[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6206-6208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-2971]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Proposed Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) Interim 
Land Retirement Program, Central Valley Project (CVP), California

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a programmatic environmental 
assessment and notice of scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA), and the Council of Environmental Quality Regulations 
(40 CFR 1506.6), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) announces the 
intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Assessment (EA) for the 
proposed CVPIA Interim Land Retirement Program. The proposed action 
supports implementation of section 3408(h) of the CVPIA, Pub. L. 102-
575, which authorized the Land Retirement Program, based on 
recommendations contained in the final report of the San Joaquin Valley 
Drainage Program (SJVDP, September 1990).
    The purpose of the proposed action is to identify potential impacts 
to the environment from the permanent retirement of land and the 
disposition of any water allocation that may be acquired under this 
program. Disposition of water may include out-of-district transfers, 
primarily for environmental purposes, or the water may stay within a 
district to be used to establish vegetation for the purposes of 
wildlife habitat enhancement and drainage reduction, or the water may 
be reallocated among the district's water users as supplemental water. 
Regardless of where the water is to be used or for what purpose, the 
water may not be applied to lands where it will contribute to drainage 
problems, as set forth in the interim program guidelines (revised 11/
97). The need of the proposed action is to reduce subsurface drainage 
and restore wildlife habitat values in the San Joaquin Valley. The 
action complements the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Draft Recovery 
Plan for Upland Species of the San Joaquin Valley, California, 1997.
    The chief area of concern is the western side of the San Joaquin 
Valley from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on the north to the 
Tehachapi Mountains south of Bakersfield, California. The Proposed 
Action will focus on the federal CVP service area within this region.

DATES: Public scoping meetings to receive oral and written comments 
will be held on the following dates:
     Tuesday, February 24, 1998, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., 
Delano, California.
     Wednesday, February 25, 1998, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and 
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Fresno, California.
     Thursday, February 26, 1998, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., Santa 
Nella, California.
    Written comments on the project scope should be sent to Reclamation 
by March 18, 1998. Comments received after this date will be 
considered, but will not be included in the resulting scoping report.

ADDRESSES: Public scoping meetings will be held at the following 
locations:
     The Fruit Tree, 2343 Gerard Street, Delano, California 
93215, telephone (805) 725-9532.

[[Page 6207]]

