Show The Central Utah Project i EDITOR'S The following discussion on the proposed Central Utah Project and what it means to the Duchesne River area was recently prepared in a Question and Answer style by the Utah Water Power Board to familiarize the people of Duchesne County with the implications of the It Is being printed this week to further inform the QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS OF TIIE CENTRAL UTAH PROJECT AND WHAT IT MEANS TO THE DUCHESNE RIVER Published by the Utah Water Power Board What Is the Utah It Is the largest unit of the mammoth Upper Colorado River Storage Just how Important Is the Central Utah It is the only way Utah can develop its share of Colorado River The Colorado River Is the last major source for the State of yet we arc presently using only 37 percent of our allocation of The Central Utah Project will bring vast quantities of new water Into What is the status of the Central Utah This project was authorized as the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April Construction is well along at Glen Canyon Navajo and Flaming Gorge three of the large storage and work is now starting on the Dam in The Vernal Unit of the Central Utah Project is virtually completed and will go into full operation in Planning on the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project will be completed in June of with construction expected to start soon What is the Bonneville The Bonneville Unit of the authorized initial phase will provide additional irrigation water for lands along the Duchesne and will divert water from Duchesne River tributaries to the Bonneville The Bonneville Unit will also include additional storage and utilization of the Bonneville Basin water supply along with trans-basin water for and hydro-electric power What aro the specific benefits to the Duchesne segment of the Bonneville The project will provide additional irrigation water for about acres of non-Indian land In the Duchesne River How will the additional water be located on Strawberry four miles upstream from will serve the Duchesne segment by furnishing the additional water for the acres of land in the Duchesne River Are there any conflicting water rights or other A Duchesne River Area Study Committee was organized to review the land and water resources of the Duchesne River and its The com-mitte recognized the conflicting water rights problem and made recommendations for the solution in a report entitled River Land and Water I Resource April Who prepared the Study Committee and will It be accepted by the Bureau of Reclamation The report was prepared by representatives of the Bureau of Indian the Ute Indian the Upper Colorado River the Utah Water and Power the Bureau of and the non-Indian Landowners Duchesne River Area In public statements to residents of Duchesne County the Bureau of Reclamation representatives have indicated they were confident the Bureau would generally follow the Study What were tho bases for tho Study Committee a. Indian- lands having a water right priority to the use of the Duchesne River water totaling were considered as having an adequate irrigation b. Non-Indian lands totaling acres Were considered as having a water right ahead of Central Utah Project and are in need of a water What were tho Study Committee a. That the Indians agree to limit their present development to acres and defer the development of an additional acres of i Irrigable land until the ultimate b. That certain applications to appropriate large quantities of water for deportation from the Duchesne River and tributaries be subordinate to water rights for the Central Utah c. That the committee report be as a basis for planning the Central Utah Project Are there any alternatives to the proposed Duchesne The best answer Is that the Duchesne segment Is probably not feasible as a separate What can be done by interested Duchesne River water users to further this The interested water user can support and help form the proposed seven-county water conservancy district which will assist in planning the project and will negotiate with the Government on project repayment and water Such as district will give each county a voice in the affairs that affect it and give all seven counties a unified voice in the planning and repayment What area will be included In the The District as proposed would include all of Salt and Uintah eastern part of and that part of Summit which is not already in the Weber Basin Water Conservancy How many members will comprise tho district's board of A committee composed of one man from each appointed by the county commissioners of each have recommended that tho Board have 17 directors three from one from five from Salt three from two from Summit and Wasatch and three from Why such a distribution of board The distribution of the board members will serve as a traditional rural and urban The five rural counties will have nine members of the Salt Lake and Utah counties will have eight That in give the rural counties voting power on the On the other the more populous urban counties will have a veto power at the polls when voting an acceptance of district Any major obligation for repayment must be approved by a majority What progress Is being made on the The ultimate phase which includes development of the Uinta together with other areas in the Uinta is under Project water will be Used on approximately 80 percent of non-Indian lands in the River How will this additional water be paid Irrigators will pay for water in accordance with the amount they apply for and are and also in accordance with their ability to pay as determined by economic studies with due consideration given to P 1 B I PRESENTLY IRRIGATED LANDS mf V RECEIVE PROJECT WATER lj f I TUNNEL SIPHON Iff MM UPPER MW V DUCHESNE STILLWATER 1 f gEBER- STRAWBERRY- f I I I t m wL starvation HAMMOCK STRAWBERRY j U r monks hollow enlargement L RESERVOIR jg Sketch of proposed Duchesne River seg- line through Wasatch ment of Central Utah Project shows transfer and key Job report is due land and other controlling Costs of irrigation water development beyond ability of the water users to pay will be reimbursed from Utah's share of power revenues from the Colorado River Storage Project Must all applicants for Central Utah Project water be a part of the large conservancy All purchasers of project water must be within an appropriate water conservancy It is believed to be In the best interest of all concerned for all water users to be a part of the project-wide In the ultimate will Uinta Basin mountain spring water bo imported to the Bonneville Basin In exchange for Green River Under the ultimate phase diversions will be made high up on the Uinta Basin Replacement water and substantial of additional water will be diverted Into the Uinta Basin from the Green Green River water diverted from Flaming Gorge Reservoir will be of excellent quality for In the development of Starvation what filings or water rights will be used for storing supplemental i The proposed Central 1 Utah Water Conservancy or the Bureau of tion will in accordance with State Water all 1 project water rights and the entire projects will be ad- ministered on a single priority 1 j d |