Green River... Older News Post, But Good Info

From Jackson Hole News:


Board mulls hearing on Upper Green dam
Water commission not convinced reservoir idea would fly, but may consider public views


Noah Brenner
December 26, 2007

The Wyoming Water Development Commission will meet Jan. 8 in Casper
to consider whether to hold a public hearing on a plan to build a dam
across the Upper Green River.

The idea of damming the Green River between Warren Bridge, where it
crosses Highway 191, and Green River lakes on the edge of the Bridger
Wilderness has been studied over the last 50 years.

The dam would be in Sublette County about 60 miles south of Jackson.

In September, the commission released a study that found a mainstem
dam on the Upper Green River would be prohibitively expensive, would
hurt instream flow and wetlands and would likely never receive a
federal construction permit.

That report was presented to the Wyoming Legislature's Select Water
Committee at a workshop meeting in August, and now the Water
Development Commission will decide whether to present the study to
the public at a formal meeting.

Wyoming Water Development Commission Director Mike Purcell said the
possibility of a public meeting does not mean the state is
considering moving ahead with a dam project.
"It is very premature to assume one darn thing is going to happen,"
Purcell said.

With the conclusions drawn in the state report, the idea would seem
to be dead, but Purcell said Dan Budd, a water development
commissioner who represents Sublette County, continues to push the
idea.

"I suggested that before we invest one more dime we ought to see what
the public thinks about it," Purcell said.

In theory, it only takes one "fatal flaw" to kill a reclamation
project. The two reservoir sites considered in the report have
numerous fatal flaws, according to analysis by water development
commission staff.

Condensed to 18 pages, the report details the costs and benefits of
two sites, the Upper and Lower Kendall Reservoir sites between
Kendall Bridge and Warren Bridge on the Green. Both dams would
require miles of canals and tunnels to bring the water to ranchers.
"It is doubtful, however, that the number of benefits or
beneficiaries would be sufficient to justify the expense for
constructing the project," the report states.

Besides the imbalance in the cost-benefit analysis, the report notes
that the state holds an instream flow permit on almost 10 miles of
the river to protect the fishery, most of which would be inundated by
the dam.

Since the middle of last century, the state of Wyoming has been
studying the feasibility of constructing a dam to impound the Green
River somewhere between Warren Bridge and Kendall Bridge or even
higher upstream at Green River Lakes. Repeatedly analysts and
consultants have told the state that the project is not permit-able
because there are no justifiable water shortages in the immediate
area and it could be environmentally damaging.

The area is prized for its recreation, wildlife and scenery, and is
popular with Teton County residents and anglers who find the river
less crowded than some public lands in Jackson Hole.

Wyoming has rights to water in the Green River but has not exercised
those rights fully. Some officials are wary of allowing the water to
flow out of state unused, even though the Colorado River Compact
protects Wyoming's ownership.

The reach of the river in question is eligible for protection under
the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the Pinedale Field Office of the
federal Bureau of Land Management and Bridger-Teton National Forest
have managed it for wild and scenic values. But the Pinedale Resource
Management Plan, which governs land use throughout the Pinedale Field
Office, is being revised.

The Upper Green River Joint Powers Board, with the help of the water
development commission continues to look at dam sites along the
Wyoming Range front that are "off-channel," meaning they would not
impound streams that flow year-round or on smaller tributaries.

The commission meets at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 8 at the Wyoming Game and
Fish offices in Casper. The building is at 3030 Energy Lane, and the
meeting will be in Suite 100.