[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12245-12246]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6471]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary


Notice of Intent (Notice) To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) and Hold Public Scoping Workshops on Water Resource 
Management Proposals in Churchill, Douglas, Lyon, Storey, and Washoe 
Counties, Nevada

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary--Water and Science, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of the Interior plans to hold four public 
scoping workshops to gather information that can be used to prepare an 
EIS on actions related to water resources in the Truckee and Carson 
Rivers. The purpose of this EIS is to review, in a comprehensive 
manner, four proposed actions and consider the environmental effects of 
those and other actions. The Truckee-Carson Coordination Office, acting 
on behalf of the Department of the Interior, will serve as lead agency 
and supervise preparation of the EIS. Cooperating federal agencies 
include Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service.

DATES: Public scoping workshops will be held at the following locations 
beginning at 7:00 pm and ending no later than 9:00 pm on the dates 
indicated:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Date                               Location            
------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 11, 1997........................  Fallon Convention Center,       
                                         Fallon, Nevada.                
March 13, 1997........................  Fernley Town Building, Fernley, 
                                         Nevada.                        
March 18, 1997........................  U.S. Geological Survey          
                                         Conference Room, Carson City,  
                                         Nevada.                        
March 20, 1997........................  Washoe County Commissioners     
                                         Chambers, Reno, Nevada.        
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Interested persons are encouraged to attend the workshops to 
identify and discuss major issues, concerns, opportunities, and 
alternatives that should be considered in the EIS. The workshops will 
begin with a brief presentation describing the proposed action followed 
by an opportunity for interested citizens to provide information 
relevant to the EIS preparation process. The primary purpose of the 
scoping workshops is to identify issues and information related to the 
proposed project rather than to debate those issues.
    These meetings supplement scoping meetings held in September 1995 
on three of the four proposed actions. Scoping comments submitted 
following those meetings will also be considered in preparing this EIS.
    The scoping period will begin on the date of the first scoping 
meeting and remain open through preparation of the EIS. Interested 
agencies, organizations, and individuals are asked to submit written 
comments on the scope of the environmental document on or before April 
28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are requested to send their written 
commnets on the scope of the environmental document, significant issues 
that should be addressed, and alternatives that should be considered to 
the following address: EIS Scoping Comments, Truckee-Carson 
Coordination Office, 1000 William Street, Suite 100, Carson City, 
Nevada 89701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Truckee and Carson Rivers flow eastward 
out of the Sierra Nevada mountains and drain to interior basins. The 
Truckee River terminates in Pyramid Lake; the Carson River terminates 
in the Stillwater wetlands and Carson Sink. Water rights disputes over 
waters of the Truckee and Carson Rivers date back to the 1860's during 
a period of booming regional mining and lumbering activity. Consumptive 
use of water from the two rivers increased significantly during the 
late 1880's and early 1900's with the advent of various irrigation 
developments, including the Newlands Irrigation Project, one of the 
first Federally funded irrigation projects. With the increasing growth 
and urbanization of the 20th Century, additional demands were placed on 
the Region's water supply. In addition, issues brought forward by the 
establishment of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation in 1859, 
and the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribes Indian Reservation in 1902 played 
a major role in the evolution of water-rights disputes in the region.
    Before the mid-1800's, all water in the Truckee River flowed into 
Pyramid Lake with overflows forming Winnemucca Lake, supporting fish 
populations essential to the life and economy of the Pyramid Lake 
Paiute Tribe. In Lahontan Valley, the Carson River flowed into vast 
wetlands that sustained major populations of waterfowl, shorebirds and 
other wildlife. A substantial population of Native Americans inhabited 
the wetlands and were dependent on its resources. Gradually, upstream 
consumptive use and changes to water quality in the two rivers 
contributed to the degradation of wetland and lake habitats and the 
species that depended on them. Substantial change was caused by the 
development of the Newlands Irrigation Project, authorized by the 
Reclamation Act of 1902.
    A majority of the Newlands Project acreage, known as the Carson 
Division, is located in the Carson River watershed. However, in most 
years, water entitlements in the Carson Division cannot be satisfied 
solely by Carson River flows. Varying quantities of Truckee River water 
are annually diverted out of the Truckee River watershed and away from 
Pyramid Lake to serve agriculture, wetlands, and other water rights in 
Lahontan Valley and in the Truckee Division of the Newlands Project. 
Primarily as a result of diversions for the Newlands Project, the level 
of Pyramid Lake began to decline and today, the lake is more than 65 
feet lower than it was 100 years ago. In addition, primary wetlands in 
Lahontan Valley, which historically fluctuated between 100,000 and 
300,000 acres in size, were reduced to a current average of 9,800 acres 
as a consequence of water use on the Carson River and prolonged 
drought. Today, remaining wetlands are primarily sustained by 
irrigation return flows, a portion of which can be of poor quality.
    Public Law 101-618, the Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights 
Settlement Act, was enacted in 1990. The Act assigned numerous diverse 
responsibilities to the Department of the Interior for initiating 
actions addressing, in part, wetlands, endangered species, and water 
resource management. The Department of the Interior also has 
responsibilities to satisfy settlement agreements, meet Newlands 
Project water rights, and properly protect resources held in trust for 
Indian tribes in the region.

Proposed Actions

    The EIS will consider the potential impacts of the proposed water 
resource management actions described above and the interrelationships 
of these waters.

