[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 249 (Wednesday, December 27, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81894-81895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-32923]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
[DES 00-58]
Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR for Acquisition of Additional Water
for Meeting the San Joaquin River Agreement Flow Objectives, 2000-2010
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (DSEIS/EIR).
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of
Reclamation (Reclamation) and the San Joaquin River Group Authority
(SJRGA) are preparing a joint DSEIS/EIR for the acquisition of
additional water for meeting the San Joaquin River Agreement flow
objectives, 2001-2010. This document covers minor additions to the
Proposed Project/Action addressed in the Final EIS/EIR (FEIS/EIR)
prepared for Meeting Flow Objectives for the San Joaquin River
Agreement, 1999-2010 (January 1999). The FEIS/EIR documented the
environmental consequences of acquiring and using flows specified in
[[Page 81895]]
the San Joaquin River Agreement (SJRA).
The purpose of the Proposed Action is to supplement, under
Paragraph 8 of the SJRA, the water provided by the SJRA that has been
analyzed in the FEIS/EIR. The supplemental water consists of up to
47,000 acre-feet from the Tuolumne and Merced rivers to provide full
Vernalis Adaptive Management Plan (VAMP) test flow conditions at
Vernalis during ``double step years'' for water years 2001 through
2010. This supplemental water may also assist Reclamation in meeting
the Anadromous Fish Restoration Plan, Bay-Delta flow objectives as
required by State Board Decision 1641, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service's 1995 Biological Opinion for Delta Smelt.
The Proposed Project/Action area includes the Tuolumne, Merced,
Stanislaus, and San Joaquin Rivers and related reservoirs and water
districts in the counties of Tuolumne, Merced, Stanislaus, San Joaquin,
Mariposa, and Calaveras counties.
DATES: Submit written comments on the DSEIS/EIR on or before February
12, 2001. Comments may be submitted to Reclamation or SJRGA at the
addresses provided below. The public hearing on the DSEIS/EIR will be
held on February 1, 2001, at 1:30 p.m. in Sacramento.
ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held at the Federal Building at
2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California, in Conference Room 1003,
adjacent to the Cottage Cafe near the south building entrance.
Written comments on the DSEIS/EIR should be addressed to Mr. John
Burke, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region, 2800 Cottage Way, MP-
410, Sacramento, CA 95825-1898, or Mr. Dan Fults, San Joaquin River
Group Authority, 200 Capitol Mall, Suite 900, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Copies of the DSEIS/EIR may be requested from Mr. Dan Meier by
calling (916) 978-5559.
See Supplementary Information section for locations where copies of
the DSEIS/EIR are available for public inspection.
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home
addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual
respondents may request that we withhold their home address from public
disclosure, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There
also may be circumstances in which we would withhold a respondent's
identity from public disclosure, as allowable by law. If you wish us to
withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at
the beginning of your comment. We will make all submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, available for public disclosure in their entirety.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Dan Meier, Reclamation, at (916)
978-5559 (TDD 916/978-5608); or Mr. Dan Fults, SJRGA, at (916) 449-
3957.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SJRA was established to provide a level
of protection equivalent to the San Joaquin River flow objectives
contained in the State Water Resources Control Board's (SWRCB) 1995
Water Quality Control Plan for the lower San Joaquin River and San
Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary (Delta). A key part of the SJRA is the VAMP
which is a scientifically-based adaptive fishery management plan to
help determine the relationships between flows, exports, and other
factors on fish survival in this region of the Delta. The SWRCB adopted
pertinent provisions of the SJRA on December 29, 1999, and issued its
Revised Water Right Decision 1641 (D-1641) containing these provisions
on March 15, 2000. D-1641 approved implementation of the VAMP through
December 31, 2011.
SJRGA and Reclamation prepared the FEIS/EIR in January 1999 to meet
CEQA and NEPA requirements to address environmental impacts associated
with acquiring water to meet the flow objectives in the SJRA. This
document addressed the need for up to 110,000 acre-feet to meet a 31-
day spring pulse flow target in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis. The
SJRA allows for willing sellers among the SJRGA to sell Reclamation
additional water when the spring pulse flow target exceeds 110,000
acre-feet. The FEIS/EIR prepared for the SJRA acknowledged the need for
this additional water from willing sellers in some water years but did
not address the environmental impacts associated with acquiring this
supplemental water.
The purpose of the DSEIS/EIR is to update and supplement analyses
presented in the 1999 FEIS/EIR to address the acquisition of up to
47,000 acre-feet of water annually during the 2001 through 2010 water
years.
Copies of the DSEIS/EIR are available for public inspection and
review at the following locations:
San Joaquin River Group Authority, 400 Capitol Mall, Suite
900, Sacramento, CA 95814; telephone: (916) 449-3957
Bureau of Reclamation, Office of Policy, Room 7456, 1849 C
Street NW, Washington DC 20240; telephone: (202) 208-4662
Bureau of Reclamation, Reclamation Service Center Library,
Building 67, Room 167, Denver Federal Center, 6th and Kipling, Denver,
Colorado 80225; telephone: (303) 445-2072
Bureau of Reclamation, Public Affairs Office, 2800 Cottage
Way, Sacramento, California 95825-1898; telephone: (916) 978-5100
Natural Resources Library, U.S. Department of the
Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Main Interior Building, Washington DC
20240-0001
Hearing Process Information: A public hearing on the DSEIS/EIR will
be held on February 1, 2001. The public may provide verbal testimony on
the content of the environmental document at this hearing. Written
comments will also be accepted.
Dated: December 18, 2000.
Lester A. Snow,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 00-32923 Filed 12-26-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P