@CoyoteGulch Corps releases Moffat FEIS today http://t.co/a6piT6qyAY
— rscene (@rscene92) April 25, 2014
Here’s the release from the US Army Corps of Engineers (Rena Brand/Eileen Williamson):
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Denver Water’s Moffat Collection System Project is available for public review. The Colorado Front Range water supply project proposes to enlarge the existing Gross Reservoir in Boulder County, using existing infrastructure to divert water from the Fraser River, Williams Fork River, Blue River and South Platte River to Denver’s existing water treatment system during average and wet years.
The purpose of the Final EIS is to provide decision-makers and the public with information pertaining to the proposed project and alternatives, and to disclose impacts and identify mitigation measures to reduce impacts. The Corps is charged with the responsibility of impartially reviewing Denver Water’s proposal in light of environmental and other Federal laws.
In 2009, a Draft EIS was released by the Corps, public hearings were held and thousands of comments were received. The Final EIS was updated in response to comments received on the Draft EIS. The comments and the Corps’ responses to these comments are included in Appendix N of the Final EIS.
The Final EIS will serve as a basis for the Corps’ decision on whether to issue or deny a Section 404 Permit for the enlargement of Gross Reservoir. The Corps’ decision will be in the form of a record of decision, which will conclude the National Environmental Policy Act evaluation process. The record of decision will not be issued for several months.
The public is encouraged to review the Final EIS during an open comment period from April 25, 2014 to June 9, 2014.
The Final EIS is available online for viewing or download at:
http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Missions/RegulatoryProgram/Colorado/EISMoffat.aspx or printed copies are
available for viewing at the following Colorado locations:
Grand County
Fraser Valley Library, 421 Norgren Road, Fraser, CO 80442
Granby Library, 55 Zero Street, Granby, CO 80446
Kremmling Library, 300 South 8th Street, Kremmling, CO 80459
Adams County
Anythink York Street Library, 8990 York Street, Thornton, CO 80229Denver County
Denver Central Library, 10 West 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO 80204Boulder County
Boulder Main Library, 1001 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO 80302Jefferson County
Arvada Library, 7525 West 57th Avenue, Arvada, CO 80002
Golden Library, 1019 10th Street, Golden, CO 80401Summit County
Summit County Library North Branch, 651 Center Circle, Silverthorne, CO 80498
Summit County Library South Branch, 504 Airport Road, Breckenridge, CO 80424Denver Water
1600 West 12th Avenue, Denver, CO 80204U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Omaha District, Denver Regulatory Office, 9307 South Wadsworth Boulevard, Littleton, CO 80128Written comments should be sent to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Denver Regulatory Office, Attention: Rena Brand, Moffat EIS Project Manager; 9307 S. Wadsworth Blvd, Littleton, CO 80128. Comments can also be emailed to: moffat.eis@usace.army.mil. Comments must be postmarked or received no later than June 9, 2014.
More information on the Final EIS and where to submit comments can be found at: http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Missions/RegulatoryProgram/Colorado/EISMoffat.aspx.
From Colorado Trout Unlimited (Randy Scholfield):
Trout Unlimited today responded to the release http://cdm16021.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16021coll7/id/720 of the Final EIS for Denver Water’s Moffat Collection System project, calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to incorporate into the final permit the provisions of an agreement on Fraser River protections forged by Trout Unlimited, Denver Water and Grand County.
“Trout Unlimited will be reviewing the Final Environmental Impact Statement closely and cannot yet comment on its contents, but in light of the potential impacts we know an unmitigated Moffat Project creates in the Fraser River basin-including loss of an outstanding wild trout fishery-we call on the Corps to recognize the impacts and incorporate into permits the mitigation and enhancement commitments agreed upon by Denver Water, Grand County, and Trout Unlimited and announced http://www.tu.org/press-releases/denver-water-tu-reach-agreement-on-river-protections-for-fraser in March 2014,” said David Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited.
Denver Water’s 2011 Cooperative Agreement with West Slope water users was a great step forward in addressing current impacts on the Fraser caused by diversions-but as TU, Grand County officials and others noted
at the time, the agreement did not address the future impacts of the Moffat expansion on the Fraser.The recent multiparty agreement http://www.coloradotu.org/ctucoldwater/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Moffat-MCEP-2-13-14-final.pdf offers several protections that TU has said need to be included with
this project. The key features include:* Water is made available to address elevated stream temperatures on the Fraser and Ranch Creek.
* Denver uses its operating flexibility to provide flushing flows to cleanse streams.
* Ongoing monitoring of stream health, and adaptive management using water and financial resources provided by Denver Water – and leveraged by other partners.
* Commitment to this monitoring and management program-called “Learning by Doing”-through the project’s federal permit.“The Fraser watershed has been a system in decline, and it won’t be protected by simply blocking the Moffat Firming Project and walking away,” said Nickum. “Trout Unlimited realized that protecting this river was going to require a new way of doing business, a collaboration among those who influence and rely upon the Fraser so that everyone has a shared stake in conserving the river for the long term. That is the idea behind the Learning by Doing program.”
“There is no question that the Moffat Project, unmitigated, will further impact an already-depleted watershed,” said Mely Whiting, TU’s Colorado Water Project Counsel. “This is why Grand County, Denver Water, and Trout Unlimited worked in good faith to develop a mitigation and enhancement plan that addresses the impacts and puts the Fraser River back on a path toward a healthy future. We now need the Corps to ensure that those protections are fully incorporated into project permits.
“We look forward to reviewing the Final EIS carefully and working with the Corps, Grand County, and Denver Water to ensure that the responsible protections we have proposed become part of the final project mitigation package.”
“The Fraser is the lifeblood of our community and a vital part of our natural and cultural heritage,” said Kirk Klancke, president of TU’s Colorado River Headwaters chapter in Fraser and a longtime advocate for the river. “Now it is time for the Corps to step up and make sure that the waters that once drew President Eisenhower to our valley are protected for future generations.”
Read the Moffat mitigation and enhancement agreement http://www.coloradotu.org/ctucoldwater/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Moffat-MCEP-2-13-14-final.pdf.
More Moffat Collection System Project coverage here and here.