Chapter 1 - 2004 Supplement to Definite Plan Report

INTRODUCTION

This report supplements the Bonneville Unit's 1988 Definite Plan Report (1988 DPR), and was prepared pursuant to the Central Utah Project Completion Act (CUPCA), which was signed into law by the President of the United States on October 30, 1992. CUPCA (Public Law 102-575) authorized the Central Utah Water Conservancy District (District) to plan, design, and construct the remaining Bonneville Unit features.

CUPCA was amended in December 2002 by Public Law 107-366 (PL 107-366). The amendment added the municipal and industrial purpose as a use for water in the Utah Lake drainage basin, and allowed unexpended budget authority to be used for water conservation measures, power development, and fish and wildlife purposes.

This report, when approved by the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), fulfills the statutory requirements contained in Section 205 of CUPCA. Section 205 of CUPCA indicates that federally appropriated funds may not be obligated or expended by the District for construction of the Irrigation and Drainage System (I&D System) until the District completes a supplement to the 1988 DPR for the I&D System. CUPCA further indicates that the Supplement to the 1988 DPR shall include economic analyses consistent with the Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies (March 10, 1983). The Secretary may withhold approval of this 2004 Supplement to the 1988 DPR based only on the inadequacy of the document, and specifically not because of the findings of its economic analyses.

This report presents the recently formulated plan for the Utah Lake Drainage Basin Water Delivery System (ULS System), which provides for the distribution of the remaining unallocated Bonneville Unit water along the Wasatch Front.  The ULS System has emerged through the following process. The CUPCA authorized construction of the Irrigation and Drainage System (I&D) as a water conveyance system from Spanish Fork Canyon to Sevier Bridge Reservoir for the purpose of supplying new and supplemental irrigation water supplies to Utah, Juab, Millard, Sanpete, Sevier, Garfield, and Piute Counties. CUPCA included a provision to construct alternate features to deliver irrigation water to lands in the Utah Lake drainage basin in the event the plan to deliver water to the Sevier River basin was not viable. Millard and Sevier Counties withdrew from participation in the Central Utah Project (CUP) after CUPCA was enacted, which rendered the I&D System no longer viable. The alternative plan under CUPCA was then activated. The initial planning process focused on an irrigation project named the Spanish Fork Canyon-Nephi Irrigation System (SFN System). When insurmountable issues associated with the SFN System project were raised in 1998, the joint-lead agencies (the District, Mitigation Commission, and Department of the Interior) discontinued planning on the SFN System and announced a new planning process for the ULS System, which is documented in this Definite Plan Report.

BONNEVILLE UNIT DEFINITE PLAN REPORT

Definite Plan Report (DPR) for the Bonneville Unit of the CUP was prepared in 1964 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation). That document paved the way for the start of construction of the Bonneville Unit in 1965. As development of the Bonneville Unit proceeded over time, changes occurred in the original plan. In 1988, Reclamation prepared the 1988 Definite Plan Report for the Bonneville Unit (1988 DPR) to update the Bonneville Unit plan. In October 1992, Congress enacted CUPCA, which: 1) indicated that the 1988 DPR was approved by the Secretary of the Interior, 2) modified the Bonneville Unit Definite Plan and 3) required that this supplemental DPR be prepared as noted above.

This updated DPR presents the changes that have occurred in the Bonneville Unit plan from that described in the 1988 DPR.  While this report encompasses the entire Bonneville Unit, including the components authorized in and constructed pursuant to CUPCA, emphasis is given to the presentation of the new ULS System which is yet to be constructed.

This 2004 Supplement to the 1988 DPR has been completed to fulfill requirements of CUPCA and to serve as a companion document for the ULS System Final EIS of September 2004.

THE BONNEVILLE UNIT PLANNING PROCESS

The CUP was authorized by Public Law  84-485 on April 11, 1956, as a participating project of the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) to help meet Utah's long-term water needs. The authorization was based on planning reports by  Reclamation and has been amended from time to time by acts of Congress. The CUP (see Map 1-1) was initially composed of the Bonneville, Upalco, Jensen, and Vernal Units. The Uinta Unit was added in 1978.

Construction progress on the Bonneville Unit has proceeded slowly because of the complexity of the project, the need for environmental analyses resulting from the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and inadequate federal funding. The slow progress prompted state and local officials to request Congress to empower the District to complete the planning and construction of the remaining portions of the CUP, including the Bonneville Unit.
 

CUPCA

Congress responded to local concerns about slow construction progress by enacting the CUPCA which, as stated earlier, was enacted  on October 30, 1992. With CUPCA, Congress provided direction for completing the CUP with certain modifications of the 1988 plan of development. CUPCA envisioned a partnership among the District, Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, and Department of the Interior. To respond to public desires and expedite development, CUPCA authorized the District to construct the remaining features, authorized an increased cost ceiling for various features of the CUP, and authorized federal appropriations under a cost-sharing arrangement between the District and the Department.
 

