61778 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 206 / Wednesday, October 26, 2005 / Notices 

1The term off-highway wheeled motor vehicle in 

this proposal means ‘‘any (wheeled) motorized 

vehicle designed or capable of cross-country travel 

on or immediately over land, water, sand, snow, 

ice, marsh, swampland, or other natural terrain 

*** ’’ (Executive Order 11644, as amended). 

documentation for the EIS. Additional 

scoping will follow the release of the 

DEIS, expected in January 2006. This 

proposal also includes openings greater 

than 40 acres. A 60-day public review 

period was initiated with the scoping of 

this project on May 16, 2001. Approval 

to exceed the 40-acre limitation was 

received from the Regional Forester on 

March 21, 2003. 

Preliminary Issues that could be 

affected by proposed activities include 

aesthetics/scenery; air quality; 

economics; fuels treatment; future 

management accessibility; heritage 

resources; old growth; retention of live 

and dead trees; riparian areas; size of 

openings; soil compaction and 

productivity; threatened, endangered, 

sensitive, and management indicator 

specifies of wildlife, fish and plants; 

tribal treaty rights; and water quality. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review: A draft 

environmental impact statement will be 

prepared for comment. The comment 

period on the draft environmental 

impact statement will be 45 days from 

the date the Environmental Protection 

Agency publishes the notice of 

availability in the Federal Register. 

The Forest Service believes, at this 

early stage, it is important to give 

reviewers notice of several court rulings 

related to public participation in the 

environmental review process. First, 

reviewers of draft environmental impact 

statements must structure their 

participation in the environmental 

review of the proposal so that it is 

meaningful and alerts an agency to the 

reviewer’s position and contentions. 

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. 

NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 533 (1978). Also, 

environmental objections that could be 

raised at the draft environmental impact 

statement stage but that are not raised 

until after completion of the final 

environmental impact statement may be 

waived or dismissed by the courts. City 

of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016, 

1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin 

Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 

1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of 

these court rulings, it is very important 

that those interested in this proposed 

action participate by the close of the 45- 

day comment period so that substantive 

comments and objections are made 

available to the Forest Service at a time 

when it can meaningfully consider them 

and respond to them in the final 

environmental impact statement. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns on the proposed action, 

comments on the draft environmental 

impact statement should be as specific 

as possible. It is also helpful if 

comments refer to specific pages or 

chapters of the draft statement. 

Comments may also address the 

adequacy of the draft environmental 

impact statement or the merits of the 

alternatives formulated and discussed in 

the statement. Reviewers may wish to 

refer to the Council on Environmental 

Quality Regulations for implementing 

the procedural provisions of the 

National Environmental Policy Act at 40 

CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points. 

Comments received, including the 

names and addresses of those who 

comment, will be considered part of the 

public record on this proposal and will 

be available for public inspection. 

Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; 

Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Section 

21. 

Dated: October 19, 2005. 

Thomas K. Reilly, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 05–21334 Filed 10–25–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Eldorado National Forest, CA; Notice 

of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement To Designate Routes 

for Public Off-Highway Wheeled Motor 

Vehicles 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service will 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement to designate a portion of the 

inventoried routes on the Eldorado 

National Forest open to public offhighway wheeled motor vehicle 1 use, 

and assign the type of use(s) and season 

of use allowed on each road and trail or 

portion thereof. Inventoried routes not 

selected for designation for public offhighway wheeled motor vehicle use will 

be closed to public wheeled motor 

vehicles year round. Eldorado National 

Forest maintenance level 3, 4, and 5 

system roads subject to the Federal 

Highway Safety Act are currently 

designated open to highway legal 

vehicles. The Forest Supervisor will not 

propose to redesignate these roads for 

off-highway wheeled motor vehicles. 

