[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 10, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18656-18657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-8754]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Acquisition of Additional Water for Meeting the San Joaquin River 
Agreement Flow Objectives, 2000-2010

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Final Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Final SEIS/EIR).

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

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of 
Reclamation (Reclamation) and the San Joaquin River Group Authority 
(SJRGA) have prepared a joint Final SEIS/EIR for the acquisition of 
additional water for meeting the San Joaquin River Agreement Flow 
Objectives, 2001-2010. Reclamation and SJRGA prepared a Draft SEIS/EIR 
for the Proposed Action/Project in December 2000. This supplemental 
document covers minor additions to the Proposed Project/Action 
addressed in the Final EIS/EIR (1999 FEIS/EIR) prepared for Meeting 
Flow Objectives for the San Joaquin River Agreement (SJRA), 1999-2010 
(January 1999). The 1999 FEIS/EIR

[[Page 18657]]

documented the environmental consequences of acquiring and using flows 
specified in the SJRA.
    The purpose of the Proposed Project/Action is to supplement, under 
Paragraph 8 of the SJRA, the water provided by the SJRA that has been 
analyzed in the 1999 FEIS/EIR. The supplemental water consists of up to 
47,000 acre-feet from the Tuolumne and Merced Rivers to provide full 
Vernalis Adaptive Management Plan (VAMP) test flow conditions at 
Vernalis during ``double step years'' for water years 2001 through 
2010. This supplemental water may also assist Reclamation in meeting 
the Anadromous Fish Restoration Plan, Bay-Delta flow objectives as 
required by State Board Decision 1641, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service's 1995 Biological Opinion for Delta Smelt.
    The Proposed Project/Action area includes the Tuolumne, Merced, 
Stanislaus, and San Joaquin Rivers and related reservoirs and water 
districts in the counties of Tuolumne, Merced, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, 
Mariposa, and Calaveras.

DATES: No decision will be made on the Proposed Project/Action until at 
least 30 days after the release of the Final SEIS/EIR. After the 30-day 
waiting period, Reclamation will be preparing a Record of Decision 
which will state the action to be implemented and the factors leading 
to the agency's decision.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final SEIS/EIR may be requested from Mr. John 
Burke, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region, 2800 Cottage Way, MP-
410, Sacramento, CA 95825-1898, (916) 978-5556, or Mr. Dan Fults, 
SJRGA, 200 Capitol Mall, Suite 900, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 449-
3957.
    See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for locations where copies of 
the Final SEIS/EIR are available for public inspection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. John Burke, Reclamation, at (916) 
978-5556 [TDD (916) 978-5608]; or Mr. Dan Fults, SJRGA, at (916) 449-
3957.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SJRA was established to provide a level 
of protection equivalent to the San Joaquin River flow objectives 
contained in the State Water Resources Control Board's (SWRCB) 1995 
Water Quality Control Plan for the lower San Joaquin River and San 
Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary (Delta). A key part of the SJRA is the VAMP 
which is a scientifically based adaptive fishery management plan to 
help determine the relationships between flows, exports, and other 
factors on fish survival in this region of the Delta. The SWRCB adopted 
pertinent provisions of the SJRA on December 29, 1999, and issued its 
Revised Water Right Decision 1641 (D-1641) containing these provisions 
on March 15, 2000. D-1641 approved implementation of the VAMP through 
December 31, 2011.
    The 1999 FEIS/EIR was prepared in January 1999 by the SJRGA and 
Reclamation to meet CEQA and NEPA requirements to address environmental 
impacts associated with acquiring water to meet the flow objectives in 
the SJRA. This document addressed the need for up to 110,000 acre-feet 
to meet a 31-day spring pulse flow target in the San Joaquin River at 
Vernalis. The SJRA allows for willing sellers among the SJRGA to sell 
Reclamation additional water when the spring pulse flow target exceeds 
110,000 acre-feet. The 1999 FEIS/EIR prepared for the SJRA acknowledged 
the need for this additional water from willing sellers in some water 
years but did not address the environmental impacts associated with 
acquiring this supplemental water.
    The purpose of the Final SEIS/EIR is to update and supplement 
analyses presented in the 1999 FEIS/EIR to address the acquisition of 
up to 47,000 acre-feet of water annually during the 2001 through 2010 
water years.
    Copies of the Final SEIS/EIR are available for public inspection 
and review at the following locations:
     San Joaquin River Group Authority, 400 Capitol Mall, Suite 
900, Sacramento, California 95814; telephone: (916) 449-3957
     Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office Library, Building 67, 
Room 167, Denver Federal Center, 6th and Kipling, Denver, Colorado 
80225; telephone: (303) 445-2072
     Bureau of Reclamation, Public Affairs Office, 2800 Cottage 
Way, Sacramento, California 95825-1898; telephone: (916) 978-5100
     Natural Resources Library, U.S. Department of the 
Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Main Interior Building, Washington, DC 
20240-0001

    Dated: March 13, 2001.
Lowell F. Ploss,
Deputy Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 01-8754 Filed 4-9-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P