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<br />oo15UO <br /> <br />Alternatives, Including Proposed Action <br /> <br />2-30 <br /> <br />"'; ,. <br /> <br />lining of the AB Lateral (see the PElS for more details). The Site would be within the <br />existing Uncompahgre River floodplain and would be monitored throughout the life of <br />the project (UVWUA and Montrose Partners Ltd,. 1996). <br /> <br />The COE, EP A, and FWS indicated the need for this mitigation site to replace wetlands <br />unavoidably lost due to bank stabilization. These agencies either recommended or <br />approved use of the COE's WET-2 computer model to identify lost wetland functions and <br />values and to help design a mitigation site that would compensate for these losses. <br /> <br />WET-2 model data were based upon field delineations of riparian wetlands conducted <br />during 1989. The model tabulated functions and values of those wetland types observed <br />on the river and allowed for various mitigation-site designs. Ultimately, a mitigation site <br />composed of 27 percent low prairie, 9 percent sedge marsh, 18 percent willow emergent <br />marsh, and 45 percent open/emergent marsh was recommended and approved. This <br />balance replaced functions and values potentially lost by stabilizing banks of the <br />Uncompahgre River. <br /> <br />The proposed mitigation site is within the existing Uncompahgre River floodplain, on <br />land already owned by the Sponsors, It is adjacent to bank protection sites 47, 48, and 49, <br />which represent about 25 percent of all stabilization-related wetland impacts. Water <br />supply will be from existing groundwater, with supplemental supplies available frorn the <br />Uncompahgre River or the project's tailrace. The proposed site, 12 acres in size with <br />8 acres initially devoted to compensating for stabilization impacts, was approved in the <br />Reclamation's Record of Decision (1991), Although bank stabilization impacts are now <br />known to be substantially less than 8 acres, the Sponsors still propose to retain the site in <br />its approved form and allocate excess wetlands to impacts associated with stream <br />widening. <br /> <br />The proposed mitigation site would be designed in accordance with current US <br />Department of Interior procedures for ponds located within the 50-year flood plain. <br /> <br />2.4.5.4 Access <br /> <br />Binding rights of access to mitigation sites will be secured prior to commencement of <br />project construction. Such rights may be in the form of options, conservation restrictions, <br />conservation easements, or fee purchases. <br /> <br />2.4.6 <br /> <br />Monitoring and Maintenance <br /> <br />The plan includes two major monitoring programs, bank stabilization and wetlands <br />replacement, to mitigate potential impacts of the proposed project on the Uncompahgre <br />River. To ensure success of these programs, the Sponsors have also committed to an <br />extensive program of monitoring and maintenance of these sites. The Sponsors will also <br />monitor wetlands and riparian vegetation on the river as a whole, as well as channel <br />impacts in separate monitoring plans. <br /> <br />AB Lateral Hydropower Project <br /> <br />July 2000 <br /> <br />. ~ <br /> <br />.' -~ <br /> <br />. , "-'. ~. '-" <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />~"", <br />