OCR Text |
Show White River Dam hearings called by U.S. Army Corps The proposed White River Dam near Bonanza will be the subject of a public hearing in Vernal July 13 and another hearing in Salt Lake City July 14. The Army Corps of Engineers' Sacramento District is holding the hearings to gather public input on a permit application it received from the Utah Board of Water Resources to discharge fill in the White River in order to build the dam. The permit is required under Section 404 of the Clean Water At which is administered by the Corps of Engineers. The Vernal meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the County Courthouse, and the Salt Lake City meeting will start at 1 p.m. in the Salt Palace Center, 100 South West Temple, Room 220. The Utah Board of Water Resources proposes to place 2,632,000 cubic yards of earth and rock fill in the White River to build the dam. Construction of the dam's spillway and outlet works will require the excavation of about 1,837,000 cubic yards of material. A hydroelectric facility is also planned for the project. The White River Dam is being proposed to provide a water supply to energy development projects, principally those dealing with oil shale. The lake created by the dam would inundate 1,980 acres of river and canyon. An additional 4.575 acres of riparian and wetland habitat below the dam would be altered by the decrease in high flows. A proposed mitigation plan for threatened or endangered species and for the loss of riparian and wetland habitat has been prepared by the Board of Water Resources in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. All interested individuals, groups, and agencies are invited to attend the meetings and present their views orally or in writting. For accuracy of the record, all comments should be submitted in writing. Written comments may be handed in at the meetings or mailed to the District Engineer of the Corps of Engineers. |