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Show I ... ; ' . , - ' rrl i I . t M . ; I . ..-.-'.--..'". , . , i ... ' Members of the Dedicated Hunter program worked with Forest Service biologist Jake Schoppe on their service project last week. The group built an elk crossing on ESCALANTE - Escalante residents were jubilant to learn that Grand Staircase National Monument Acting Manager David Hunsaker had given the go ahead to the community's new Wide Hollow Reservoir, 1 1 years after the Wide Hollow Water Conservancy District (WHWCD) was formed in 1991 and study first began on the project. The old Wide Hollow Reservoir had filled with silt and was insufficient to serve the area's irrigation needs. While the proposed project is not within GSENM boundaries, the public land within the analysis analy-sis area is administered by the Monument office. Hunsaker signed the Environmental Assessment (EA) on Apr. 19, granting a right-of-way to the Wide Hollow Water Conservancy District for the construction of diversion structures, pipelines, reservoir and access roads for the project as described in Alternative D of its EA. The document was signed stipulating stipulat-ing compliance with certain mitigation mit-igation measures, conditions of approval in the EA itself and similar stipulations in the monitoring moni-toring plan as outlined in an attachment. "After four years of frustrated frustrat-ed waiting, we're relieved an happy to see completion of that process," said former longtime Garfield County Commissioner Louise Liston who serves as president of WHWCD. "We feel comfortable with agreements agree-ments made between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the New Escalante Irrigation Company to mitigate eYiiccrns over the Southwest ' Willow Flycatcher and the Birch Creek At-Risk Status." The EA rationale states that the Alternative D choice meets the state's requirements for water use, provides for water capacity and meets the water supply needs of the local community com-munity while avoiding or minimizing mini-mizing any environmental harm. The document states that the project specifications, mitigation, mitiga-tion, conditions of approval, and monitoring contained in the EA reduce potential environmental impact to a level unlikely to cause "unnecessary or undue degradation of public lands. All practicable means to avoid or reduce environmental harm have been adopted." The EA states that Hunsaker's decision also conforms with the Escalante MFP Land Use Plan. "Waiting for years for the BLM to complete the EA process has escalated the origi- Highway 12 at about mile marker 8. Those helping were Jason Miller and Eric Houston, Panguitch; Mark Henrie, Cannonville; and Brayton Talbot, Panguitch. BLM EA Gives Go Ahead On New Wide Hollow Reservoir nal construction cost of the Wide Hollow project from $7.5 million to $10.2 million. As a result, it is necessary to cut down the size of the reservoir from 6500 acre-feet to 4,000 acre-feet," said Liston. Liston said that plans are to keep the WHWCD in place in order to receive the federal funding which, unlike state funding, cannot be loaned to a private company. The federal funds will be received by WHWCD and turned over to the New Escalante Irrigation Company (NEIC) to construct the project. The NEIC owns and operates one of two irrigation irriga-tion companies in the Escalante area. Approximately 2,700 acres of farmland are irrigated with existing water shares issued by the NEIC. Liston said that $1.5 million of the funds will come from Dam Safety funds. The State Engineer's office had listed the old Wide Hollow Dam on its High Hazard Dam list making the $1.5 million available to for correcting problems. Water from Upper Valley will continue to flow into the old reservoir, but its overall size will be reduced substantially, reducing safety concerns sufficiently to make the funds formerly committed com-mitted to it available for use on the new reservoir. The balance of the new project's costs will come from a loan from the Board of Water Resources. The old reservoir, constructed construct-ed in 1953, is the primary water facility for the New Escalante Irrigation Company. Sedimentation has reduced its original storage capacity from 2,400 acre- feet by 42 percent to 1 ,400 acre- feet. At its originally original-ly proposed size, the new reservoir reser-voir would flood some 224 acres with a storage capacity of more than 6,000 acre-feet. In an average year the irrigation water yield for the Escalante area would increase from 8,028 acre-feet acre-feet (85 percent of demand) to 8,678 acre-feet (92 percent of demand). Liston said that Kane County Water Conservancy District Executive Director Mike Noel was pleased with the BLM's decision since a similar project is being proposed for Kane County. There is provision in the EA for an appeal process. |