Show State disputes sediment estimates on White River dam The Utah Department of Natural Resources and Energy disputes the fIn fIn- fIndings findings dings of an environmental impact state state- statement statement ment regarding the amount of annual sediment the proposed White River Dam project would yield In a letter to the Bureau of Land Management Management the of the state resources and energy department Daniel F Lawrence says estimates by bythe the state on sediment buildup are only about half of federal estimates As you will note from the report we now estimate the annual sediment at atthe atthe the proposed White River Dam to be acre feet per year which is about one one- half the 1273 feet acre per year given in inthe inthe the final EIS the letter says The rate of sedimentation could be a factor in determining whether a permit is granted for the 30 million project The main purpose of the Uintah Basin dam would be to supply water for the oil shale industry The project is opposed by en en- en environmentalists who say construction of the dam would irreparably harm the areas area's ecosystem They are asking the state to examine alternative methods for supplying water to the area According to the utah study the federal study commissioned by the was high because it overestimated the amount of sediment at high flows and was too conservative in estimating what part of the sediment was contributed to the stream between the dam site and the city of Ouray The federal study concludes that bas bas- based based ed on the 1273 feet acre of sediment figure annually the White River Reser- Reser Reservoir's voir's inactive storage space would be filled in 33 years and the entire reser- reser voir would fill with sediment in 86 66 years The Utah report says that at a feet acre figure annually It would take 59 54 years to fill the Inactive storage space and about years to fill the en- en entire entire tire reservoir The Utah report also states that t the le Taylor Taylor- Draw Reservoir project now under construction near Rangely Colo will reduce the flow of sediment to I Ithe the White River Reservoir and thus ex- ex extend extend tend the useful life of the project beyond current estimates In a related matter Gov Scott M Matheson has written to US Army Corps of Engineers asking the corps to grant the Utah Board of Water Resources the permit needed to begin construction on the project It is up to the corps to determine whether a per per- permit permit mit should be granted |