The Bureau of Reclamation plans to construct and operate the Arkansas Valley Conduit (AVC), a project needed to deliver high quality water to meet existing and future municipal and industrial water demands for 40 communities in eastern Colorado. The project includes more than 200 miles of new pipeline, a new water treatment plant, and related storage, pumping and treatment facilities. ERO Resources evaluated impacts to natural and cultural resources, as well as potential impacts to reservoir and stream recreation for the alternative actions addressed in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). As part of the interdisciplinary team, ERO was responsible for evaluation of resource impacts and participated in consultation and coordination with cooperating agencies and the public. Included in that role was responsibility for the survey and evaluation of potential impacts to cultural and biological resources in the project area. ERO assisted Reclamation with consultation and coordination with the State Historic Preservation Office and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices and nongovernmental entities, and helped the Programmatic Agreement. Following the record of decision, ERO completed cultural resource survey of more than 200 miles of the preferred and no action alternatives and completed Phase I surveys to support land acquisition.
ERO prepared a formal Class I overview for the 227-mile long Arkansas Valley Conduit water pipeline. In order to provide comparison between the five alternatives, in an area with relatively few documented cultural resources, ERO developed a predictive model for estimating the number of surface and buried archaeological sites. Variables included age of landform and corresponding soil type over a 400,000 acre area.
For information on the current status of the AVC, please visit: https://www.secwcd.org/content/arkansas-valley-conduit