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.-f C' '" -i CHAPTER III OHIO CREEK UNIT Plan of Development The Ohio Creek Unit would develop 4,000 acre-feet of water annually from the Gunnison River for the city of Gunnison and adjacent rural areas to meet lIlUnicipal and domestic requirements discussed on page ll. The water would be diverted into the Gunnison Municipal and Domestic Pipeline about 1 mile below Almont for conveyance to the city and to intermediate delivery points. Treatment, terminal storage, and distribution of the municipal and domestic water would be the responsibility of the water users. The only construction feature of the unit would be the Gunnison Pipe- line. It would be a buried concrete structure 7.2 miles long and with a capacity of 12 cubic feet per second. It would head at a drop inlet struc- ture on the river. Turnouts for water users would be provided along the route. About 45 acres of irrigated private land would be required for rights-of -ways. As discussed on page 16, the Ohio Creek Unit would share the operation and maintenance headquarters at Gunnison with any other units of the proj- ect that might be constructed. Development Program Federal development of the Ohio Creek Unit would require 4 years, including a year of advance planning studies. The Gunnison Pipeline would require a construction period of 31 months, following a 5-month precon- struction period. Permanent operating facilities would be constructed in the fourth year, Stream Depletion The flows of the Colorado River system would be depleted by an aver- age of 1,400 acre-feet annually as a result of development of the Ohio Creek Unit. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the salinity increase at Lake Mead as a result of the unit would be slightly greater than 0.2 milligram per liter. It estimates the economic impact of the increase to water users below Lake Mead at $15,000 annually based on 1972 prices. 18