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<br />- <br />..... <br />.:\1 <br />,,., <br />C'J <br /> <br />CHAPTER IV <br /> <br />PLAN FORMULATION <br /> <br />supply water for the C-a oil shale tract and related municipal purposes. <br />The site is also being investigated under private development plans as <br />explained in Chapter I. This basin could contain a reservoir of up to <br />400,000 acre-feet, but the capacity under study is 138,000 acre-feet. <br />Yellow Creek is an intermittent stream with very little flow; hence, a <br />feeder system requiring a 350-foot pump lift, a tunnel, and a pipeline <br />would be required to deliver water from the White River. A reservoir <br />at the site would provide a good warm-water recreation lake in a desert <br />area. Environmental benefits of using the site come from the fact that <br />White River would not be obstructed and no irrigated land would be lost. <br /> <br />There are a few negative aspects to the use of the site. There is <br />concern among geologists that the depth to bedrock at the dam axis may <br />be great, resulting in high foundation costs. There would be some deer <br />winter range loss. Occasional flash floods in Yellow Creek would deposit <br />large amounts of sediment in the reservoir. <br /> <br />Thornburgh site <br /> <br />A reservoir on Milk Creek, approximately 18 miles northeast of <br />Meeker, was proposed in both the 1968 and 1972 Feasibility Reports. This <br />is still considered to be the only adequate reservoir basin to serve the <br />Milk Creek area. The site has a potential capacity of 36,000 acre-feet. <br />The dam site is in a narrow canyon with favorable geology for construction. <br /> <br />A reservoir at the site is not considered to have a high potential <br />for recreation because of its inaccessibility and relative lack of <br />scenery. Some objection to the inundation of this basin has been raised <br />by historians because it is the site of the Thornburgh Massacre of 1879. <br /> <br />Reservoir site selection <br /> <br />After reviewing all of the possible storage sites, the MOP team has <br />selected two as being the most desirable for fulfilling the needs of the <br />Yellow Jacket Project area. As mentioned above, the Thornburgh site is <br />the only adequate site to serve the Milk Creek Segment. Environmental, <br />economic, and suitable location aspects combine to make the Lake Avery <br />enlargement the most attractive storage site for the White River Segment. <br />The team believes that a reservoir at this site would have less detri- <br />mental effects on wildlife than at the Ripple or Lost Park sites. It <br />would not interfere with the free flow of the White River as it would at <br />the Ripple, Buford, or Powell Park sites. It would more adequately serve <br />all project purposes than any of the other sites, and the relationship of <br />benefits to costs would be favorable. <br /> <br />34 <br />