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Home My WebLink About20081336.tiff PUBLIC NOTICE t t I Application No: 200380509 Project: Northern Integrated Supply Project(NISP) US Army Corps Applicant: Northern Colorado Water Conservancy of Engineers District Omaha Dist Waterway: Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers Issue Date: April 30,2008 REPLY TO: Chandler J.Peter Denver Regulatory Office 9307 South Wadsworth Blvd. 90-DAY NOTICE Littleton,CO 80128-6901 FAX(303)979-0602 PUBLIC NOTICE FOR NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT AND SECTION 404 PERMIT APPLICATION SUBMITTED TO U.S.ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS Notice The District Engineer,U.S.Army Engineer District,Omaha,Nebraska is announcing the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement(ES)for the Northern Integrated Supply Project(NLSP)and is evaluating a Department of the Army permit application from the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District(District),acting by and through the Northern Integrated Supply Project Water Activity Enterprise,220 Water Avenue,Berthoud,Colorado 80513. Permits are issued under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act(Section 404),which regulates the placement of dredge or fill material in the nation's waters. Draft EIS The Omaha District prepared the Draft ES to analyze the direct,indirect,and cumulative effects of the proposal. The purpose of the Draft EIS is to provide decision-makers and the public with information pertaining to the Proposed Action and alternatives,and to disclose environmental impacts and identify mitigation measures to reduce impacts. The Draft EIS was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act(NEPA)of 1969,as amended,and the US.Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps)regulations for NEPA implementation(33 Code of Federal Regulations[CFR)parts 230 and 325,Appendices B and C). The Corps,Omaha District,Regulatory Branch is the lead federal agency responsible for the Draft EIS and information contained in it will serve as the basis for a decision regarding issuance of a Section 404 permit. It also provides information for federal,state,and local agencies having jurisdictional responsibility for affected resources. The U.S.Environmental Protection Agency Region VIII,U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service,Bureau of Reclamation,Colorado Department of Transportation,and Larimer County participated as cooperating agencies in the formulation of the Draft EIS. •c Ptn Wate non la Poudre Supply uthjsl �IL \'J'i- Crop nnerv: ey iQ50t Waterway:Cache la PoudreaM South Plane Rivers / I Applicant:Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District avn.y.tagi r rt__ 2008-1336 vs-o5-O£l Copies of the Draft EIS are available for review at the following locations: • Colorado State University Morgan Library, 501 University Avenue, Fort Collins,CO 80523 • Fort Collins Regional Library District, 201 Peterson Street, Fort Collins, CO 80524 Fort Collins Regional Library District—Front Range Community College-Larimer Campus, 4616 S. Shields Street, Fort Collins,CO 80526 • University of Northern Colorado James A. Michener Library, Greeley, CO 80639 Greeley City Manager's Office, 1000 10th Street, Greeley, CO 80631 Windsor Recreation Center, 250 11th Street,Windsor,CO 80550 Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, 220 Water Avenue, Berthoud,CO 80513 • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Denver Regulatory Office, 9307 S. Wadsworth Boulevard, Littleton, CO 80128 Electronic copies of the Draft EIS may be obtained from the Denver Regulatory Office or its website at https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/od-tl/eis-info.htm. Public Hearings Oral and/or written comments may also be presented at either or both of the public hearings to be held Tuesday,June 17, 2008 at the Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Drive, Fort Collins, Colorado at 6 p.m. and Thursday, June 19, 2008 at the University of Northern Colorado University Center, 2045 10th Avenue, Greeley, Colorado at 7 p.m. An open house will be held at the Fort Collins public hearing at 4 p.m., and the hearing will be called to order at 6 p.m. This is to allow the public an opportunity to review information associated with the Draft EIS as well as ask questions of resource specialists concerning the document. An open house will be held at the Greeley public hearing at 6 p.m., and the hearing will be called to order at 7 p.m. The open houses and public hearings will not include a formal presentation of NISP or the Draft EIS. Individuals intending to provide oral comments must fill out a registration card at the door of the hearing rooms. Speakers will be called to a podium to provide their comments. Each speaker will be given a period of 5 minutes to present their comments on the Proposed Action and the Draft EIS as well as identify issues and concerns. If comments cannot be completed in the 5-minute period, speakers will be encouraged to provide them in writing. All written comments on the Draft EIS and replies to the public notice for the permit application should be sent to— Mr. Chandler J.Peter U.S.Army Corps of Engineers Denver Regulatory Office 9307 South Wadsworth Blvd. Littleton,CO 80128-6901 Fax: (303)979-0602/Email: chandler.i.peter@usace.army.mil