The Ashley Watershed Draft Plan-EA is now available for public review and the public comment period opened on Wednesday. This is for the Ashley Valley Watershed Flood and Irrigation Project in Uintah County. The lead federal agency on the project is the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. The project aims to provide flood damage prevention and reduction, improve agricultural water management, and address water loss. The Ashley Central Canal Company has been piping the canal to preserve the water for their customers who rely on it for their agriculture operations. The piping was met with some resistance, especially concerning the area known as Kids Canal along 1500 West from 500 South to 500 North. The environmental process performed by the US Department of Agriculture NRCS found that plans to pipe Kids Canal and ruin the recreational features would have an adverse effect on the community and needed mitigated. The new Draft Plan released on Wednesday includes those designs. The total project installation cost proposed is $19.6 million dollars with the Department of Agriculture providing the funds for approximately $16 million dollars. The draft Plan – EA can be accessed on the NRCS Project website. Comments can be emailed to email@ashleywatershed.com and must be postmarked by February 17th.
