[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 47 (Friday, March 9, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14211-14212]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5909]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Implementation Agreement for Secretarial Actions Associated With 
California Parties' Proposed Quantification Settlement Agreement and 
Other Related Federal Actions, including Implementation of an 
Inadvertent Overrun Policy, Lower Colorado River, Arizona, California, 
and Nevada

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
(EIS) and initiation of scoping process.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, as amended, and the Council on Environmental Quality's 
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA, the 
Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) proposes to prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) concerning execution of an 
Implementation Agreement (IA), and implementation of other interrelated 
Federal actions. The IA is required to implement actions by the 
Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), that are necessary to make 
operative a proposed Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement 
(QSA) among certain California water agencies that hold contracts with 
the Secretary, for delivery of Colorado River water. The EIS will 
describe the potential environmental consequences of the following: 
Secretarial execution of the IA which, generally, would result in a 
change in the point of delivery of up to approximately 400,000 acre-
feet (AF) of Colorado River water per year; implementation of a lower 
Colorado River inadvertent overrun accounting and payback policy (IOP), 
intended to be implemented for a 30-year time period (see Federal 
Register, Vol. 66, No. 12, pages 4856-4858); and implementation of 
biological conservation measures related to the IA that were identified 
in the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) ``Biological Opinion for 
Interim Surplus Criteria, Secretarial Implementation Agreements, and 
Conservation Measures on the Lower Colorado River, Lake Mead to the 
Southerly International Boundary Arizona, California and Nevada,'' 
(Biological Opinion), dated January 12, 2001. This is to provide notice 
to potentially interested entities and the public regarding 
Reclamation's intent to prepare an EIS, and to request comments 
regarding the scope of the issues to be addressed and identification of 
significant issues related to the proposed action.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments concerning the proposed action or 
issues to be addressed in the EIS to Mr. Bruce D. Ellis, Phoenix Area 
Office, Bureau of Reclamation, PXAO-1500, P.O. Box 81169, Phoenix AZ 
85069-1169, with a copy to Ms. Gracie Chirieleison, Lower Colorado 
Region, Bureau of Reclamation, BCOO-1001, P.O. Box 61470, Boulder City, 
NV 89006-1470. Comments should be received by April 10, 2001.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual 
respondents may request that we withhold their home address from public 
disclosure, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There 
also may be circumstances in which we would withhold a respondent's 
identity from public disclosure, as allowable by law. If you wish us to 
withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at 
the beginning of your comment. We will make all submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, available for public disclosure in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning the process, 
potential alternatives, or this notice should be directed to Mr. Ellis 
at the Phoenix Area Office address above, telephone (602) 216-3854. To 
be placed on a mailing list for any subsequent information, please 
write or telephone Ms. Chirieleison at the Lower Colorado Regional 
Office address above, telephone (702) 293-8415 or fax (702) 293-8156.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Reclamation intends to prepare an EIS to 
describe the potential environmental consequences that would result 
from execution of the proposed IA with Coachella Valley Water District 
(CVWD), Imperial Irrigation District (IID), The Metropolitan Water 
District of Southern California (MWD), and San Diego County Water 
Authority (SDCWA) (collectively referred to as the ``California 
Parties''). The IA enumerates Secretarial approvals and/or actions that 
are needed to implement the proposed QSA. The proposed QSA is a 
consensual agreement among the California Parties for distribution and 
use of Colorado River water for a period of up to 75 years. The QSA is 
anticipated to be considered by the boards of directors of IID, CVWD, 
and MWD by December 2001, following completion of a final environmental 
impact report regarding implementation of the QSA. The QSA and IA are 
integral to the successful implementation of California's Draft 
Colorado River Water Use Plan (CA Plan), released for public review by 
the Colorado River Board of California. The purpose of the CA Plan is 
to ensure California limits its annual use of Colorado River water, 
starting in year 2016, to no more than 4,400,000 AF per year in normal 
years. Normal years are those in which 7,500,000 acre-feet are made 
available by the Secretary for beneficial consumptive use collectively 
in Lower Colorado River Division States (Arizona, California, and 
Nevada). The Department of Interior believes the proposed QSA cannot be 
lawfully carried out absent a fully executed IA.
    Federal actions identified in the IA to be covered by the EIS 
include approving changes in the point of delivery of up to 
approximately 400,000 AF of Colorado River water annually, from 
Imperial Dam to the intake of the Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA), 
located in Lake Havasu upstream of Parker Dam. Of this amount, between 
130,000 and 300,000 AF per year would be made available through 
conservation by IID. Of the total amount conserved by IID, between 
130,000 and 200,000 AF per year would be transferred to SDCWA. In 
accordance with an IID/SDCWA Water Transfer Agreement, SDCWA and MWD 
have executed an Exchange Agreement providing for delivery of the 
conserved water into the CRA and the delivery of a like amount of water 
to SDCWA through MWD's facilities. Through the QSA, an additional 
amount of up to 100,000 AF per year of water to be conserved by IID, 
would be made available to CVWD and, if not used by CVWD, to MWD. The 
change in the point of delivery of up to an additional 93,700 AF per 
year of Colorado River water would be authorized upon the conservation 
of an equal amount of water through the concrete lining of portions of 
the All American Canal (AAC) and Coachella Canal (CC). This conserved 
water would be used by MWD and the San Luis Rey Indian Water Rights 
Settlement parties in accordance with the terms of a proposed 
Allocation Agreement.
    Under the EIS' proposed action, in addition to the change in the 
point of delivery of Colorado River water, the Secretary, as Water 
Master, would deliver Priority 3a Colorado River contract water to IID 
in quantified amounts not to exceed 3,100,000 AF per year, less the 
amount of water conserved by IID and by the All American Canal Lining 
Project. The Secretary would also

