[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 150 (Friday, August 3, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40719-40720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-19440]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency Basin Management Plan 
Update Project, Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
(EIS).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) proposes to 
prepare an EIS for Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency's (PVWMA) 
Basin Management Plan Update Project.
    The Proposed Action is the approval of the connection of a pipeline 
to the Santa Clara Conduit, the delivery to and use of Central Valley 
Project (CVP) water in the Pajaro Valley, and the funding for the 
design, planning, and construction of a recycled water facility. CVP 
water to be delivered includes an existing contract assignment from the 
Mercy Springs Water District to PVWMA, and additional CVP water 
supplies, including additional contract assignments as required to 
balance water demands with water supplies in the Pajaro Valley Basin. 
The facilities that would be constructed for the Proposed Action 
include a 23-mile-long pipeline and tertiary treatment facilities at 
the existing Watsonville Wastewater Treatment Plant. Once constructed, 
these facilities would be operated and maintained by the PVWMA to 
provide a long-term supplemental supply of water to balance water 
demands with water supplies in the Pajaro Valley Basin. The Proposed 
Action is intended to address groundwater overdraft and seawater 
intrusion problems in the Pajaro Valley Basin.
    Through an initial scoping meeting, Reclamation will seek public 
input on this and other alternatives for consideration in the EIS.

DATES: The scoping meeting will be held in Watsonville, California, on 
August 29, 2001, at 6 p.m.
    Submit written comments on the scope of the alternatives and 
impacts to be considered on or before October 2, 2001.

ADDRESSES: The scoping meeting will be held at the Watsonville Senior 
Center, 114 East 5th Street, Watsonville, CA 95076.
    Written comments on the scope of the alternatives and impacts to be 
considered should be sent to Mr. David Young, Bureau of Reclamation, 
South-Central California Area Office, 1243 N Street, Fresno, CA 93721-
1813; or by telephone at (559) 487-5127; or faxed to (559) 487-5130 
(TDD 559-487-5933).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Young, Bureau of 
Reclamation, (559) 487-5127; or Mr. Charles McNiesh, Pajaro Valley 
Water Management Agency, (831) 722-9292.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency

    The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PVWMA) was formed in 
1984 and was charged with protecting and managing the water supplies of 
the Pajaro Valley and developing additional water supplies necessary to 
meet existing and future water needs. The PVWMA was formed in response 
to groundwater overdraft and seawater intrusion problems in the 
groundwater basin, which were first identified in 1953. The PVWMA 
service area encompasses approximately 79,000 acres of irrigated 
agricultural lands and non-irrigated lands in Monterey, San Benito, and 
Santa Cruz Counties; the City of Watsonville; and the unincorporated 
communities of Pajaro, Freedom, Corralitos, and Aromas.

Basin Management Plan (BMP) Update Project

    The BMP Update is the water supply management plan developed by 
PVWMA to balance water demands with water supplies in the Pajaro Valley 
Basin. The draft BMP update will be available in the fall of 2001 (the 
last version, entitled the draft Basin Management Plan 2000, was 
published May 30, 2000). The BMP Update modifies water supply planning 
information presented in previous studies (including the Basin 
Management Plan, 1993), defines water supply planning objectives, and 
outlines a Local-Import Alternative and a Local-Only Alternative. The 
Proposed Actions to be evaluated in the EIS (connection of a pipeline 
to the Santa Clara Conduit, the delivery to and use of CVP water in the 
Pajaro Valley, and the funding for the design, planning, and 
construction of a recycled water facility) are associated primarily 
with the Local-Import Alternative; however, Federal funding for a 
recycled water facility is

[[Page 40720]]

proposed under both alternatives. The Local-Import Alternative involves 
the following improvements:
    1. Groundwater Banking Pipeline. A 23-mile-long, 54-inch-diameter 
pipeline is proposed to link the Pajaro Valley with the Santa Clara 
Conduit of the San Felipe water system. Water would be transported from 
the San Felipe system into the Pajaro Valley via the pipeline, allowing 
PVWMA to transport water from the CVP into the PVWMA service area. CVP 
water deliveries vary each year depending on water availability. The 
Proposed Action is based on in-lieu recharge of the groundwater basin. 
During wet years through normal years, PVWMA would provide surface 
water supplemented as necessary with the minimum quantity of 
groundwater necessary to meet demand. Consequently, during wet through 
normal years, the groundwater basin would be allowed to recharge. 
During dry to critically dry years when CVP water deliveries are cut 
back, PVWMA would rely on a commensurately greater quantity of 
groundwater to meet demand.
    2. Water Recycling Facilities. Tertiary treatment facilities, a 
pumping plant, and an associated distribution pipeline would be 
constructed at the existing Watsonville Wastewater Treatment Plant to 
provide a local water supply. To ensure that the quality of the 
recycled water would be sufficient for irrigating crops in the Pajaro 
Valley, the water would be blended with CVP water or groundwater. This 
is also a component of the Local-Only Alternative; however, the Local-
Only Alternative does not include receipt of CVP water and, 
consequently, groundwater and local surface supplies would be used for 
blending.

Previous Environmental Review

    PVWMA has already conducted an environmental review pursuant to 
CEQA and (NEPA) for components of the Local-Import Alternative, 
described below.
     Final Program Environmental Impact Report on the Pajaro 
Valley Water Basin Management Plan, certified by the PVWMA Board of 
Directors in December 1993. In 1993, PVWMA adopted a Basin Management 
Plan to identify a preferred water supply alternative for meeting 
supply needs. A programmatic EIR (PEIR) was developed for the BMP, 
which addressed water import and local supply concepts at a 
programmatic level.
     PVWMA Local Water Supply and Distribution Final 
Environmental Impact Report, certified by the PVWMA Board of Directors 
in May 1999. This document relied on the 1993 PEIR and further served 
as a project EIR, providing detailed, site-specific project-level 
impact and mitigation analysis for proposed local project components, 
and supported discretionary approvals and implementation without the 
need for further CEQA review. The local projects evaluated at a 
project-level of detail in that EIR include Harkins Slough, Murphy 
Crossing, College Lake, and the Coastal and Inland Distribution 
Systems. The EIR also evaluated treated effluent conveyance pipelines, 
but did not evaluate implementation of tertiary treatment and pumping 
facilities. Consequently, implementation of tertiary treatment and 
pumping facilities at the City of Watsonville's Wastewater Treatment 
Plant (WWTP) will be evaluated at a project-level of detail in the BMP 
Update EIR.
     CVP Water Supply Contract Assignment from Mercy Springs 
Water District (Contract No. 14-06-200-3365A) to Pajaro Valley Water 
Management Agency Final Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of 
No Significant Impact, approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Reclamation, on November 6, 1998. The Proposed Action 
evaluated in this document was the assignment of a portion of the Mercy 
Springs Water District's CVP Contract to PVWMA.
    The purpose of the scoping meeting is to receive comments regarding 
the appropriate scope of the EIS. PVWMA staff will make a brief 
presentation to describe the proposed project, its purpose and need, 
project alternatives, and scenarios for construction and operation. The 
public may comment on the environmental issues to be addressed in the 
EIS. If necessary due to large attendance, comments will be limited to 
5 minutes per speaker.
    Reclamation 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.

    Dated: July 16, 2001.
Frank Michny,
Regional Environmental Officer.
[FR Doc. 01-19440 Filed 8-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P