The Rock Creek multi-use trail area on 

the Eldorado National Forest is not 

affected by this decision and is outside 

the scope of the project. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed 

action should be submitted within 30 

days of the date of publication of this 

Notice of Intent. The draft 

environmental impact statement is 

expected by June 2006 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in October 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

John D. Berry, Forest Supervisor, 

Eldorado National Forest, 100 Forni 

Road, Placerville, CA 95667. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Anthony V. Scardina, Route Designation 

Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Eldorado 

National Forest Supervisor’s Office by 

telephone at (530) 621–5276, FAX (530) 

621–5297, or by e-mail at 

ascardina@fs.fed.us. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

It is Forest Service policy to provide 

a diversity of road and trail 

opportunities for experiencing a variety 

of environments and modes of travel 

consistent with the National Forest 

recreation role and land capability (FSM 

2353.03(2)). Modes of travel include 

hiking, horseback riding, motor biking, 

and so forth (FSM 2353.2). The 

Eldorado National Forest Land and 

Resource Management Plan (ENF 

LRMP) prohibits wheeled vehicle travel 

off of designated roads, trails, and 

limited off-highway vehicle (OHV) use 

areas (Sierra Nevada Forest Plan 

Amendment (SNFPA) Record of 

Decision (ROD), January 2004, S&G 

#69). 

In recent years, the use of OHVs 

across the Eldorado National Forest has 

increased substantially. This increased 

use has led to development of usercreated trails, increased conflict 

between motorized and non-motorized 

uses; complaints about noise from 

adjacent landowners; and areas of 

degraded soil, water, vegetation, and 

wildlife habitat conditions. The current 

route inventory for Eldorado National 

Forest identified approximately 2,830 

miles of roads and trails currently 

receiving some level of OHV use. Of 

these, 2,110 miles of National Forest 

System roads and trails are managed for 

OHV use. 

The underlying need for this proposal 

is to designate routes for public offhighway wheeled motor vehicle use on 

the Eldorado National Forest. In meeting 

this need, the selection of designated 

routes shall achieve the following 

purposes: 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 206 / Wednesday, October 26, 2005 / Notices 61779 

Compliance With Code of Federal 

Regulation 

• Minimize damage to soil, 

watersheds, vegetation, or other 

resources (36 CFR 295.2(b)(1)). 

• Minimize soil erosion and 

compaction of soils resulting in loss of 

soil productivity and sedimentation to 

waterways. 

• Minimize disturbance and 

sedimentation to riparian areas, 

wetlands, and waterways adversely 

impacting fish, amphibians, and 

wildlife. 

• Minimize spread of invasive, nonnative, and noxious weeds along travel 

routes. 

• Minimize disturbance, 

displacement of artifacts, destruction, 

and malicious access (including theft) to 

historic and archaeological sites. 

• Prevent the creation of additional 

routes in environmentally sensitive 

areas. 

• Minimize harassment of wildlife or 

significant disruption of wildlife habitat 

(36 CFR 295.2(b)(2)). 

• Minimize disturbance and impacts 

to wildlife and botanical resources. 

• Minimize conflicts between offhighway vehicle use and other existing 

or proposed recreational uses of the 

same or neighboring public lands (36 

CFR 295.2(b)(3)). 

• Balance recreational uses, including 

campers, hunters, anglers, hikers, 

mountain biking, equestrians, wildlife 

viewers, photographers, and motorized 

OHV users, to minimize conflicts. 

• Minimize conflicts between 

motorized OHV use and other forest 

permittees (e.g., recreation residences, 

range permittees, campground 

concessionaires, outfitters, and guides). 

• Ensure the compatibility of OHV 

use with existing conditions in 

populated areas, taking into account 

noise and other factors (36 CFR 

295.2(b)(3)). 

• Minimize adverse impacts to air 

quality (e.g., dust and exhaust). 

• Minimize conflict between OHV 

use and private landowners (e.g., 

trespass, noise, dust, exhaust, 

vandalism). 

Compliance with standards and 

guidelines in the Eldorado National 

Forest Land and Resource Management 

Plan as amended by the Sierra Nevada 

Forest Plan Amendment, January 2004 

(Numerous standards and guidelines 

apply to the designation and use of OHV 

routes. However, the following 

standards and guidelines are those 

directly applicable to the purpose and 

need for this proposal). 

• Prohibit wheeled vehicle travel off 

of designated roads, trails, and limited 

OHV use areas (SNFPA ROD, Standard 

and Guideline 69, page 59). 

• Maintenance level 2 forest roads 

will generally be designated as open to 

green sticker OHV use unless adverse 

environmental impacts or conflicts with 

other uses are identified (ENF LRMP, 

Management Practice 27, page 4–83). 