For additional information, please contact Mr. Peter at(303)979-4120 or visit the Denver Regulatory Office website at http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/od-tYpn/tIpublicnotices.html. Proposed Project,Permit Application,and Description of Work The applicant is requesting authorization to excavate and place fill material into the Cache la Poudre River, South Platte River,Owl Creek,and various unnamed tributaries as well as wetlands in connection with the construction of two reservoirs (Glade Reservoir and Galeton Reservoir). The applicant proposes to construct the dam for Glade Reservoir through a valley northwest of Laporte,which would allow the storage of about 170,000 AF of water. The reservoir would inundate about 7 miles of U.S. 287, which would be rerouted to the east. The realignment of U.S. 287 would occur prior to dam construction. Associated with Glade Reservoir would be a forebay,pump station,improvements to the Poudre Valley Canal and diversion to convey water diverted from the Cache la Poudre River to Glade Reservoir,and 2 Project: Northern Integrated Supply Project Corps File No: 200380509 Waterway: Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers Applicant: Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District temporary access roads to be used during construction. Glade Reservoir would inundate a section of the Munroe Canal(aka North Poudre Supply Canal); therefore,a portion of the canal also would need to be rerouted. Construction of a new pipeline from Glade Reservoir to the existing Horsetooth Reservoir, a part of the Colorado-Big Thompson(C-BT) project, is also proposed. Water would be released from Glade Reservoir to the Cache la Poudre River near the Hansen Supply Canal delivery point,which delivers C-BT water from Horsetooth Reservoir to the Cache la Poudre River. To accomplish this,releases from Glade Reservoir would be made back into the forebay at the pump station. Water would be released into the Poudre Valley Canal from the forebay and would flow about 4,000 feet to near the location of the existing Pleasant Valley pipeline. A covered box section spillway would parallel the Pleasant Valley pipeline south from SH 14 to the Cache la Poudre River. There would also be a small secondary outlet from the forebay to make low forebay level deliveries to the adjacent drainage of about 40 cubic feet per second(cfs)to 50 cfs. The applicant also proposes to construct the South Platte Water Conservation Project (SPWCP). The SPWCP is a component of the Proposed Project and includes a proposed Galeton Dam and Reservoir with a capacity of about 40,000 AF. Construction of the SPWCP would include a new diversion structure on the South Platte River, a forebay, pump station,and pipelines to deliver water diverted from the South Platte River to Galeton Reservoir and ditch systems for exchange. The SPWCP would be operated to deliver water stored in Galeton Reservoir or diverted from the South Platte River to the New Cache Canal and Larimer-Weld Canal in exchange for water diverted from the Cache la Poudre River that would be delivered to the Participants. Glade Reservoir would be filled with water from a new water right as well as agricultural water normally diverted for irrigation. Agricultural water would be replaced by the SPWCP, which will divert and pump new water rights from the South Platte River into Galeton Reservoir. In addition to the Proposed Action,the Draft EIS analyzes three primary alternatives and associated subalternatives: (1)the Cactus Hill Reservoir(180,000 AF)and SPWCP(40,000 AF Galeton Reservoir)Alternative, (2)the Glade Reservoir and reduced SPWCP(20,000 AF Galeton Reservoir) with agriculture transfers, and (3)the No Action Alternative. Location The Proposed Project is located in Larimer and Weld counties,Colorado. The proposed Glade Reservoir site is located about 4.25 miles northwest of Laporte,Colorado. The proposed dam site is located in Section 12,T8N,R7OW in Larimer County. The proposed Galeton Reservoir site is located about 10 miles east of Ault,Colorado. The proposed dam site is located in Sections 10, 11,and 15 of T7N, R64W of Weld County. Project Purpose and Need Basic Project Purpose: The basic project purpose is water supply. Overall Project Purpose: The purpose of NISP is to provide the Project Participants with approximately 40,000 AF of new reliable municipal water supply annually through a regional project coordinated by the District, which will meet a portion of the Participants' current and reasonably projected future additional water supply needs. 