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<br />AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA <br />. . <br />. . <br />. . <br /> <br />\\ /1 Animas-la Plata Project <br /> <br />. . <br />. . <br /> <br />Volume 5 U,$, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation April 2001 <br />TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT <br /> <br />Final Supplemental EIS Released <br /> <br /> <br />Aerial view of the <br />site for the Durango <br />Pumping Plant, with <br />Ridges Basin in <br />the background. <br /> <br />O nJuly 14, 2000, the Department of the <br />Interior (Interior), through the Bureau of <br />Reclamation (Reclamation), and in cooperation <br />with the US Environmental Protection Agency <br />(EPA), and tlte Ute Mountain Ute and Southern <br />Ute Indian Tribes (Colorado Ute Tribes), released <br />a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact <br />Statement (FSEIS) for the Animas-La Plata <br /> <br />Project (ALP Project). The FSEIS evaluated the <br />potential impacts oiimplementing the Colorado <br />Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988 <br />(PL 100-585) in order to provide the Colorado <br />Ute Tribes an assured long-term water supply in <br />order to satisfy their senior water rights claims. <br />The FSEIS responded to comments made by the <br />public, agencies and stakeholders on the Draft <br />Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement <br />(OSEIS) which had been released in January <br />The FSEIS also supplemented the environmental <br />documents prepared by Reclamation in 1980 <br />and 1996 for the ALP Project, as well as provide <br />an environmental evaluation for the <br />Administration, other involved parties and the <br />public in reaching a final settlement of the water <br />rights claims of the C;:olorado Ute Tribes. <br />A Notice of Availability (NOA) of the FSEIS <br />was published in the Federal Register on July 14, <br />2000, and a "stand-alone" summary of the A-LP <br />Project FSEIS was mailed to over 800 individ- <br />uals, agencies, and organizations on the A-LP <br />mailing list. The FSEIS is also available on th~ <br />Internet at http://wwwuc.usbr.gov under the <br />Environmental Studies; Summaries & <br />Reports link. <br /> <br />Record of Decision Executed <br /> <br />SecretaIY of the Interior Bruce Babbitt executed <br />a ROD on September 25, 2000 which defined a <br />course of action to implement the 1988 <br />Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement <br />Act and resolve the status of the ALP Project. <br />The ROD adopted the Bureau of Reclamation's <br /> <br />1 <br />---' <br /> <br />recommended alternative, Refined Alternative <br />4. This alternative is a scaled-down ALP project <br />which would involve construction and <br />operation of a 120,000 acre-foot off-stream <br />reservoir at Ridges Basin, a pumping plant on <br />continued on page 2 <br /> <br />i <br />