• Selected maintenance level 1 forest 

roads (currently blocked) may be 

designated for OHV use if such use is 

not found to be in conflict with the 

original reason for closing the road ENF 

LRMP, Management Practice 27, page 4–

83). 

• Selected maintenance level 3, 4, 

and 5 Forest roads may be considered 

for combined use designation where 

their use would enhance opportunities 

for OHVs and would not conflict with 

other uses or resource considerations 

(ENF LRMP, Management Practice, page 

4–83). 

• In each deer herd winter range and 

fawning areas, motorized trails will be 

limited to an average of 2.5 miles per 

square mile. Open roads will be limited 

to an average of 2.5 miles per square 

mile (ENF LRMP, Management Practice 

27, page 4–84). 

• A closure plan will be instituted for 

motorized use, during wet weather 

periods to reduce damage to native 

surface trails. The plan will allow for 

trails to be open when soil conditions 

permit (ENF LRMP, Management 

Practice 27, page 4–84). 

• Stabilize the surface of roads 

available for all weather use (ENF 

LRMP, Management Practice 102, page 

4–107). Confine use to the dry seasons 

except on stabilized roads and trails 

(ENF LRMP, Management Practice 27, 

page 4–288). 

• Roads and trails for which required 

rights-of-way do not exist and those 

located predominantly on private land 

will not be designated for OHV use 

* * * (ENF LRMP, Management 

Practice 27, page 4–84). 

Consistency With the Memorandum of 

Intent Between the USDA Forest 

Service and the California Off-Highway 

Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission, 

and the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle 

Recreation Division of the California 

Department of Parks and Recreation 

• Designate OHV roads, trails, and 

specifically defined open areas for 

motorized wheeled vehicles on maps of 

the 19 National Forests in California. 

• Improve management of OHV use 

on National Forest System lands in 

California by accomplishing the 

following: ‘‘ * * * (3) designate trails, 

roads, and specifically defined open 

areas for OHV use; (4) develop Forest 

Orders to protect natural resources and 

aid law enforcement.* * * ’’

Compliance With the United States 

District Court for the Eastern District of 

California (Case CIV–S–02–0325 LKK/ 

JFM, August 16, 2005, Senior Judge 

Lawrence K. Karlton) 

• Issue a Final Environmental Impact 

Statement and Record of Decision on a 

new ENF OHV Plan to be consistent 

with regional guidelines for OHV route 

designation, with new national OHV 

regulations which the Forest Service 

expects will be promulgated later this 

year, and with the requirements of the 

National Environmental Policy Act and 

the National Forest Management Act. 

Additional Purpose and Needs 

Identified from Public Input 

• Provide for a safe and sustainable 

variety of OHV access and 

opportunities. Ensure a balance of 4X4, 

ATV, and motorcycle routes. 

• Provide motorized access to heavily 

used and traditional dispersed sites and 

destinations. 

• Consider designating existing nonsystem routes that create loops, thruroutes, and/or bypass sensitive areas. 

• Review and evaluate previous 

decisions of OHV road closures and 

restrictions. 

• Review and evaluate the current 

assignment of maintenance levels of 

system roads, and modify where 

appropriate. 

Proposed Action 

The Eldorado National Forest 

Supervisor proposes to designate 

National Forest System maintenance 

level 1 roads (‘‘closed to vehicular 

traffic’’), maintenance level 2 roads 

(‘‘open for use by high clearance 

vehicles’’), and system motorized trails 

open to specific types of public offhighway wheeled motor vehicle use and 

for season of use. Eldorado National 

Forest maintenance level 3, 4, and 5 

system roads subject to the Federal 

Highway Safety Act are currently 

designated open to highway legal 

vehicles. The Forest Supervisor will not 

propose to redesignate these roads for 

off-highway wheeled motor vehicles; 

however, portions of these roads may be 

designated for combined use of highway 

legal and off-highway wheeled motor 

vehicles. The Forest Supervisor will 

also consider non-system motor vehicle 

routes in the current route inventory for 

designation as system roads or trails or 

specific types of public off-highway 

wheeled motor vehicle use and for 

season of use. Entire roads or road 

segments may be added to the road 

system or assigned a dual designation as 

61780 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 206 / Wednesday, October 26, 2005 / Notices 

a National Forest System trail. This 

proposal specifically considers: 

• Approximately 590 miles of 

maintenance level 1 roads to be 

designated as system trails for ATVs 

and/or motorcycles. 

