Final Environmental Assessment: South Canal Drop 4 Hydropower Project Western Colorado Area Office Upper Colorado Region.

摘要

The Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association (UVWUA) has requested approval to develop hydropower at Drop 4 of the South Canal of the federal Uncompahgre Project. Under the proposed action, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) would execute a Lease of Power Privilege with UVWUA. The lease would authorize the use of federal lands, facilities and Uncompahgre Project water to construct, operate and maintain a 4.8 megawatt (MW) hydropower facility. Reclamation would also issue license agreements to allow the construction, operation, and maintenance of 1.27 miles of overhead power lines to connect the new facility to the existing electrical grid. The hydropower project would be located in Montrose County, Colorado, approximately 5.2 miles southeast of the town of Montrose, Colorado as shown in Figure 1. The Drop 4 hydropower project would be located in a section of the South Canal approximately 0.8 miles downstream from the existing Drop 3 hydropower project completed in 2013. This section of the South Canal drops approximately 71 feet. Water that currently flows through the South Canal would be diverted into a penstock and through the hydropower plant before returning to the Canal to meet irrigation delivery demands downstream. The project also includes 1.27 miles of new overhead interconnection line across federal lands (Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Reclamation). This Environmental Assessment (EA) is prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), and the U.S. Department of the Interiors regulations (43 CFR Part 46). The EA evaluates the environmental effects of issuing the LOPP for construction and operation of the Drop 4 hydropower project.