[[Page 12246]]

    1. The Secretary is authorized and directed by Section 206(a) of 
the Act to acquire water and water rights to sustain, on a long-term 
average, 25,000 acres of primary wetland habitat in Lahontan Valley. 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is preparing a wetlands 
management plan detailing actions necessary to best manage water being 
acquired to sustain 25,000 acres of wetland habitat, including the 
timing of water applications to wetlands, and the volumes of acquired 
water to be applied.
    2. Section 207(a) directs the Secretary to expeditiously implement 
plans for the conservation and recovery of endangered cui-ui, a fish 
species found only in Pyramid Lake and the lower Truckee River. Section 
207(c)(1) authorizes the Secretary to acquire water and water rights to 
assist the conservation and recovery of the species. General recovery 
actions are authorized under the Endangered Species Act. The recovery 
objective stated in the Cui-ui Recovery Plan, completed by the Fish and 
Wildlife Service in 1992, is to improve the status of cui-ui so that 
the species has at least a 0.95 probability of persisting for 200 
years. This objective necessitates securing spawning habitat in the 
lower Truckee River and rearing habitat in Pyramid Lake as well as an 
avenue of passage for spawners and larvae.
    3. The Secretary is considering modifications to the Newlands 
Irrigation Project Operating Criteria and Procedures (OCAP). The OCAP 
were most recently modified in 1988 and in the intervening years, 
several factors which affect water management in the Project have 
changed. For example, the number of water-righted, irrigated acres in 
the Project has not expanded to meet predicted levels. Also, formulas 
used to calculate allowable diversions of Truckee River water to the 
Project need to be revised to reflect current and expected conditions 
within the Project. Short-term OCAP adjustments within the framework of 
the existing criteria and procedures are currently in preparation to 
account for changes in water demand assumptions and operational 
experience gained since 1988. The Department of the Interior will 
examine more fundamental potential revisions to OCAP in order to 
optimize the use of Project water to meet competing uses and legal 
responsibilities, including serving agricultural water rights, meeting 
trust responsibilities to the Pyramid Lake Paiute and Fallon Paiute-
Shoshone Tribes, conserving and recovering endangered fish species, 
restoring and protecting Lahontan Valley wetlands, and meeting other 
water demands.
    4. In October 1996, the United States signed the Truckee River 
Water Quality Settlement Agreement with the cities of Reno and Sparks, 
Washoe County, the State of Nevada, and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. 
The agreement resolves litigation over approval and operation of the 
Reno-Sparks water treatment facility brought by the Pyramid Lake Paiute 
Tribe against Reno, Sparks, the State of Nevada, and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency. Under terms of the agreement, the 
Department of the Interior will allocate $12 million over five years to 
acquire Truckee River water rights and dedicate them to a joint program 
to manage an equal quantity of water rights to be acquired by Reno, 
Sparks, and Washoe County for the purpose of improving water quality 
and instream flows in the Truckee River from Reno to Pyramid Lake. In 
addition, the Department of the Interior agreed to aid Reno, Sparks, 
and Washoe County in meeting water quality goals by storing acquired 
water in federal Truckee River reservoirs and timing releases to 
improve instream flows during normally dry periods of the summer and 
early fall.

Other Actions To Be Considered

    In addition, the EIS will consider an extensive list of proposed 
and active projects that may have cumulative impacts within the scope 
of this document. Two actions authorized under P.L. 101-618 are being 
reviewed in separate EISs. These are: (1) Modification of reservoir and 
river operations on the Truckee River as described in the Truckee River 
Operating Agreement draft EIS currently being prepared by the Bureau of 
Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and expected 
to be released in the spring of 1997; and (2) acquisition of water for 
development of wetlands at the terminus of the Carson River as 
described in the Lahontan Valley Wetlands Water Rights Acquisition 
Program final EIS released by the FWS in September 1996.
    Additional projects and actions to be considered include the new 
Operation and Maintenance contract for the Newlands Irrigation Project; 
possible agreement between the Department of the Interior and the 
Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe regarding water and water-rights 
management, acquisition, and protection; efforts of the Fish and 
Wildlife Service to acquire water from the Upper Carson River; 
implementation of the agreement with the Department of the Navy to 
conserve and transfer water from the Fallon Naval Air Station to the 
Fish and Wildlife Service; and possible water storage agreements for 
Lahontan Reservoir. The EIS proposed in this Notice will, as part of 
its analysis, consolidate and review the effects of these and other 
water management actions identified during the scoping process.
    This notice is being published, and the environmental review of 
this project will be completed, in accordance with Council on 
Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act (40 CFR 1508.22).

Tentative Schedule

    Estimated dates for completion of activities for an environmental 
impact statement evaluating the potential impacts of water resources 
management in the Truckee and Carson Rivers program are:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Milestone                              Date            
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Public Scoping Period.....................  April 1997.                 
Identification of Alternatives............  May 1997.                   
Draft EIS Published.......................  December 1997.              
Public Hearings on DEIS...................  January 1998.               
Final EIS filed with EPA..................  June 1998.                  
Implementation of Decisions...............  August 1998.                
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Dated: March 7, 1997.
Patricia J. Beneke,
Assistant Secretary--Water and Science.
[FR Doc. 97-6471 Filed 3-13-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-RK-M