C153642 Feasibility Study - Laserfiche WebLink

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Introduction As originally decreed, the Juniper project would include Juniper Reservoir, the Deadman Bench Canal, and a hydropower plant at the reservoir outlet. The Canal would deliver irrigation water to lands to the west in Colorado and Utah. River District has maintained due diligence on the Juniper water rights and has supported planning studies for the project since the water rights were granted. Because of its location relatively low in the basin, its relatively senior water rights priority, and the magnitude of its potential water rights call (or "draft") on the river, the Juniper project water rights are generally considered to be the controlling water rights in the basin. It has been estimated that roughly one-third of the current consumptive use in the basin occurs under water rights junior to the Juniper project rights. In a 1989 study for TNC, the potential draft of the Juniper rights was estimated to be 862,000 afper year, or nearly 75% of the annual flow of the river at the nearby MaybeIl gage (Wheeler, 1989). Thus the development of the Juniper project would have the potential to severely constrain both existing and future water uses in the basin. In recognition of this fact, River District entered into a number of agreements with water users in the basin subordinating the priority of the Juniper rights to their junior water rights and uses; one of these agreements stipulated that the Juniper rights would not place a call until upstream depletions under junior water rights exceeded 65,000 af. Largely due to economic considerations and the increasing complexity of environmental permitting, the Juniper project has not proceeded to design and construction. The Endangered Fishes For millions of years the Colorado River has been isolated from neighboring river basins. Over this time, unique species of fIshes evolved in adaptation to the wildly fluctuating and turbid flows of the uncontroIled river that existed before the settlement of the West. As a result, the Colorado River basin has a higher proportion of unique native fish species than any other river basin in North America (Behnke and Benson, 1980). With the settlement of the West came watershed modification and dam construction. Riverbanks were cleared of vegetation, grazing reduced the vegetative cover of vast areas of land, and the fluctuating and turbid flows of the river were harnessed in placid reservoirs releasing clear and cold streams. At the same time more than 30 non-native fish species, such as bass and pike, were introduced into the river basin for food and sport fishing purposes, The modification of the historical river environment and the competition and predation of non- native fishes lead to a decline in the populations of the native species. While all thirteen native species are still known to exist, four have been listed by the Federal government as endangered and are protected under the Endangered Species Act. The listed species are the Colorado River squawfish, the humpback chub, the bonytail chub, and the razorback sucker. The Recovery Program In January of 1988, the Secretary of the Interior signed a cooperative agreement with the Western Area Power Administration and the governors of the three Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming to implement a plan for the recovery of the endangered fishes in the upper Colorado River basin. This agreement was the product of years of difficult negotiations between state and federal agencies, water development interests, and environmental organizations. It provides for the implementation of a broad range of measures for protection and recovery of the listed species, including habitat management, habitat development and maintenance, stocking of native species, managment of non-native species, and ongoing research. 1-5