The Utah Lake Drainage Basin Water Delivery System (ULS) is the final component of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project. Its goals are to develop, convey and deliver remaining Bonneville Unit water supply from Strawberry Reservoir and other sources to the Wasatch Front Area for municipal and industrial uses and temporary agricultural supply; and to complete remaining environmental commitments associated with previously constructed systems of the Bonneville Unit. The Mitigation Commission, Central Utah Water Conservancy District (District) and U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) are joint-lead agencies planning and implementing the project. [Click here to link to the District’s ULS web page]
Preliminary informal scoping was initiated on the ULS system
in September 2000; potential water users were requested
to submit information identifying their need for CUP water.
(Scoping is the process by which agencies and the public
collaborate to determine the extent of issues and alternatives
to be examined in an Environmental Impact Statement.) A public
scoping meeting regarding water needs and assessments was
conducted in October 2001. Meetings were held with public
agencies in December and January 2002 to
discuss remaining Bonneville Unit environmental commitments
that
could be affected by decisions made during ULS development.
Formal public scoping meetings were held in February 2002
to present ULS water delivery concepts to the public.
Based
on public comments, updated population projections
and further engineering analyses, alternatives were formulated
for evaluation in a draft Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) released for public review
and comment in March 2004. A final EIS [Click
here to link to District's ULS environmental impact page
for more information]
has been issued upon which the Mitigation Commission signed
a Record of Decision
January 27, 2005 to implement the proposed action, the
Spanish Fork Canyon–Provo Reservoir Canal Alternative.
The Mitigation Commission, through this Decision, approves
completion of the Utah Lake System through the combined efforts
of the Mitigation Commission, the District, and DOI. The system
will provide project water for municipal and industrial
purposes, irrigation, hydroelectric power, fish
and wildlife, and recreation.
Completing remaining environmental
commitments of the Bonneville Unit is one ULS goal for which
the Mitigation Commission and joint-lead agencies are responsible.
Thus, a list of remaining
commitments has been prepared in coordination with public
resource agencies.
Included
in
the list are instream flow requirements within the Bonneville
Unit. The CUP Completion
Act provided authorization and funding to acquire water
for increasing the minimum flow in the Provo River
downstream of the Olmsted Diversion, from a committed flow
of 25 cubic feet per second (cfs) to a goal of 75 cfs. Joint-lead
agencies have been acquiring water rights to increase lower
Provo River flows, however, to date, insufficient water
rights have been acquired to meet the 75 cfs target flow.
The ULS will investigate methods to augment acquired water
rights to help achieve the target flow.
Provo River instream flows will help aquatic species, particularly the June sucker. Progress on recovery of the endangered June sucker, a fish native only to Utah Lake, is also among remaining Bonneville Unit environmental commitments. The Mitigation Commission is working with the DOI, District and other water agencies on June sucker recovery efforts.
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