4 Plans Offered on Managing Colorado River
By Suzanne Struglinski Deseret Morning News
WASHINGTON — The Interior Department released four potential plans on how to manage the Colorado River in a draft environmental impact statement made public Wednesday.
The four options focus on how to handle the river under drought and low reservoir conditions and how to coordinate operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs. The Bureau of Reclamation will pick one of the “alternatives” or combine elements from the four into a final version to be released in September. The statement also includes a “no action” alternative, where no changes would take place from the current plan.
Don Ostler, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission, said the river faced the worst drought it had ever seen from 2000 to 2004, so the department decided it was time to have a better plan in place for low water levels.
Ostler said the Colorado River Basin states, including Utah, all agreed to a plan in February 2006. This plan is one of the alternatives in the draft released Wednesday.
The plan looks at Lake Powell and Lake Mead water levels in closer relationship to each other than they have been in the past. If one lake is low, water can be released from the other one. Ostler said this helps with concerns that Lake Powell was getting so low it would not be able to generate electricity. The plan helps to address the shortage by balancing when to release water, he said.
To help pick its preferred plan, the Bureau of Reclamation will collect public comments on the draft through April 30, according to a notice in the Federal Register. There will be three public hearings, including one in Salt Lake City on April 5. The other two will take place in Nevada and Arizona.
Public hearing:
— Thursday, April 5, 6 to 9 p.m., Hilton Salt Lake City Center, Canyon Room A & B, 255 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City.
— Comments can also be mailed no later than April 30 to Regional Director, Lower Colorado Region, Bureau of Reclamation, Attention: BCOO-1000, P.O. Box 61470, Boulder City, NV 89006-1470; fax at 702- 293-8156; or e-mail at strategies@lc.usbr.gov.
— The public can view the draft EIS at Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office, 125 S. State., Room 7220, Salt Lake City.
E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com
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