3 Project: Northern Integrated Supply Project Corps File No: 200380509 Waterway: Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers Applicant: Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District Impacts and Mitigation The Proposed Project is expected to directly impact approximately 44 acres of wetlands and 7 acres of other waters as well as temporarily impact 10 acres of wetlands and 9 acres of other waters. Indirect effects to waters will occur along the Cache la Poudre River and South Platte River due to modifications in river flows. Potential mitigation strategies are identified in the Draft EIS and include creation and restoration of wetlands, reservoir operational limitations and adjustments, long-term monitoring, and adaptive management and other strategies. ********************* The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment,WQCD-GWPS-B2,4300 Cherry Creek Drive South,Denver,Colorado 80246-1530,will review the Proposed Project for state certification in accordance with the provisions of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. The certification, if issued,will express the state's opinion that the operations undertaken by the applicant will not result in a violation of applicable water quality standards. For further information,please contact the Colorado Water Quality Control Division at(303) 692-3500. A Biological Assessment(BA) has been prepared and was submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in June 2006. The BA determined that the Proposed Action would likely adversely affect Preble's meadow jumping mouse(Preble's). The proposed Glade Reservoir would result in the permanent loss of 50 acres of known Preble's habitat and temporarily disturb 24 to 26 acres of Preble's habitat. The BA also determined that the Proposed Action would have depletions to the Platte River Basin that would adversely affect federally listed species in the Central and Lower Platte River in Nebraska. In compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, the Corps has determined that the described project will have an adverse effect on historic properties (36 CFR 800.3(a)(1)). A Class I file search was performed for the study area and field reviews were performed for portions of the study area. Coordination with the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has occurred throughout the EIS process. A Class III field review will be conducted prior to construction. The Corps will enter into a Programmatic Agreement with the SHPO and other agencies that will address how cultural resources will be addressed. The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impacts including cumulative impacts of the Proposed Action on the public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits that reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal must be balanced against the reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors that may be relevant to the proposal will be considered including the cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation,economics, aesthetics,wetlands, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use,navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation,energy needs, safety,food and fiber production,mineral needs,considerations of property ownership and,in general,the needs and welfare of the people. In addition,the evaluation of the impact of the work on the public interest will include application of the guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency,under authority of Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act(40 C.F.R.Part 230). The Corps is soliciting written comments from the public; federal, state, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this Proposed Action. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps to determine whether to issue,modify, condition,or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this decision,comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species,historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and other public interest factors listed above. 4 Project: Northern Integrated Supply Project Corps File No: 200380509 Waterway: Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers Applicant: Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District University of Northern Colorado University Center, 2045 10th Avenue, Greeley, CO 80639 (Parking is available in the lot immediately on your right or in the south lot two entrances down; parking is free after 5:00 p.m.) s ��u <mm [[� rr s1( ..L`r Lr_ 1flr L 31 J� 11 —�[_.i a' I ;ono N: Ri Lt T" r -;if Jr 'ir J[]r x'1i r 2 " ciiLY 1 ''` 'r t� tt J it Is '=t Iii ' ,1x1 ; tip Ce Lcjr �a �F t ,.i ks+hu �' i( .t� 1L , i- t. x ' ' �a C I . it �, I 'I (. r i i, C I '^ 2 r7� ' i ; I ' 1 , ; li /C tr7ni i t i 1i i II. Ji I i ¢' eti ' x 1 1 r \ P-f r--:,,,t,'-" 1z. i .e t -.. fr-tl-1 , r� E ; to - 2-9i, ! t' g It'71;,"?.. ; $—" t{ z f it f _-..# `ai �S}+f�"..'._ 3 1, i C i To i+ r I, I I i 1 r"Ir ;cli iL.i }1��l 1-; ,—„7,—: i r a, 7"— \ 1 ` uS 'r I. �� hi,{ _ \-1L_ 7 �1 �i u Ai s # f L..�..,.1��xvk t 1 it i ₹ (� "�,. 1 � .. , UU 'k`;y� l; li l i 1 I: Ht...1E ;i JSI ice ,' i� t OI OP GMGi a"tt8m.�WFI .'�"' — � ,;.;.34- '_ MwQM.O]Lp NlwTEQla TN.Alaa Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80526 i" iAt. wmwa_ii, i /3' i, � l �. �1 , fi � a ii s1.ID LI �u, - �moyb — J�-a y � -- r EgWvp I .;;- 17 Ii is �- o, I J// ,..ti"i— r- is i° k 1. & / f �`_ (i �`,,:ThCC:\\ J a � t m.o ml` WQrwa Ra. jwor"—'h — ta— .wawa_f'3t .4 I wo'.'u ne r- 5 Project: Northern Integrated Supply Project Corps File No. 200380509 Waterway: Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers Applicant. Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District ` {) \ } > \ }0 E. a 0. ,..‹ / } % A ,..1‘7b\ : .2 ce % \ . ■ © : < » ? k ^ ! ° a ` } ' J » \ . | ^© $ . ^42 ® - r. ) 6\ \ ■ ■ . co _Cl, - ^ ~ j% \ 2» }/ 2 � \ , dcv \ . is- w a. — c \ 2• $ C . ! , > \ § o &: J. ca 0 | ! / § , a fa el 1ntt oc _ Z• ix cli /7 CHANDLER J PETER DENVER REGULATORY OFFICE 9307 S WADSWORTH BLVD LITTLETON, CO 80128-6901 BILL GARCIA WELD COUNTY COMMISSIONER PO BOX 758 GREELEY, CO 80632 Hello