User:Rompecabezas/Flaming Gorge Regional Watershed Supply Project

Flaming Gorge Regional Watershed Supply Project

- Under Construction -

Currently compiling sources, both reliable and otherwise (the latter will be removed before publishing). Please do add sources or content (or formatting if you've done this before) under appropriate categories. I ask that you don't remove content at this time, but instead either strikeout, leave a comment or wait until it's published, or all of the above.

The regional watershed supply project is a proposed pipeline system to divert water from the Green River drainage in Wyoming to supply the Front Range of Colorado. Proposed by private entrepreneur, Aaron Million of Fort Collins, Colorado, the project aims to utilize the Green River near the Wyoming/Colorado border and the Interstate 80 corridor in Wyoming to bypass some of the physical and political challenges of diverting Colorado River water from the Western Slope of Colorado to the Front Range. The Green River is a tributary of the Colorado River and the water would be diverted for Colorado's use as part of the State of Colorado's allotment of the Colorado River under the 1920 interstate Colorado River Compact.

This project, estimated at approximately 7 to 9 billion dollars, would involve several federal and state agencies as well as private landowners. As the traditional steward of water development projects, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has taken the lead in conducting the required NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) analyses for processing Aaron Million's application for the project. The Army Corps, under the guidance of project manager _____, is proceeding with an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and has scheduled public meetings in Wyoming and Colorado to determine the scope of issues for consideration in the EIS. The public comment period is open until ____.

The project was proposed on the basis of projected water needs along the Front Range of Colorado. At one public meeting, support was voiced from a representative of an irrigation association and concerns were raised about potential impacts to water availability and water rights hierarchy during drought years. Other concerns included potential impacts to stakeholders, water quality, aesthetics, wildlife, invasive species, and recreation both upstream and downstream from the diversion in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Mexico. Nevada and California are the two other states that are generally influenced by water volume in the Colorado River. Lake Mead announced in April 2009 a record low water level, the lowest since 1965. If Lake Mead drops below the ___ level, as anticipated, it will trigger reductions in Arizona's and Nevada's allocations of water per the 2007 ____ agreement among the Lower Basin states.

An EIS was completed by the Bureau of Reclamation in 2006 on the operation of the Flaming Gorge Dam. The result of that EIS was a decision issued ___- that the dam could be operated to maintain downstream flows sufficient for the survival of certain threatened or endangered species of fish.

The decision process

Water

The issues

SOCIAL POLITICAL ECONOMICAL RECREATION IRRIGATION VALUES

Science

Sources

Reliable

US Water News [1]

Pueblo Chieftan, May 23, 2008 [2]

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), April 13, 2007 [3]

Unreliable, Indirect, Blogs, Essays, etc (to be removed)

The Water Information Program (Southwest Colorado; running list of articles) [4]

Other Resources

Wyoming House Bill HB0007: Wyoming Water Development Program [5]