• Approximately 990 miles of 

maintenance level 2 roads to be 

designated for 4×4s, ATVs, and/or 

motorcycles. 

• Approximately 130 miles of native 

surface maintenance level 3 roads to be 

reassigned as maintenance level 2 roads 

for 4×4x, ATVs, and/or motorcycles. 

• Approximately 3 miles of 

maintenance level 3, 4, 5 roads to be 

designated for combined use of highway 

legal and off-highway wheeled motor 

vehicles. 

• Approximately 136 miles of system 

motorized trails to be designated for 

ATVs and/or motorcycles. 

• Approximately 11 miles of nonsystem routes in the current route 

inventory to be designated as 

maintenance level 2 roads for 4×4s, 

ATVs, and/or motorcycles. 

• Approximately 3 miles of nonsystem routes in the current route 

inventory to be designated as system 

trails for ATVs and/or motorcycles. 

All routes designated for public offhighway wheeled motor vehicle use will 

meet the standards and guidelines in the 

ENF LRMP as amended by the SNFPA. 

All native surface routes designated for 

public off-highway wheeled motor 

vehicle use will be closed from 

November 1 to May 1 each year. 

Inventoried routes not selected for 

designation for public off-highway 

wheeled motor vehicle use will be 

closed to public wheeled motor vehicles 

year round. The Rock Creek multi-use 

trail area on the Eldorado National 

Forest is not affected by this decision 

and is outside the scope of the project. 

Travel off of designated routes will be 

prohibited. Such designations and 

restrictions will be implemented by a 

issuing a forest order, pursuant to 36 

CFR 261. 

This proposal involves the 

designation of routes only and in no 

way authorizes any ground disturbing 

activities, including: (1) The 

construction of new routes; (2) the 

deconstruction or decommissioning of 

inventoried routes; (3) the 

reconstruction of road or trails; (4) the 

construction of trailheads, staging areas, 

or parking areas; (5) the installation of 

gates or barriers; (6) restoration/ 

rehabilitation projects; or (7) wheeled 

motor vehicle use of dispersed camping 

sites. 

The following uses are not affected by 

this decision and are outside the scope 

of the project: (1) Highway legal (nongreen sticker) vehicle use of National 

Forest System roads subject to the 

Federal Highway Safety Act, as well as 

state and county roads; (2) 

snowmobiles; (3) aircraft; (4) watercraft; 

(5) non-motorized uses (e.g. hiking, 

equestrian, mountain bikes); (6) search 

and rescue operations; (7) firefighting 

operations and other emergency 

incident operations; (8) law enforcement 

operations; (9) special events (event 

only trails); (10) permitted uses (e.g. 

woodcutting, livestock herding/fence 

maintenance); (11) administrative 

access; (12) government contractors (e.g. 

timber, construction, and service 

contractors); and Homeland Security 

and Defense Department operations; 

(13) access by wheelchairs (motorized or 

non-motorized); (14) legal ingress and 

egress to private land; (15) RS 2477 

claims and processes; (16) the Rock 

Creek multi-use trail area (under 

separate EIS and supplement); (17) the 

designation of inventoried roadless 

areas or proposed wilderness additions; 

and (18) changes to ENF LRMP land-use 

allocations. 

Responsible Official 

John D. Berry, Forest Supervisor, 

Eldorado National Forest, 100 Forni 

Road, Placerville, CA 95667. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The responsible official will decide 

whether to adopt and implement the 

proposed action, an alternative to the 

proposed action, or take no action to 

designate a portion of the inventoried 

routes on the Eldorado National Forest 

open to public off-highway wheeled 

motor vehicle use, and assign the type 

of use(s) and season of use allowed on 

each road and trail or portion thereof. 

Inventoried routes not selected for 

designation for public off-highway 

wheeled motor vehicle use will be 

closed to all wheeled motor vehicles 

year round. The Rock Creek multi-use 

trail area on the Eldorado National 

Forest is not affected by this decision 

and is outside the scope of the project. 

