fllle Jlr€lje8t without <br />any action alternatives being implemented, The No Action Alternative should not <br />automatically be considered to be the same as the existing conditions, since reasonably <br />foreseeable future actions may Iw tabIl take place whether or not any of the project <br />action alternatives are chosen and because the environment is not static and <br />environmental consequences would still occur, The No Action alternative is the basis to <br />which all other alternatives are compared in the NEP A document. <br /> <br />Under the No Action alternative, elements of the Recovery Program would continue--for <br />example, stocking of endangered fish, non-native fish control, operation of the Redlands <br />Fish Ladder and Screen, management of backwaters, and monitoring. However, altering <br />operations of the Aspinall Unit to assist in meeting the 2003 Flow Recommendations for <br />endangered fish in the Gunnison and Colorado rivers would not be made. <br /> <br />In the EIS there will be a narrative explanation of how Aspinall Unit operations evolved <br />to their present conditions (this narrative could be in the description of existing <br />conditions section ofthe EIS). For example the history of increasing minimum flows in <br />the Black Canyon from 200 cfs to 300 cfs and the flow changes over the years related to <br />hydropower operations could be discussed, The need, based on Compacts, to allow the <br />majority of the Colorado River Basin flows originating in Colorado to remain in the <br />river and pass downstream will be explained. Water rights, litigation, and other <br />factors that may affect operations will also be discussed. <br /> <br />I <br />