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<br />'. <br /> <br />iECORD OF DECISION <br />"S.,Hol'O MOWZI.lIUIl M\Idd' Creekl k........' <br /> <br />~~~ l <br /> <br />RECORD OF DECISION <br />Wolford Mouncain (Muddy Creek) Reservoir <br />Final Environmencal Imnact Statement <br />Rock Creek/Muddy Creek Reservoir <br /> <br />I. INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />~his constitutes the record of decision of the Department of the <br />Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) regarding the <br />preferred alternative for the Wolford Mountain (Muddy Creek) <br />Reservoir. The reservoir is che subject of the Final <br />Environmental Impact Stacemenc (FEIS) for Rock Creek/Muddy Creek <br />Reservoir (FEIS-90-000S) developed in compliance with the <br />National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The lead agencies for <br />che FE IS are the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest <br />Service (USFS). Cooperating agencies are Reclamation, Fish and <br />Wildlife Service (Servicei, Army Corps of Engineers (COE) , and <br />Colorado Division of Wildlife. The official designation for the <br />Muddy Creek reservoir site has been changed to Wolford Mountain <br />Reservoir which will be used hereafter in this record of <br />decision. <br /> <br />In Aoril 1985, The Colorado River Water Conservation District <br />(District) applied for a Special Use Permit from the USFS for <br />construction of a water storage reservoir on Rock Creek within <br />Routt National Forest. The District's application was the result <br />of an extremely complex and lengthy series of legal actions and <br />negotiations involving the adjudication, permitting, and <br />construction of the Windy Gap Project. The Azure-Windy Gap <br />Supplemental Agreement of March 29, 1985, resulted in a cash <br />payment of $10,200,000 from the Municipal Subdistrict of the <br />Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD) to the <br />District as compensation for the Windy Gap Project. This made <br />the District the responsible organization for implementing a <br />compensation project to offset Windy Gap Project Colorado River <br />depletions. The District and Denver Water Board (Denver) <br />agreement of March 3, 1987, establishes a lease arrangement that <br />provides the District with additional funds to finance its water <br />storage facility. <br /> <br />The USFS prepared an environmental analysis on the District's <br />special use permit application. This analysis is documented in <br />the Rock Creek/Wolford Mountain FEIS. In this analysis, the <br />Wolford Mountain site, situated on lands administered by BLM, was <br />identified and evaluated as an alternative water storage <br />reservoir site. Consequently, BLM participated in the <br />