South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Project Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact PRO-EA-13-007.

摘要

The Bureau of Reclamation, Provo Area Office has prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to examine the potential environmental impacts ofthe proposed transfer of the Electric Distribution System and related equipment (an original feature of the Strawberry Valley Project) to the South Utah Valley Electric Service District (District). The Strawberry Valley Project is a Federal water project that was authorized by the Secretary of the Interior, on December 15, 1905, under the provisions of the Reclamation Act of 1902. The Strawberry Valley Project comprises approximately 45,000 acres of irrigable land centered around Spanish Fork, Utah. This project provided the first large-scale transmountain diversion from the Colorado River Basin to the Bonneville Basin. It was also one of the earliest Reclamation projects to develop hydroelectric power. Project features include Strawberry Dam and Reservoir, Indian Creek Dike, Strawberry Tunnel, two diversion dams, three hydroelectic powerplants, a main canal system, and a portion of the lateral system. The Strawberry Valley Project Power System has four parts: (1) Generation System (three small power plants), (2) Transmission System (46.0 kV lines from powerplants to substations), (3) Electrical Distribution System (12.5 kilovolt lines from substations to end users), and (a) substation facilities located at the Upper Spanish Fork Powerplant. The Upper Spanish Fork Powerplant, withtwo power generation units, operates under a maximum head of I23 feet, and develops 900 kilowatts. The Lower Spanish Fork Powerplant has one power generation unit operating under a maximum head of 48 feet and develops 250 kilowatts. The Payson Powerplant on Peteetneet Creek, operates on a mar<imum head of 636 feet and develops 400 kilowatts. The three hydroelectric generating plants have atotal capacity of 1,550 kilowatts. The Upper Spanish Fork Powerplant was constructed by Reclamation, while the other two powerplants were constructed by the Strawberry Water lJser's Association (Association) using Strawberry Valley Project funds. Within the Strawberry Valley Project, there are a total of 42 miles of transmission lines to deliver power from the power plants to the Electrical Distribution System. The Electrical Distribution System is comprised of approximately 500 miles of electric lines, which provide power to domestic, industrial, and commercial consumers in south Utah County. In1926,the Association obtained the contractual right to repay the construction costs associated with the Strawberry Valley Project, as well as to operate and maintain the project by way of the Reclamation Extension Act of 1914. In 1986, the Association assigned its contractual right to operate and maintain the Electrical Distribution System to the Distric.