FLOOD02242

• County: Gunnison
• Community: Uncompahgre Valley
• Basin: Gunnison
• Title: Uncompahgre Valley Reclamation Project - Hydropower - Part 1 - Final Environmental Impact Statement
• Date: 8/28/1990
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Project

SUMMARY

The purpose of this final environmental impact statement (FEIS)
is to present the environmental impacts that would occur if any
of the alternatives of the AS Lateral Hydropower Facility
(facility) were constructed and operated. The facility would be
funded, built, and operated by the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users
Association (UVWUA) and Montrose Partners (jointly referred to as
the "Sponsors"). These groups plan to construct the facility
using existing features of the Uncompahgre Valley Reclamation
Project (UVRP), a U.S. Department of the Interior (USDI) Bureau
of Reclamation (Reclamation) irrigation project. They are
seeking a lease of power privilege (contract) with Reclamation
that would permit using facilities of the UVRP.

The Uncompahgre Valley Reclamation Project (originally called the
Gunnison Project) was authorized by the Secretary of the Interior
on March 14, 1903, under the provisions of the Reclamation Act.
Rehabilitation of the project and construction of the Taylor Park
Dam was approved by the President on November 6, 1935. Hydro-
power development in association with the UVRP was authorized by
the Act of June 22, 1938 (Public Law 75-698, Stat. 941).

The purpose of the facility, located in Montrose County,
Colorado, is to economically develop the energy potential of
water flows from the Gunnison River through the Gunnison Tunnel
(Tunnel) to the Uncompahgre River (see figures 5-1 through 5-3) .
The large difference in elevations between the Tunnel and the
Uncompahgre River creates the potential for hydropower
production. Power from the proposed facility would be sold to
local utilities. For the first 15 years of project operation,
capacity and energy would be sold to the Public Service Company
of Colorado. After that period, a different power sales
agreement would be arranged.

During the winter, the Tunnel is currently used to meet only
small water supply needs. The AS Lateral Project would, subject
to guaranteed minimum flows in the Gunnison and other senior
water rights, divert between 950 and 1,135 cubic feet per second
(ft3/s) of flows for power purposes; this water would then be
returned to the Gunnison River at Delta. During the summer, the
AS Lateral Facility would use water already being diverted from
the Gunnison River for irrigation purposes. Water would flow
through the powerplant, would fill canals downstream of Montrose,
and then would be returned to the Gunnison River at Delta.
Additional diversions would be made for power operations when
irrigation demands were low (e.g., wet, high flow periods).

The developers cite the following needs for the proposed
hydropower facility: (1) generating electrical power;
(2) developing a renewable resource; (3) improving the existing
irrigation system of the UVRP; and (4) enhancing the UVWUA's
revenues for debt retirement and system improvement.

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