[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71949-71950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-34501]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Lower Mokelumne River Restoration Program, Lower Mokelumne River, 
California

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact report/
environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969 (as amended) Reclamation (Reclamation) proposes to participate in 
a joint Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIR/EIS) for the Lower Mokelumne River Restoration Program. Woodbridge 
Irrigation District (WID) will be the lead agency under the California 
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The project is intended to provide 
NEPA and CEQA clearance for implementing fish passage improvements at 
Woodbridge Dam and fish screen improvements at Woodbridge Canal and the 
North San Joaquin Water Conservation District diversion. Programmatic 
clearance is being sought for the riparian restoration and riparian 
diversion screening elements of the program. This work is being funded 
through a Category III grant provided by the CALFED Bay-Delta Program 
(CALFED) and administered by Reclamation.

DATES: Reclamation will seek public input on alternatives, concerns, 
and issues to be addressed in the EIR/EIS through scoping meetings to 
be held in January 1999. The schedule of the scoping meetings is as 
follows:
     Thursday, January 7, 1999, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Lodi, 
California.
     Wednesday, January 6, 1999, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in 
Sacramento, California.
    If special services are needed at the meetings, contact Mr. Anders 
Christensen at the address or telephone number listed below no later 
than December 30, 1998.
    Written comments on the scope of alternatives and impacts to be 
considered should be sent to WID at the address below by [insert date 
35 days after date of publication in the Federal Register]. Reclamation 
estimates that the draft EIR/EIS will be available for public review in 
summer 1999.

ADDRESSES: Meeting locations are: Lodi--Carnegie Forum at 305 West Pine 
Street in Lodi, California Sacramento--Jones & Stokes Associates, Inc., 
Auditorium at 2600 V Street in Sacramento, California.
    Written comments on the project scope should be sent to Anders 
Christensen, Woodbridge Irrigation District, 18777 N. Lower Sacramento 
Road, Woodbridge, CA 95258.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anders Christensen at (209) 369-6808 
or Buford Holt of Reclamation at (530) 275-1554.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: WID provides irrigation water for 
approximately 40,000 acres of farmland near the city of Lodi. WID's 
rights are based on riparian use before 1914 and other appropriative 
rights. Flashboards are placed in the WID dam (Woodbridge Dam) in late 
February or early March to begin filling Lodi Lake and to allow water 
to flow into Woodbridge Canal for delivery to WID customers. The 
flashboards are usually removed from the dam when the irrigation season 
ends in early November.
    The Lower Mokelumne River Restoration Program (LMRRP) was developed 
to implement important elements from resource management plans prepared 
by CALFED, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the California 
Department of Fish and Game (DFG). The goal of the LMRRP is to 
substantially increase fall-run chinook salmon and steelhead 
populations, enhance critical and limiting aquatic habitats, and 
restore riparian ecosystem integrity and diversity. The LMRRP comprises 
four major elements:

     Element 1: Improve fish passage.
     Element 2: Improve fish screening at Woodbridge and North 
San Joaquin Water Conservation District diversions.
     Element 3: Install or upgrade fish screens on riparian 
diversions.
     Element 4: Enhance riparian corridor.
    WID and the city of Lodi applied for a CALFED Category III grant to 
fund the LMRRP. CALFED has provided preliminary funding for final 
design and for environmental clearance and permitting for Elements 1 
and 2 of the LMRRP. WID and Reclamation will prepare the EIR/EIS using 
this funding. Because final design for Elements 3 and 4 has not yet 
been funded, it is anticipated that only programmatic environmental 
clearance will be sought for these two elements.

Element 1: Improve fish passage

    The LMRRP fish passage element seeks to improve upstream and 
downstream fish passage on the Lower Mokelumne River and to provide the 
opportunity to pass water of varying temperatures and pulse flows 
downstream of WID's diversion while maintaining WID's access to its 
water rights. Proposed alternative methods for implementing Element 1 
are described below under ``Alternatives Being Considered.''

Element 2: Improve fish screening at Woodbridge Canal and North San 
Joaquin Water Conservation District Diversions

    Improving fish screening at Woodbridge Canal and North San Joaquin 
Water Conservation District diversions would upgrade the fish screening 
facilities at the two largest diversions on the Lower Mokelumne River 
below Camanche Dam. New screens would be designed to meet all 
applicable DFG and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) criteria to 
ensure effective fish passage and minimize entrainment and impingement.

Element 3: Install or Upgrade Fish Screens on Riparian Diversions

    The riparian fish screening element would provide state-of-the-art 
fish screens at 58 unscreened or underscreened riparian diversions on 
the Lower Mokelumne River between Camanche Dam and its confluence with 
the Cosumnes River near Thornton. All new screens would be designed to 
meet all applicable DFG and NMFS criteria to ensure effective fish 
passage and minimize entrainment and impingement.

