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I I I I I I I I I I I I I ( , \ OOD8~J 1.2 NEED FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT AND MONITORING PLAN This document supplements the 2000 FSEIS by providing a plan to avoid impacts where possible and to mitigate impacts that will result from the construction and operation of the ALP Project. A monitoring program will be used to evaluate impacts from construction and operation of the project and to evaluate effectiveness of avoidance and mitigation measures. Reclamation will continue to refine this plan with the assistance and cooperation of other federal and state agencies, Tribes, and interest groups as project design and construction proceeds and the ALP Project moves into operation. The objective is to formulate, refine and implement avoidance measures and to develop a mitigation plan and monitoring program that is defensible and supported by all concerned parties. Also, the purpose of the plan is to provide a level of detail necessary to illustrate compliance with ALP Project environmental commitments made in the 2000 FSEIS. Implementing the avoidance/minimization and compensatory mitigation measures and monitoring will occur concurrently with the construction of Project facilities as well as refinements in Project operation and will be implemented by Reclamation or Reclamation will require their implementation by the construction contractors, management authorities, or third- party developers. These measures and monitoring are discussed in greater depth in Chapter 2, A schedule for implementing the avoidance/minimization and/or compensatory mitigation measures and monitoring plans, tiered from the construction and operation of the Project, is provided in Chapter 3 of this document. This schedule will continue to be updated as construction proceeds. Avoidance/minimization measures involve understanding the resource to be protected and using the flexibility in the Project to avoid impacting that resource whenever possible. A voidance/minimization measures are provided for specific actions that will occur under each phase of project development and operation, Compensatory mitigation includes development, restoration and enhancement as well as preservation and protection measures. In general, compensatory mitigation measures for natural resources are based on a holistic ecosystem approach. Wherever practicable, plans will incorporate measures that will benefit multiple resources, The primary purpose of the monitoring program is to evaluate the impacts of the ALP Project and to evaluate the effectiveness of avoidance/minimization and/or compensatory mitigation measures, If the monitoring program indicates impacts other than anticipated, Reclamation will modify its environmental commitments accordingly. This environmental commitment and monitoring plan addresses those drainages that will be affected by the Project, including the Animas and the La Plata Rivers. The plan also addresses monitoring of the construction and operation of Project features including Ridges Basin Reservoir, Durango Pumping Plant and Inlet Conduit, Navajo Nation Municipal Pipeline and the wetland/riparian and upland mitigation areas, If monitoring indicates the need for additional avoidance/minimization and compensatory mitigation measures, some possible measures are included in this plan, 4