     The Fresno Holiday Inn Airport, 5090 East Clinton Avenue, 
Fresno, California 93727, telephone (209) 252-3611.
     Anderson's Pea Soup, 12411 North Howard Street, Santa 
Nella, California 95322, telephone (209) 826-1685.
    Written comments on the project scope should be sent to Mr. Robert 
May, Program Manager, South-Central California Area Office, Bureau of 
Reclamation, 2666 N. Grove Industrial Drive, Fresno, CA 93727-1551.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Mr. May, telephone (209) 487-5137, 
fax (209) 487-5130.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A comprehensive study of agricultural 
drainage and drainage-related problems on the west side of the San 
Joaquin Valley resulted in the management plan presented in the SJVDP 
final report, an interagency study, published in 1990. This report 
found that the conditions associated with irrigation and agricultural 
drainage in the San Joaquin Valley are not new, as inadequate drainage 
and accumulation of salts have been persistent problems in parts of the 
valley for more than a century, making some cultivated lands unusable 
as far back as the 1880's. Widespread acreages of grain, first planted 
on the western side of the valley in the 1870's, were irrigated with 
water from the San Joaquin and Kings rivers. This type of farming 
spread until, by the 1890's, the rivers' natural flows were no longer 
adequate to meet the growing agricultural demand for water. Poor 
natural drainage conditions, coupled with rising groundwater levels and 
increasing soil salinity, meant that land had to be removed from 
production and some farms ultimately abandoned.
    The development of irrigated agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley 
since 1900 resulted mainly from the improvements in pump technology. 
These improvements led to the development of large pumps that could 
lift water hundreds of feet from below ground. In time, heavy pumping 
triggered severe groundwater overdraft because more water was being 
extracted than was being replaced naturally. Ground water levels and 
hydraulic pressure fell rapidly and widespread land subsidence, or 
collapse of the soil's structure, began to occur. Subsidence results in 
an uneven land surface which can alter drainage patterns and may 
severely damage roads, buildings, or other structures. In western 
Fresno County some areas have subsided more than 30 feet. By the late 
1950's, estimated overdraft in Kern County alone had reached 750,000 
acre-feet per year.
    Initial facilities of the federal Central Valley Project 
transported water from northern California through the Sacramento-San 
Joaquin Delta region via the Delta-Mendota Canal in 1951 to irrigate 
600,000 acres of land in the northern part of the San Joaquin Valley. 
This water primarily replaced and supplemented San Joaquin River water 
that was diverted at Friant Dam and sent to the southern end of the 
east side of the San Joaquin Valley.
    The CVP's San Luis Unit and the State Water Project, each 
authorized in 1960, began delivering Northern California water to 
agricultural lands on the west side of the southern San Joaquin Valley 
in 1968. Together these facilities provide water to irrigate 1 million 
acres. Authorization of the San Luis Unit also mandated construction of 
an interceptor drain known as the San Luis Drain, to collect irrigation 
drainage water from its service area and carry it to the Sacramento-San 
Joaquin River Delta for disposal. Reclamation's 1955 feasibility report 
for the San Luis Unit described the drain as an earthen ditch that 
would drain 96,000 acres. By 1962, Reclamation's studies had shown the 
need to build a concrete-lined canal to drain 300,000 acres. In 1964, 
plans added a regulating reservoir to temporarily retain drainage 
water. A decision was made in the mid-1970's to use the reservoir to 
store and evaporate drainage water until the drainage canal to the 
Delta could be completed.
    Reclamation began construction of the San Luis Drain in 1968, and 
by 1975 had completed 85 miles of the main drain, 120 miles of 
collector drains, and the first phase of the regulating reservoir 
(Kesterson). In 1970, Kesterson Reservoir became part of a new national 
wildlife refuge managed jointly by Reclamation and the U.S. Fish & 
Wildlife Service (USFWS). Federal budget constraints and growing 
environmental concerns about releasing irrigation drainage water into 
the Delta halted work on the reservoir and the drain.
    In 1975, Reclamation, the California Department of Water Resources 
and the State Water Resources Control Board formed the San Joaquin 
Valley Interagency Drainage Program to find a solution to the valley's 
drainage problem that would be economically, environmentally, and 
politically acceptable. The group's recommendation was to complete the 
drain to a discharge point in the Delta, near Chipp's Island. In 1981, 
Reclamation began a special study to fulfill requirements for a 
discharge permit from the State Water Resources Control Board.
    The 1983 discovery of deformities and deaths of aquatic birds at 
Kesterson Reservoir altered the perception of drainage problems on the 
west side of the valley. Selenium poisoning was determined to be the 
probable culprit. In 1985, the Secretary of the Interior ordered that 
the discharge of drainage water to Kesterson be halted and the feeder 
drains closed. In 1986 Kesterson Reservoir was closed and the 
vegetation plowed under. Contamination problems similar to those 
identified at Kesterson are now appearing in other parts of the Valley, 
such as the Tulare Basin, which receives irrigation water from the 
State Water Project.
    In 1984 the SJVDP was established as a joint Federal and State 
effort to investigate drainage and drainage-related problems and to 
identify possible solutions. The potential solutions were published in 
the program's September 1990 report. Due to environmental and political 
concerns, the report assumes that an out-of-valley solution, or 
completion of the San Luis Drain to the Delta would not be possible in 
the near future.
    The concept behind land retirement is to stop irrigating lands with 
poor drainage and shallow groundwater high in concentrations of 
selenium, as a means of lowering the water table. Hydrologic studies 
have shown that if large blocks of land (+/-5,000 acres) were retired 
from irrigation, then the water table beneath those lands would drop.
    The SJVDP final report recommended permanent retirement of 75,000 
acres of irrigated lands that are characterized by low productivity, 
poor drainage, and high selenium concentration in shallow groundwater. 
Land retirement will cease irrigation on these selected lands as a 
means to reduce subsurface drainage problems. Additionally, retired 
lands will be rehabilitated to provide wildlife habitat. The chief area 
of concern is the western side of the San Joaquin Valley from the 
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on the north to the Tehachapi Mountains 
south of Bakersfield, California. The Proposed Action will focus on the 
federal CVP service area within this region.

Land Retirement Team

    With the passage of the CVPIA in October 1992, Reclamation's 
Central Valley Water Project's (CVP) mission was changed to modify 
water flows to better support the needs of fish and wildlife throughout 
the project area. With the development of modern agriculture, 
railroads, and the highway

[[Page 6208]]

system, the face of California's landscape was changed forever, and 
over time the majority of the San Joaquin Valley's natural habitats 
have been converted to agricultural or urban uses.
    Reclamation, a Department of the Interior agency, has 
responsibility for management of the CVP. In order to implement the 
provisions of the CVPIA as the people had intended, Reclamation needed 
the help of its sister agencies, the USFWS, and the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM). These three agencies share the mission to protect and 
enhance the nation's natural resources for the continuing benefit of 
the American people. In particular, the USFWS and the BLM will act as 
the land managers for lands acquired under the land retirement program. 
Representatives from these three agencies make up the land retirement 
team and will work in partnership to accomplish the goals of the 
program.

Eligibility

    Lands eligible for participation in the Land Retirement Program are 
those that receive CVP water under a contract executed with the United 
States, and are offered by willing sellers. Reclamation will not use 
condemnation to acquire land or other property interests.

Program Goals

    The goals of the program are to:
     Provide drainage source reduction.
     Enhance fish & wildlife habitat.
     Acquire water for other purposes of the Act.

Potential Issues

    It is anticipated that there may be some effect on local 
governments in the form of a loss to the tax base due to lands moving 
from private ownership to the tax-exempt Federal ownership status. 
There may be impacts to the local economy by taking irrigated 
agricultural lands out of production. There is some concern that the 
change in land use may result in soil degradation or increasing the 
salt content of the soil. Additional potential issues may arise, 
depending upon whether acquired water remains in the water district or 
is transferred out-of-district. Land retirement may have an effect on 
present and future available water supplies. Additionally, it is 
anticipated that there will be benefits to wildlife from the change in 
land use on the acquired parcels.
    Federal, State and local agencies, and interested individuals are 
encouraged to participate in the scoping process for the EA to 
determine the range of issues and alternatives to be addressed.

    Dated: February 2, 1998.
William Luce,
Area Manager, South-Central California Area Office.
[FR Doc. 98-2971 Filed 2-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-94-P