FLOOD02168

• County: Gunnison
• Community: Uncompahgre Valley
• Basin: Gunnison
• Title: Uncompahgre Valley Reclamation Project - Hydropower - Part 4 - Scoping Report Gunnison River Contract
• Date: 1/1/1990
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Project

SCOPING REPORT
GUNNISON RIVER CONTRACT

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1

A. Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1
B. Historic Operation of the Aspinall Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2
C. Proposed Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4
D. Goals of the Proposed Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4
E. Lead and Cooperating Agencies ............................ 5

CHAPTER 2. INITIAL SCOPING PROCESS .............. . . . . . . . . . . .. 6
A. PUlJlOse of Scoping . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. .. ... 6
B. Initial Informational and Scoping Meetings ..................... 6
C. Letters of Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 7
D. Analysis of Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8

E. Newsletter............... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8

CHAPTER 3. SCOPE OF NEPA ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9
Preliminary Outline for a NEPA Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9

CHAPTER 4. SCOPE OF ISSUES AND CONCERNS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11

I. INTRODUCTION ................... 11

A. Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Item 1. Historic/Current Operation of the Aspinall Unit . . . . . . .. 11
Item 2. Aspinall Unit PulJlOses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Item 3. Black Canyon and Curecanti PulJlOses and Resources .... 14
Item 4. Gunnison Gorge Resources .................... 15
Item 5. Colorado's Interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Item 6. Endangered Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 17
B. Need for and Purpose of Action ............................ 18

n. ALTERNATIVES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
A. Formulation of Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Item 7. Compatibility with Federal and State Laws . . . . . . . . . .. 18
Item 8. Accountability: Meet and Balance Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Item 9. Release Priorities, Quantities, and Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Item 10. Colorado's Compact Entitlement ...... . . . . . . . . . . . 21
B. Alternatives Considered ................................. 22
Item 11. Alternatives to Consider ...................... 22
C. Comparative Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Item 12. Evaluation CriterialMethods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

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