[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 98 (Friday, May 21, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27819-27820]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12836]


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INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO


United States Section; Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Lower Colorado River Boundary and Capacity 
Preservation Project, Yuma County, AZ

AGENCY:United States Section, International Boundary and Water 
Commission, United States and Mexico.

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

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that, pursuant to section 
102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, 
the United States Section, International Boundary and Water Commission 
(USIBWC) proposes to gather information necessary for the preparation 
of an environmental impact statement (EIS). The EIS will address the 
impacts of preservation of the boundary and channel and carrying 
capacity, and maintenance activities by the USIBWC in the boundary 
section of the Colorado River. The project is located in Yuma County, 
Arizona. A public scoping meeting regarding this proposal will also be 
held. This notice is being provided as required by the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) and the 
USIBWC's Operational Procedures for Implementing Section 102 of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, published in the Federal 
Register September 2, 1981 (46 FR 44083-44094) to obtain suggestions 
and information from other agencies and the public on the scope of 
issues to be addressed in the EIS.

DATES: The USIBWC will conduct a public scoping meeting at the Yuma 
Civic and Convention Center, 1440 West Desert Hills Drive, Yuma, 
Arizona, on June 9, 1999, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Full public 
participation by interested federal, state, and local agencies as well 
as other interested organizations and the general public is encouraged 
during the scoping process which will end 45 days from the date of this 
notice. Public comments on the scope of the EIS, reasonable 
alternatives that should be considered, anticipated environmental 
problems, and actions that might be taken to address them are 
requested.

ADDRESSES: Comments will be accepted for 45-days following the date of 
this notice by Mr. Yusuf Farran, Division Engineer, Environmental 
Management Division, USIBWC, 4171 North Mesa Street, C-310, El Paso, 
Texas 79902. Telephone: 915/832-4148, Facsimile 915/832-4167, E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USIBWC proposes to gather information 
necessary for the preparation of an EIS to be used to determine 
specific options for the preservation of the boundary and channel and 
carrying capacity, and maintenance activities by the Lower Colorado 
River Boundary and Capacity Preservation Project (LCRBCPP) that could 
be implemented. Implementation would be conducted in a manner to 
minimize, consistent with the law and international agreements, the 
impact of the activities of the project on ecological and environmental 
resources in the project area. The project area is the 23.7 mile (38.2 
kilometer (km)) boundary segment of the Lower Colorado River from the 
Northerly International Boundary (NIB) to the Southerly

[[Page 27820]]

International Boundary (SIB) river reach bounded by the levees in 
Arizona and Baja California Norte, Mexico.
    The EIS will discuss separately, among other laws and regulations, 
the requirements of international agreements with Mexico regarding the 
preservation of the boundary and channel and carrying capacity, and 
maintenance activities considered for the project, the Endangered 
Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation 
Act and others, as appropriate. Studies will include an analysis of 
impacts of alternatives for preservation of the boundary and channel 
and carrying capacity, and maintenance activities in relation to 
baseline flood flow design capacity, floodplain and channel 
maintenance, changes in the international boundary channel since 1972, 
and effects from upstream sediment input. Alternatives could include 
channel excavation/dredging, channel realignment, and levee 
improvements, or a combination of these alternatives.
    The alternatives are influenced to varying degrees by obligations 
and rights reserved by the governments of the United States and Mexico 
in the Treaty for ``Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana 
Rivers and of the Rio Grande'' signed on February 3, 1944 (1944 Water 
Treaty), the ``Treaty to Resolve Pending Boundary Differences and 
Maintain the Rio Grande and Colorado Rivers as the International 
Boundary Between the United States of America and Mexico'' dated 
November 23, 1970, and international agreements concluded thereunder as 
International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico 
(IBWC) Minutes.
    The EIS will address impacts in the United States of activities in 
the United States related to alternatives for a long term boundary 
preservation and carrying capacity improvement project, the LCRBCPP, 
which is under consideration by the United States and Mexico for the 
project reach. None of these conditions can be dealt with effectively 
as a single issue or proposed project. The land and works located 
between the international boundary and the inside toe of the United 
States levee are owned, controlled and managed through several 
arrangements of a domestic, Federal and international nature. A range 
of options for the domestic and international activities encompassed in 
the study area of the Colorado River channel and floodway in the United 
States that could be implemented by the USIBWC will be considered. 
Operations and maintenance, in part, of the LCRBCPP fall within the 
realm of the international agreements governing the project and are 
therefore not a subject of the EIS. The USIBWC does not have unilateral 
control of all of the LCRBCPP and thus cannot make commitments which 
are international and controlled by the IBWC. The international and 
domestic activities are noted as follows.
    Morelos Dam, located 1.1 miles (1.8 km) downstream of NIB, is an 
international gated structure and weir spanning from levee to levee in 
the channel and floodplain used for a variety of requirements and 
agreements. The Colorado River clearing program is an international 
program and involves bank clearing to facilitate passage of the design 
flow of 140,000 cubic feet per second (3,960 cubic meters per second). 
Carrying capacity improvements is an emergency international program to 
assure deliveries of water to Mexico and consists of sediment removal. 
The hydrography program is an international program consisting of 
operations and maintenance of gaging stations. The boundary 
preservation program is an international floodplain management program 
designed to preserve and maintain the channel as the international 
boundary.
    United States floodplain features include incidental water systems 
consisting of a levee, bypass channel, and adjacent lands. Other 
features include the river floodplain consisting of access roads, water 
conveyance system components, farmlands, and vegetation in various 
stages of disturbance. The main channel is a United States floodplain 
feature which, upstream of Morelos Dam, carries flows which are 
allocated to Mexico by the 1944 Water Treaty, along with occasional 
high flows. Downstream of Morelos Dam, the channel carries only surface 
water from leakage from Morelos Dam and occasional high flows. There is 
more stream vegetation in the first 5.5 miles (8.9 km) below Morelos 
Dam than in the downstream portion to the SIB.
    The EIS will identify, describe, and evaluate the existing 
environmental, cultural, hydrological, socioeconomic and recreational 
resources; describe products for boundary mandates; explain channel 
carrying capacity, levee improvements and floodplain maintenance; and 
evaluate impacts associated with the alternatives under consideration. 
Significant issues which have been identified to be addressed in the 
EIS include, but are not limited to, affects on: (a) fish and wildlife; 
(b) endangered species; (c) terrestrial and aquatic habitats; (d) 
cultural resources; (e) river channel capacity; (f) international 
boundary alignment; and (g) water quality.
    External coordination will be conducted to include the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service to insure compliance with section 7 of 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, and the Fish and 
Wildlife Coordination Act. Cultural resources reconnaissance of the 
project area will be coordinated with the Arizona State Historic 
Preservation Officer. Coordination for the Clean Water Act will also be 
conducted, with the appropriate authorities.
    The environmental review of this project will be conducted in 
accordance with the requirements of NEPA, CEQ Regulations (40 CFR Parts 
1500-1508), other appropriate federal regulations, and the USIBWC 
procedures for compliance with those regulations. Copies of the EIS 
will be transmitted to federal and state agencies and other interested 
parties for comments and will be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency in accordance with 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 and USIBWC 
procedures.
    The USIBWC anticipates the Draft EIS will be made available to the 
public by approximately January, 2001.

    Dated: May 14, 1999.
William A. Wilcox, Jr.,
Legal Advisor.
[FR Doc. 99-12836 Filed 5-20-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7010-01-U