WSP04839 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 306t Regional Director, Bureau of Reclamation Page 2 On January 21, 1982, your agency issued a public notice to inform affected Federal and State agencies that preconstruction activities were being initiated on the Narrows Unit, Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, in compliance with a 1981 directive from the House Appropriations Committee. Preconstruct ion work was to consist of " . . . geologic evaluation, including site drilling, review and supplement if necessary the environmental statement prepared May 14, 1976, and to update the design and cost estimate for all project features." In a February 8, 1982, memorandum to the Bureau of Reclamation, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) recommended that the project area be reevaluated using the FWS 1980 Habitat Evaluation Procedures. The Narrows Unit is an authorized multiple-purpose water resource project located on the South Platte River in northeastern Colorado. Authorized project purposes include supplemental irrigation, flood control, recreation, fish and wildlife enhancement, highway improvement and potential municipal and industrial water supplies. Fish and wildlife enhancement features authorized with the project include a State managed fish hatchery and the rehabilitation of Jackson Dam and stabilization of Jackson Reservoir for recreation and fish and wildlife purposes. The main feature of the project, Narrows Dam, would be located on the South Platte River about 7 miles northwest of the Town of Fort Morgan, Colorado. The dam would be about 133 feet high, have a length of about 18,000 feet and a crest width of 30 feet. The minimum pool would contain 50,000 acre- feet of water and have a surface area of 3,631 acres. The conservation pool would contain 373,000 acre-feet and have a surface area of 13,189 acres. The flood control and surcharge pools would contain 233,000 and 444,000 acre-feet and have surface areas of 18,259 and 27,628 acres respectfully. Existing canals and distribution systems would be used to distribute the water. Our reanalysis of project effects on fish and wildlife resources focused on two areas: 1) the amount of fish and wildlife habitat impacted by the project and required compensation to mitigate that loss; and 2) a reevaluation of fish and wildlife benefits expected from the project. During the spring and summer of 1982, biologists from our respective staffs as well as the Colorado Division of Wildlife, conducted a study of the Narrows Reservoir atea using the FWS Habitat Evaluation Procedures (REP). Purpose of the study was to determine (1) the relative value of the study area for various evaluation species of terrestrial wildlife; (2) impacts to wildlife habitat in the project area; and (3) land require- ments necessary to compensate the losses. Results of the study are dis- cussed in detail in the attached substantiating report and are summarized below. Data obtained from your agency indicated that the land requirements for the project totaled 25,742 acres. Results of the HEP analysis indicate that to compensate for the habitat losses resulting from the construction and operation of the project, 30,151 acres of land and water area would have to be managed intenSively for wildlife purposes.. The following table indicates the. recommended compensation for the various land use areas.