WSP07117 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

m 00 .....c C> --:.1 D Chapter III AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES because of potential accidents and increased maintenance costs. Recreational use often results in increased litter, vandalism, and road damage. Impacts Conditions under the no-action alternative are expected to reflect current trends. Current unauthorized recreational use of the Price and Stubb Ditches, and their access roads, will probably increase as the area's population and demand for recreational facilities increases. Changes in recreational use of wildlife (user-days) is a function of access on private property rather than availability, and is therefore an unreliable impact assessment tool. For this reason, and the safety concerns identified above, hunting is not considered a major recreational activity for the immediate project area. No recreational plans for the Price and Stubb Ditches are included as part of the proposed salinity control project. The project would not preclude future recreational development. If alternative recreational facilities are not developed at the eastern end of the Grand Valley to accommodate traffic-free use by joggers and bicycle enthusiasts, use of the Price and Stubb Ditches' maintenance roads will continue, and probably increase as the area's population increases. The replacement of the Stubb Ditch by a buried pipeline should increase the public's safety during periods of unauthorized use, as would the placement of fencing along dangerous sections of both ditch rights-of-ways and as discussed in chapter II, Safety Features. The proposed project developments would not adversely impact current unauthorized recreational use of ditch maintenance roads. Development of the ditches' maintenance roads as a recreational resource by a city, Mesa County, or the State would remain open, provided that water users and landowners were relieved of liability and maintenance problems of such use. Such arrangements are however, beyond Reclamation's role in the proposed salinity project. However, Reclamation has been working with local private and public entities to see if it would be possible to develop this recreational resource. Esthetics Present Conditions The meandering alignment of the Price and Stubb Ditches, with their moving water during the irrigation season, and varied features, provide diversity and aesthetic variety. Scattered cottonwoods grow along the ditch banks in some locations and protected areas within the rights-of-ways often support vegetation not found in the surrounding orchards, fields, or residential lawns. The Price Ditch is surrounded on both sides by extensive residential development and is often maintained free of vegetation, especially in its lined segments. The Stubb Ditch, located near 1-70 at the base of the desert-shrub rangelands to the north, maintains a more natural and less managed appearance. The natural appearance of the Stubb Ditch may contribute to its unauthorized recreational use. 26