[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 190 (Monday, October 1, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49943-49944]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24481]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 
for Upper Columbia Basin Alternative Flood Control and Fish Operations 
at Libby Dam, Montana; Hungry Horse Dam, Montana; and Grand Coulee Dam, 
Washington

AGENCY: US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), DoD and US Bureau of 
Reclamation (Bureau), Department of Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the US Army Corps of Engineers 
(Corps), and the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) propose to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on operational alternatives for 
the conservation of threatened and endangered species of fish listed 
for protection under the Endangered Species Act. (The Corps has 
responsibility for publishing the notice in the Federal Register and 
for preparing and filing the EIS.) Specifically, this EIS will address 
those operational actions for Libby, Hungry Horse, and Grand Coulee 
Dams identified by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the 
US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as Reasonable and Prudent 
Alternatives in their Biological Opinions (BiOps) both dated December 
21, 2000. Those BiOps call for the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of 
Reclamation to undertake various actions at their 14 main Federal 
Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) dams to assist in recovery of fish 
species listed under the Endangered Species Act in the Columbia River 
basin. Among those actions is implementation of an alternative flood 
control strategy, called variable discharge (variable Q, or VARQ), 
required at Libby and Hungry Horse Dams. This strategy has potential 
impacts in other parts of the Columbia system, and results in different 
operation at Grand Coulee Dam. All three reservoirs are storage 
reservoirs, and Libby and Hungry Horse are on headwater tributaries to 
the Columbia River, the Kootenai and South Fork Flathhead, 
respectively, while Grand Coulee is on the mainstream Columbia. Libby 
is a Corps project, and Hungry Horse and Grand Coulee are Bureau 
projects. VARQ is a flood control operation that reduces wintertime 
reservoir drawdown at Libby and Hungry Horse for floodwater storage 
compared to existing operation, and provides better assurance of 
reservoir refill in summer, to meet multiple water uses. The no-action 
alternative is called BASE-CRT63, and consists of the existing flood 
control operation.
    In addition, the NMFS BiOp calls for summer flow augmentation from 
Grand Coulee Dam for juvenile salmon out-migration, as well as 
provision for fall flows for lower Columbia chum salmon spawning and 
incubation. The USFWS BiOp calls for reduction of adverse effects of 
flow fluctuations on bull trout below Hungry Horse and Libby dams, and 
for maintenance of minimum year-round flows for bull trout.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the scoping 
process or preparation of the DEIS may be directed to Dr. Stephen 
Martin, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Environmental 
Resources Section, PO Box 3755, Seattle, Washington 98124-3755; 
telephone (206) 764-3631; e-mail [email protected]. mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Proposed Action

    The Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) comprises 14 major 
dams and a number of smaller ones. Libby, Hungry Horse and Grand Coulee 
dams are among the 14 large projects. The BiOps from the USFWS and NMFS 
were both issued on December 21, 2000, under Section 7 of the 
Endangered Species Act, as amended, in response to a Biological 
Assessment and supplementary information concerning effects of the 
FCRPS on listed stocks of white sturgeon, bull trout, salmon and 
steelhead in the Columbia and tributaries. Libby and Hungry Horse dams 
store water primarily for hydropower and flood control, as well as for 
other purposes such as fish and wildlife and recreation. Libby Dam is 
located at river mile (RM) 222 on the Kootenai River in northwestern 
Montana; when full, the reservoir (Lake Koocanusa) backs into southern 
British Columbia, Canada. Hungry Horse Dam is at RM 5 on the South Fork 
Flathead River, part of the Flathead/Clark Fork/Pend Oreille system, 
also in northwestern Montana. The two systems are adjacent to each 
other. Grand Coulee Dam is at RM 597 on the Columbia River in 
northeastern Washington State.
    In general, flood control using reservoirs involves maintaining the 
reservoir low enough to impound inflow from high-runoff events such as 
rainstorms and sudden snowmelts. In multipurpose storage reservoirs, it 
means drawing down the reservoir beginning in early fall through March 
or April to a surface elevation appropriate for the runoff forecast for 
the coming spring and summer (generally based on snowpack readings). 
Then refill begins, and the reservoir is generally full by the end of 
July, where it is maintained through August. For Libby, Hungry Horse 
and Grand Coulee, water passed through the dam is used for power 
generation, and lowering the reservoir elevation serves to meet 
increased power needs of the region in fall and winter.
    VARQ is an alternative flood control strategy intended to meet 
other needs by better assuring reservoir refill and higher spring 
flows, to come closer to natural snowmelt runoff conditions in the 
rivers. That runoff is impounded by Libby and Hungry Horse dams, which 
under normal operations released only minimum flows during that period. 
In the Kootenai River, starting in the 1990s, drawing down the 
reservoirs for power generation below the required flood control 
elevation has been curtailed in winter to allow water storage for flow 
augmentation in spring. In addition to benefiting sturgeon, it also 
benefits juvenile salmon outmigration in the lower Columbia River. 
Furthermore, August flow augmentation for Columbia salmon outmigration 
has also been provided from Libby in response to 1995 NMFS BiOp 
requirements.
    VARQ is related to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and 
Parks Integrated Rule Curves (IRCs) as an alternative flood control 
strategy. In lower and medium runoff-forecast years, compared to VARQ, 
IRCs allow deeper reservoir drawdown in winter, which benefits power.
    As called for by USFWS and NMFS BiOps, the Corps and Bureau are to 
implement VARQ at Libby and Hungry Horse dams, as well as other actions 
for benefit of listed fish stocks in the Columbia basin. If remaining 
studies of system flood control prove VARQ feasible, and other impacts 
are either not significant or can be mitigated, then it would be 
implemented the next winter following completion of NEPA documentation.