The CUPCA Program Under the District

The District has an 18-member Board of Directors representing local water users in the 10-county district, including all or portions of Salt Lake, Utah, Juab, Wasatch, Summit, Duchesne, Uintah, Sanpete, Piute, and Garfield Counties. As directed by CUPCA, the District has developed planning and construction programs for the completion of the CUP, and the necessary internal organization to accomplish them. The District has prepared the necessary environmental documents for the features that have been completed under CUPCA.
 

Environmental Aspects

The Bonneville Unit contains a substantial environmental component for both mitigation and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat in various areas. The Bonneville Unit utilizes various streams to convey water towards areas of use, notably the Provo, Spanish Fork, Strawberry, and Duchesne Rivers, and Diamond Fork Creek.  CUPCA includes provisions for maintaining stream flows at prescribed minimum rates for the benefit of aquatic and riparian habitat. In addition, the project storage reservoirs provide opportunities for public recreation and fishing. Wetlands and terrestrial habitat impacted by development will be mitigated through acquisition and improvement of other lands.

Title III of CUPCA created the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission (Mitigation Commission) with responsibility for coordinating and planning of mitigation measures, and administering both the funding previously authorized for environmental mitigation 1988 DPR and funding

The fish and wildlife aspects of the Bonneville Unit are summarized in Chapter 7 of this 2004 DPR Supplement with additional details in the Fish and Wildlife Appendix that accompanies this report.
 

Formulation of the ULS System Plan

The District, Mitigation Commission, and Department of the Interior (referred to as the joint lead agencies) issued a notification of planning for the ULS System with a Notice of Intent published in the Federal Register on October 14, 1998 (FR Doc. 98-27484). The notice stated that

“The joint-lead agencies will initiate a new planning process with public involvement on the facilities authorized in section 202(a)(1) of the Central Utah Project Completion Act (Utah Lake Drainage Basin Water Delivery System). Any other additional uses of Bonneville Unit water on the Wasatch Front (Salt Lake City to Nephi, Utah), and all-remaining environmental issues and commitments associated with the Bonneville Unit will be addressed during this new process. When planning for the Utah Lake Drainage Basin Water Delivery System is initiated, a Notice of Intent regarding NEPA compliance will be published.”

The 1998 Notice of Intent also announced the discontinuation of planning on the SFN System.

On August 23, 2000, the joint-lead agencies published a Federal Register Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS and hold an informal scoping meeting on the ULS System of the Bonneville Unit. (FR Doc. 00-21458). The notice indicated that the ULS would connect to the Diamond Fork System and make water available to the Wasatch Front Area for irrigation, municipal and industrial, fish and wildlife, and other authorized uses. It stated that “Any other additional uses of Bonneville Unit water within the Wasatch Front Area and all remaining environmental issues and commitments associated with the Bonneville Unit will be addressed during this planning and EIS process.”

The resulting ULS System plan is summarized in this chapter with additional details on the ULS System features in Chapter 5 of this 2004 Supplement. Additional information on the ULS System and the Bonneville Unit is contained in supporting appendices to this supplemental Definite Plan Report. These appendices are arranged in nine separate binders as follows:

• Binder 2: Designs and Estimates Appendix Volume 1
• Binder 3: Designs and Estimates Appendix Volume 2
• Binder 4: Financial and Economic Appendix
• Binder 5: Power Appendix
• Binder 6: Water Supply Appendix Volume 1 – Text
• Binder 7: Water Supply Appendix Volume 2 – M&I Demands
• Binder 8: Water Supply Appendix Volume 3 – Uinta Basin and Water Supply Appendix Volume 4 – Spanish Fork River
• Binder 9: Water Supply Appendix Volume 5 – Provo River and Water Supply Appendix Volume 6 – Utah Lake and Jordan River
• Binder 10: Fish and Wildlife Appendix

THE BONNEVILLE UNIT

The Bonneville Unit is located in portions of Salt Lake, Utah, Wasatch, Summit, and Duchesne Counties. The Bonneville Unit develops the water resources in mountainous areas in northeast Utah for use in the Bonneville Basin (west of the Wasatch Mountains) and in the Uinta Basin (east of the Wasatch Mountains). The features of the Bonneville Unit were originally grouped into six major systems, shown previously on Map 1-1. Some systems have been constructed, some partially constructed, and one planned for future construction (ULS System).

The Bonneville Unit has developed water supplies by collecting and storing flows of the Duchesne River and its tributaries, by water rights purchased on the Provo River, and in Utah Lake, and by return flows. Bonneville Unit facilities will make a transbasin diversion of water from the Uinta Basin to the Bonneville Basin and will deliver water for municipal and industrial (M&I) use, irrigation use, power generation, flood control, water conservation, fish and wildlife purposes, and instream flow maintenance in the Bonneville Basin of the Great Basin of Utah.

The Bonneville Unit’s Strawberry Aqueduct and Collection System (SACS) contributes to the release of fishery flows to Uinta Basin streams in accord with the 1980 Streamflow Agreement and its Amendments which were prepared by a multi-agency team.