Element 4: Enhance Riparian Corridor

    The riparian corridor enhancement element includes bank erosion 
control, riparian plantings, the creation of buffer zones, and other 
techniques to restore and protect riparian vegetation to provide shaded 
riverine aquatic habitat for fish, reduce water temperatures, increase 
food production, and serve as a barrier between the river and adjacent 
land uses.

Alternatives Being Considered

    The project sponsors are considering alternatives to improve fish 
passage while maintaining WID's access to its

[[Page 71950]]

water rights. A first-phase screening process was conducted to narrow a 
list of 14 alternatives to a list of 5 feasible alternatives to be 
analyzed in the EIR/EIS. These alternatives include:
    1. No action. Under the No-Action Alternative, no physical changes 
to the structure or functions of Woodbridge Dam or the Woodbridge fish 
screen and bypass system would be made. The dam, fish screen, and 
bypass system would continue to operate as they currently operate.
    2. Build new fish passage facilities at Woodbridge Dam and replace 
fish screen bypass at Woodbridge Canal. Under this alternative, the 
problems with Woodbridge fish passage facilities would be corrected. 
Because upgrading existing facilities to state-of-the-art 
specifications is not feasible, new facilities would be built on the 
right abutment (facing downstream) of the dam. Another element of this 
alternative is the construction of a predator-isolation berm. This berm 
would extend east to west across the channel that connects the river to 
the oval, static portion of Lodi Lake. The berm would assist in 
separating predator species in the static portion of Lodi Lake from 
salmon and steelhead in the river.
    3. Remove Woodbridge Dam and pump water into Woodbridge Canal. 
Under this alternative, Woodbridge Dam would be removed and water to 
serve WID customers would be obtained by pumping water from the 
Mokelumne River into the Woodbridge Canal. A pump station with a state-
of-the-art fish screen would be constructed near the existing diversion 
structure. Additionally, a river control structure would need to be 
constructed to direct river flows toward the pumps and to keep the 
pumps submerged.
    4. Replace Woodbridge Dam with a new dam incorporating state-of-
the-art fish passage facilities (proposed project). The proposed 
project involves removing the existing Woodbridge Dam and constructing 
an adjustable weir dam immediately upstream. This dam would include new 
state-of-the-art fish passage facilities, a downstream hydraulic 
control system to manage tailwater elevations at the entrances to the 
fish ladders, a gated system for the downstream release of water from 
different strata for temperature control, and the capability of 
providing releases across a wider spectrum of flow levels (0-800 cubic 
feet per second [cfs]) without spillage across the dam face to improve 
responsiveness to fish flow needs. It would also include the predator-
isolation berm described under Alternative 2.
    5. Shorten period of flashboard placement in Woodbridge Dam and 
install diversion pumps. This alternative is based on the assumption 
that significant improvements to fish migration can be achieved by 
removing the flashboards at Woodbridge Dam from March through June to 
improve downstream migration of juvenile salmon and steelhead. To 
accommodate WID's need to divert water during that period, diversion 
pumps would be installed and a river control structure would be 
constructed to direct river flows toward the pumps and to keep the 
pumps submerged. This alternative would also include the predator-
isolation berm described under Alternative 2.
    The project sponsors are also considering the following option 
which could be implemented with any of the alternatives that include a 
dam.
    Construct a stratification sill in front of the WID diversion 
structure and a new deepwater discharge outlet in the dam. This option 
is based on the assumption that a shortage of cool water below 
Woodbridge Dam is a limiting factor for salmon during their smolt out-
migration life stage and that such cool water is available in Lodi 
Lake. The intent is to provide warm water for the Woodbridge Canal and 
to allow cool water to flow downstream of Woodbridge Dam. The cool 
water would also be used to guide fish away from the diversion to the 
bypass canal that would lead them to the river below the dam.

Scoping Process

    Scoping is an early and open process designed to determine the 
significant issues and alternatives to be addressed in the EIR/EIS. 
Following are significant issues that have been identified: fisheries, 
riparian and wetland habitats, wildlife, water quality, aesthetics, 
recreation, and public health and safety.

Special Services

    If special services are required at the meeting, contact Anders 
Christensen. Please notify Mr. Christensen as far in advance of the 
meetings as possible but no later than December 30, 1998, to enable WID 
to secure the needed services. If a request cannot be honored, the 
requestor will be notified. A telephone device for the hearing impaired 
(TDD) is not available.

    Dated: December 22, 1998.
Jeffrey McCracken,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 98-34501 Filed 12-29-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-94-P