[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 41 (Thursday, February 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7803-7804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4670]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation


Proposed Long-Term Water Service Contract Renewal; Frenchman-
Cambridge and Bostwick Divisions; Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program; 
Nebraska and Kansas

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a draft environmental impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Sec. 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Reclamation 
(Reclamation) will prepare a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) 
on the proposed renewal of long-term water service contracts for the 
following irrigation districts in the Republican River basin (Basin) in 
Nebraska and Kansas: Frenchman-Cambridge, Frenchman Valley, Bostwick 
Irrigation District in Nebraska, and Kansas Bostwick No.2. Existing 
water service contracts begin to expire in December of 1996.
    The purpose of this action is to provide for the continued 
beneficial use of Federally developed water within the Basin. 
Reclamation is proposing to renew long-term water service contracts for 
the four irrigation districts in accordance with current law and policy 
while examining all reasonable alternatives to balance contemporary 
surface water needs within the Basin.
    Reclamation has scheduled a series of public information/scoping 
meetings in connection with the development of the draft EIS. These 
meetings have been scheduled to inform the public of the status of 
contract renewal, to allow for public comment on the preliminary 
management scenarios being evaluated in the draft Resource Management 
Assessment (RMA) process, to inform the public of significant issues 
identified to date, to identify additional significant issues that 
should be analyzed in the draft EIS, and to identify issues related to 
Indian trust assets. A draft EIS is expected to be completed and 
available for review and comment early in 1997.

DATES: The schedule for the scoping meetings is:

March 18, 7:00 p.m., Belleville, KS, Armory Building
March 19, 2:00 p.m., Manhattan, KS, Pottorf Hall in Cico Park
March 20, 2:00 p.m., Lincoln, NE, Quality Inn at the Airport
March 21, 7:00 p.m., Superior, NE, Superior High School
March 27, 7:00 p.m., McCook, NE, Fairgrounds Community Building
March 28, 7:00 p.m., Alma, NE, Alma Public School

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Jill Manring, Natural Resource 
Specialist, Bureau of Reclamation, Nebraska-Kansas Area Office, Post 
Office Box 1607, Grand Island, Nebraska 68802-1607; Telephone: (308) 
389-4557.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Reclamation constructed Bonny, Lovewell, and 
Enders reservoirs and Hugh Butler, Harry Strunk, and 

[[Page 7804]]
Swanson lakes in the Basin in the 1940's and 1950's pursuant to the 
Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program of the Flood Control Act of 1944. 
During this same period, the Corps of Engineers constructed Harlan 
County Lake and Milford Reservoir on the Republican River pursuant to 
the same authority. Only Milford Reservoir near the confluence of the 
Republican and Kansas rivers has no storage allocated to irrigation.
    Prior to initiating construction on the individual projects, 
Reclamation negotiated and entered into long-term water service 
contracts with the irrigation districts. The initial long-term water 
service contracts were issued for 40-year terms, became effective upon 
completion of the respective projects, and began to expire in December 
of 1996.
    The location of the reservoirs and irrigation districts within a 
common watershed and similar expiration dates for the water service 
contracts provided Reclamation an opportunity to evaluate the direct, 
indirect, and cumulative effects of long-term water service contract 
renewal from a watershed perspective. Reclamation initiated its 
watershed analysis by preparing the RMA to identify water-related 
resources within the Basin, document their historic and existing 
conditions, identify resource trends and/or predict future conditions, 
propose goals and objectives for resource management, and provide a 
framework for development of the range of alternatives necessary for 
the comprehensive EIS. Much of the information gathered for, and 
incorporated into, the RMA will be used to prepare the draft EIS.
    Prior to beginning the RMA, Reclamation held seven public 
information meetings in Nebraska and Kansas in March of 1995 to 
disseminate information about the environmental compliance and contract 
renewal processes and to identify existing sources of information, data 
gaps, and issues. Information obtained at these meetings helped 
identify concerns about resource management in the Basin, Indian trust 
assets, and data gaps which must be addressed during the NEPA 
compliance process.
    An extensive range of management scenarios will be formulated for 
the RMA that are unconstrained by existing law or regulation. The 
initial range of management scenarios includes over 40 options and 
varies from no change from current management to optimizing deliveries 
of water for irrigation at the expense of other beneficial uses to 
optimizing reservoir management for fisheries and recreation at the 
expense of irrigation to restoring the natural hydrograph to the degree 
possible under constraint of reduced base flows. All of the preliminary 
management scenarios will be evaluated in the RMA process through 
hydrologic modeling and other techniques to identify those scenarios 
which are considered feasible. It should be recognized that some of the 
management scenarios ultimately identified in the RMA may include 
actions beyond Reclamation's authority to implement. The RMA process 
will conclude with the identification of resource management goals and 
objectives and a broad range of feasible management scenarios. Further 
screening and evaluation during the environmental compliance process 
will produce an ultimate range of reasonable alternatives that will be 
considered and evaluated in detail in the EIS. Both the RMA and EIS 
will assess potential impacts to Indian trust assets.
    A special edition of the Republican River Roundup, a public 
information newsletter, is available from Ms. Judy O'Sullivan at the 
above address. The special edition of the newsletter includes an 
abstract of the draft RMA, information concerning management scenarios 
under consideration, and sample graphs and tables found in the RMA. The 
draft RMA is expected to be completed and available for review and 
comment at the scoping meetings or from Ms. O'Sullivan in late March. A 
draft EIS is expected to be completed and available for review and 
comment early in 1997.
    Anyone interested in additional information concerning the 
environmental compliance or water service contract renewal processes, 
having suggestions regarding significant environmental issues, or 
having input about concerns or issues related to Indian trust assets 
should contact Ms. Manring at the above address.

    Dated: February 23, 1996.
Neil Stessman,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 96-4670 Filed 2-28-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-94-P