The Uinta Basin Replacement Project (UBRP) is a component of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project (CUP) located in Duchesne County, Utah, near Altamont, Upalco, and Roosevelt. It was authorized by Section 203(a) of the Central Utah Project Completion Act (CUPCA) as a partial replacement for water development planned under the unbuilt Uinta and Upalco Units.[1][2] The project stabilizes 13 high mountain lakes in the High Uintas Wilderness, enlarges Big Sand Wash Reservoir, provides municipal and industrial (M&I) water to Roosevelt City, supplies supplemental irrigation water, and improves instream flows and recreation resources in the basin.[3]
Congress enacted CUPCA (Pub. L. 102–575, Title II–VI) in 1992. Section 203(a) authorized construction of the Uinta Basin Replacement Project; Section 203(c) requires binding contracts for the purchase of project water supplies before federal funds can be expended.[4] A Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for UBRP was released for public review on February 12, 2001, and the Final EA and related decisions followed that year and in 2004 for mitigation features.[5][6][7]
Facilities and purposes
UBRP achieves its purposes through four principal features:[3]
High Mountain Lakes stabilization — Thirteen lakes in the Lake Fork River drainage within the High Uintas Wilderness were reconstructed and stabilized near natural elevations to improve wilderness values and sport fisheries; former irrigation storage was transferred to Big Sand Wash Reservoir.[3]
Big Sand Wash Feeder Diversion & Pipeline — A new diversion on the Lake Fork River and a 4.3 miles (6.9km) pipeline (diversion capacity about 70cfs) deliver water to Big Sand Wash Reservoir; the historic "C Canal" also continues to convey flows to the reservoir.[3]
Big Sand Wash Reservoir enlargement — The dam was raised 26 feet (7.9m), increasing active storage from about 12,100 to 24,100acre-feet and surface area from about 393 to 650acres; construction of the enlargement was completed in June 2007.[3][8]
Big Sand Wash–Roosevelt municipal pipeline — A new approximately 15 miles (24km) pipeline using a 30-inch diameter pipe (flow capacity about 35cfs) conveys M&I water to Roosevelt City.[3]
Project water supplies include roughly 3,000 acre-feet per year of M&I water for Roosevelt City and 2,500 acre-feet per year for supplemental irrigation, along with environmental and recreation enhancements such as improved instream flows on reaches of the Lake Fork River.[3]
Development timeline
Planning and environmental review occurred in 2001; construction of major features followed in the mid-2000s. The Big Sand Wash Diversion and Feeder Pipeline were completed in March 2004, and the Big Sand Wash Dam enlargement was completed in June 2007.[9][10]
Administration
The Central Utah Water Conservancy District (CUWCD) is the local sponsor responsible for construction of water development features; the U.S. Department of the Interior (CUPCA Office) oversees funding, compliance, and environmental mitigation in coordination with the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission.[3][11][12]
Media related to Uintah Basin at Wikimedia Commons
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