[[Page 49944]]

    Other operations to provide water in summer and fall for salmon 
outmigration, spawning and incubation are also part of the proposed 
action, as are reduction of adverse effects of flow fluctuation below 
Libby and Hungry Horse dams, and provision of minimum flows for bull 
trout.

2. Alternatives

    Alternatives to be evaluated will include existing operation (no-
action), which includes current flood control operation with flow 
augmentation in spring for white sturgeon, bull trout, and salmon; VARQ 
with spring and summer flow augmentation for fish; increased summertime 
drawdown of Lake Roosevelt (Grand Coulee Dam) to meet summer flow 
objectives for salmon; and fall flow augmentation for salmon spawning 
and incubation in the lower Columbia. The scoping process will be used 
to derive the full range of reasonable alternatives.

3. Scoping and Public Involvement

    Public involvement will be sought during the scoping and conduct of 
the study in accordance with NEPA procedures. Public meetings will be 
held in affected communities during scoping, and during public review 
of the DEIS. A public scoping process will be initiated to clarify 
issues of major concern, identify studies that might be needed in order 
to analyze and evaluate impacts, and obtain public input on the range 
and acceptability of alternatives. This notice of intent formally 
commences the joint scoping process under NEPA. As part of the scoping 
process, all affected Federal, State and local agencies, Native 
American Tribes, and other interested private organizations, including 
environmental interest groups, are invited to comment on the scope of 
the EIS. Comments are requested concerning project alternatives, 
mitigation measures, probable significant environmental impacts, and 
permits or other approvals that may be required.
    To date, the following issues of concern have been identified to be 
analyzed in depth in the draft EIS: (1) Flood control impacts on a 
local and a system-wide basis; (2) fisheries and other aquatic 
ecosystem impacts and benefits in affected reservoirs and downstream in 
the Kootenai and Flathead systems and on the mainstem Columbia; (3) 
effects of potential increase in frequency of spill and impacts from 
dissolved gas on aquatic organisms; (4) groundwater seepage in lands 
from prolonged high spring flows along the Kootenai River in Idaho; (5) 
levee integrity concerns from prolonged high spring flows along the 
Kootenai River in Idaho and British Columbia; (6) potential for 
increased suspension of sediments due to drawdown of Lake Roosevelt 
(Grand Coulee); (7) potential aerial transport of contaminants (mainly 
heavy metals) from exposed Lake Roosevelt sediments; (8) exposure, 
looting and vandalism of prehistoric artifacts and human remains along 
Lake Roosevelt; (9) recreational impacts on affected reservoirs; (10) 
Columbia system power generation impacts; and (11) power generation 
impacts at Canadian projects downstream of Libby Dam, a treaty issue.
    There are fish stocks listed under ESA that would be directly 
affected by the proposed action, including Kootenai River white 
sturgeon (endangered), bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) 
(threatened); various stocks of chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), 
chum (O. keta) and sockeye (O. nerka) salmon, and steelhead (O. 
mykiss).
    A notice of scoping meetings will be mailed to all involved 
agencies and individuals known to have an interest in this project. 
Scoping meetings are scheduled as follows:
    (1) Grand Coulee, Grant Co., Washington, Oct. 29, 2001.
    (2) Sandpoint, Bonner Co., Idaho, October 30, 2001.
    (3) Bonners Ferry, Boundary Co., Idaho, November 1, 2001.
    (4) Portland, Multnomah Co., Oregon, November 8, 2001.
    (5) Libby, Lincoln Co., Montana, November 13, 2001.
    (6) Eureka, Lincoln Co., Montana, November 14, 2001.
    (7) Kalispell, Flathead Co., Montana, November 15, 2001.
    These dates, or revised dates, as well as specific times and 
locations will be published in each town's newspaper approximately 30 
days before each meeting. Specific dates and times can also be verified 
by visiting the Corps of Engineers' website at www.nws.usace.army.mil/index.cfm. There will also be up to six government-to-government 
meetings with Tribal council members in affected areas. Verbal or 
written comments will be accepted at the scoping meetings, or written 
comments may be sent by regular or electronic mail to Stephen Martin at 
the above addresses on or before November 2, 2001. Ongoing 
communication with agencies, Native American tribes, public interest 
groups, and interested citizens will take place throughout the EIS 
development through the use of public meetings, mailings, and the 
Internet.

4. Other Environmental Review, Coordination and Permit Requirements

    The environmental review process will be comprehensive and will 
integrate and satisfy the requirements of NEPA, and other relevant 
Federal, State and local environmental laws. Other environmental 
review, coordination, and permit requirements may include preparation 
of a Clean Water Act, Section 404 evaluation by the Corps.

5. Schedule

    The draft EIS is scheduled for release in Fall, 2003.

Ralph H. Graves,
Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer.
[FR Doc. 01-24481 Filed 9-28-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-ER-M