Travel off of designated routes will be 

prohibited. Such designations and 

restrictions will be implemented by a 

issuing a forest order (pursuant to 36 

CFR 261). 

Scoping Process 

Public participation will be especially 

important at several points during the 

analysis. The Forest Service will be 

seeking information, comments, and 

assistance from the Federal, State, and 

local agencies and other individuals or 

organizations who may be interested in 

or affected by the proposed action. 

The Notice of Intent is expected to be 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 29, 2005. The comment period 

on the proposed action will extend 30 

days from the date the Notice of Intent 

is published in the Federal Register. 

The draft environmental impact 

statement is expected to be filed with 

the Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) and to be available for public 

review by June 2006. EPA will publish 

a notice of availability of the draft EIS 

in the Federal Register. The comment 

period on the draft EIS will extend 45 

days from the date the EPA notice 

appears in the Federal Register. At that 

time, copies of the draft EIS will be 

distributed to interested and affected 

agencies, organizations, and members of 

the public for their review and 

comment. It is very important that those 

interested in the management of the 

Eldorado National Forest participate at 

that time. 

The final EIS is scheduled to be 

completed in October 2006. In the final 

EIS, the Forest Service is required to 

respond to substantive comments 

received during the comment period 

that pertain to the environmental 

consequences discussed in the draft EIS 

and applicable laws, regulations, and 

policies considered in making the 

decision regarding route designation. 

Substantive comments are defined as 

‘‘comments within the scope of the 

proposed action, specific to the 

proposed action, and have a direct 

relationship to the proposed action, and 

include supporting reasons for the 

Responsible Official to consider’’ (36 

CFR 215.2). Submission of substantive 

comments is a prerequisite for eligibility 

to appeal under the 36 CFR part 215 

regulations. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review 

The Forest Service believes, at this 

early stage, it is important to give 

reviewers notice of several court rulings 

related to public participation in the 

environmental review process. First, 

reviewers of draft supplemental 

environmental impact statements must 

structure their participation in the 

environmental review of the proposal so 

that it is meaningful and alerts an 

agency to the reviewer’s position and 

contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear 

Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 

(1978). Also, environmental objections 

that could be raised at the draft 

supplemental environmental impact 

statement stage but that are not raised 

until after completion of the final 

supplemental environmental impact 

statement may be waived or dismissed 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 206 / Wednesday, October 26, 2005 / Notices 61781 

by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 

803 F.2d 1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and 

Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 

F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). 

Because of these court rulings, it is very 

important that those interested in this 

proposed action participate by the close 

of the 45-day comment period so that 

substantive comments and objections 

are made available to the Forest Service 

at a time when it can meaningfully 

consider them and respond to them in 

the final supplemental environmental 

impact statement. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns on the proposed action, 

comments on the draft EIS should be as 

specific as possible. It is also helpful if 

comments refer to specific pages or 

chapters of the draft statement. 

Comments may also address the 

adequacy of the draft environmental 

impact statement or the merits of the 

alternatives formulated and discussed in 

the statement. Reviewers may wish to 

refer to the Council on Environmental 

Quality Regulations for implementing 

the procedural provisions of the 

National Environmental Policy Act at 40 

CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points. 

Comments received, including the 

names and addresses of those who 

comment, will be considered part of the 

public record on this proposed and will 

be available for public inspection. 

Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; 

Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Section 

21. 

Dated: October 20, 2005. 

John D. Berry, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 05–21340 Filed 10–25–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Rocky Mountain Region; Grand Mesa, 

Uncompahgre and Gunnison National 

Forest; Mesa County, CO; Hunter 

Reservoir Expansion Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: In order to provide additional 

water storage capacity for a growing 

population in the Grand Junction Area, 

Ute Water Conservancy District (UWCD) 

is proposing to enlarge Hunter Reservoir 

while also addressing dam safety issues. 