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deliver Priority 3a Colorado River contract water to CVWD in quantified 
amounts not to exceed 330,000 AF per year exclusive of amounts 
associated with water conserved by IID and made available to CVWD and 
amounts exchanged by MWD with CVWD, less the amount of water conserved 
by the Coachella Canal Lining Project. This quantification would result 
from execution of the IA, in conjunction with the QSA.
    The EIS will also address potential effects of implementing an 
inadvertent overrun accounting and payback policy (IOP) regarding use 
of Colorado River by the Lower Colorado River Division States. In 
addition, the EIS will programmatically address the implementation of 
biological conservation measures related to the IA that have been 
identified in the FWS' Biological Opinion dated January 12, 2001.
    The project area of the EIS will generally include the lower 
Colorado River and its 100-year floodplain between Lake Mead and the 
southerly international boundary. The EIS will address effects in river 
flow between these two points along the lower Colorado River that would 
occur from the suite of Federal approvals/actions included in the 
Proposed Action. Changes in river flow could, in turn, potentially 
affect resources along the river (e.g., biological, cultural and 
recreational), Colorado River water quality, and power generation at 
Parker and Headgate Rock power plants. The EIS will also incorporate, 
by reference, analyses identified in various other NEPA and California 
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents related to local and 
regional effects resulting from implementation of the QSA.
    As indicated above, Reclamation received the Biological Opinion 
from the FWS and has completed Endangered Species Act (ESA) 
consultation requirements for the transfer of water and change in its 
point of delivery from Imperial Dam to Lake Havasu, and for the 
previously referenced conservation measures associated with the water 
transfers. Reclamation will work with the FWS, as appropriate, to 
determine if additional ESA compliance is necessary.
    Having reached agreement through the QSA, the California Parties 
are requesting Secretarial execution of the IA, which constitutes the 
proposed action that will be described in the EIS. A No Action 
Alternative will be included, against which potential environmental 
consequences resulting from implementing the proposed Federal actions 
will be compared.
    Reclamation is circulating this notice to provide the public with 
an opportunity to identify issues and concerns regarding this proposed 
action, to ensure that all relevant issues are evaluated in the EIS. 
All comments received in response to Reclamation's request for comments 
on the IOP, found in the Federal Register, Vol. 66, No. 12, pages 4856-
4858, will also be taken into consideration as part of the scoping 
process for this EIS. Reclamation will consult other Federal, State, 
Tribal and local agencies having specific expertise regarding 
environmental impacts related to the proposed actions.

    Dated: March 2, 2001.
Lorri J. Gray,
Assistant Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 01-5909 Filed 3-8-01; 8:45 am]
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