The existing reservoir is 16 surface 

acres. The proposed expanded reservoir 

would be approximately 80 surface 

acres. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

November 28, 2005. The draft 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in March 2006 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in September 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Hunter Reservoir Project, Grand Valley 

Ranger district, 2777 Crossroads Blvd, 

Unit 1, Grand Junction, Colorado 81506. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carrie Surber, Team leader at 

csurber@fs.fed.us or (970) 242–8211. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Ute Water 

Conservancy District (UWCD) has 

decreed water rights for 110 acre-feet 

(AF) of storage in Hunter Reservoir 

located near the headwaters of Leon 

Creek. Leon Creek is located on the 

northern slopes of the Grand Mesa, a 

prominent geologic feature in Mesa, 

Delta and Gunnison Counties in western 

Colorado. The Hunter Reservoir project 

location is located approximately 11 

miles south of Vega Reservoir in Section 

27, T. 11 S., R. 93 W. Sixth Principle 

Meridian, Mesa County, Colorado. 

UWCD also has conditional rights to 

store 582.5 AF more water at the Hunter 

Reservoir location. In addition to the 

Hunter Reservoir water rights, UWCD 

have conditional water rights for 5,650 

AF of storage at a Big Park site, also in 

the Leon Creek drainage basin 

downstream of Hunter Reservoir. UWCD 

has determined that a new dam at the 

Big Park site would not be economically 

feasible for the volume of water they 

would be allowed to store. UWCD 

desires to perfect its Big Park 

conditional water rights at the Hunter 

Reservoir location by enlarging the 

existing dam and reservoir. 

Irrespective of UWCD’s storage and 

conditional water right desires, the 

Colorado Dam Safety Engineer is 

requiring UWCD to make structural 

improvements to the existing Hunter 

Reservoir dam in order to keep using 

that facility to store water. 

UWCD would like to address both of 

these aspects of their water facility’s 

management and responsibilities by 

enlarging the dam at Hunter Reservoir to 

both rectify dam safety concerns and 

put their conditional water rights to 

beneficial use. 

The U.S.D.A Forest Service and the 

Army Corps of Engineers, as a requested 

cooperating agency, will prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

addressing the environmental 

consequences associated with 

rehabilitating the dam and enlarging the 

reservoir at the Hunter Reservoir 

location. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose of the proposed action is 

to bring the Hunter Reservoir dam into 

compliance with Colorado Dam Safety 

requirements and to enlarge the storage 

capacity of the reservoir so that UWCD 

can make beneficial use of its existing 

and conditional water rights in the Leon 

Creek drainage basin. 

The need for this combined action is 

to afford UWCD the ability to address 

both the dam safety and water right use 

aspects of their water facilities 

management and responsibilities in a 

manner that is environmentally, 

economically, and technically sound. 

The dam safety issues at Hunter 

Reservoir go back as far as 1964 when 

state inspection reports began to 

identify safety concerns at the existing 

dam. These 1964 concerns and others 

have continued to worsen to the extent 

that actions to rectify dam safety 

problems must be addressed by UWCD 

to continue operations at Hunter 

Reservoir. 

UWCD needs include providing a 

continued supply of water to meet the 

public needs for a service area that is 

experiencing continued and rapid 

growth. As a public utility, UWCD has 

a responsibility to operate and manage 

its facilities with respect to feature 

demand with sound environmental and 

economic management. 

This proposed action will also meet 

the intent of the 2004 Memorandum of 

Understanding (MOU) between the 

Rocky Mountain Region of the Forest 

Service and the State of Colorado, 

which states, in part, that the State and 

Forest Service agree to explore creative 

ways to assure continued operation of 

water use facilities on NFS lands while 

protecting aquatic resources, that 

conflicts are best avoided by careful 

advance planning and a spirit of 

cooperation, and that reauthorization of 

existing water facilities will be done in 

cooperation and collaboration with the 

holders of the permits and with other 

parties such as local governments, 

tribes, and state and federal agencies, as 

appropriate. 

Proposed Action 

The proposed action is to authorize 

Ute Water Conservancy District (UWCD) 

to enlarge Hunter Reservoir and 

rehabilitate the dam to address safety 

issues. The construction necessary to 

accomplish these actions is expected to 

take two summer seasons due to the 

high elevation of the Hunter Reservoir 

site. UWCD would like to begin 

construction in the summer of 2007 and 

anticipates completion at the end of the 

summer in 2008.