[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 2, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50213-50214]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24564]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


San Luis Unit Feature Reevaluation, Central Valley Project, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

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

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

SUMMARY: The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation 
(Reclamation), will prepare an EIS, pursuant to the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to evaluate proposed actions to 
provide long-term drainage service to the San Luis Unit (SLU) of the 
Central Valley Project (CVP). Proposed drainage service alternatives 
will be selected on the basis of criteria adopted to maintain 
environmental quality and provide for continued agricultural production 
in a manner consistent with the Plan of Action filed April 18, 2001, in 
Sumner Peck Ranch, Inc., et al., v. Bureau of Reclamation, et al.

DATES: Two scoping meetings will be held to solicit comments from 
interested parties to assist in determining the scope of the 
environmental analysis and to identify the significant issues related 
to this proposed action. The meeting dates are:
     Wednesday, November 14, 2001, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Fresno, 
California
     Thursday, November 15, 2001, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., 
Concord, California
    Written comments on the scope of the environmental document should 
be mailed to Reclamation at the address below by November 30, 2001.

ADDRESSES: The meeting locations are as follows:
     Fresno at Piccadilly Inn University, Broadmoor Room, 4961 
N. Cedar Avenue
     Concord at Hilton Hotel, Seminar 4 Room, 1970 Diamond 
Boulevard
    Written comments on the scope of the alternatives and impacts to be 
considered should be sent to Mr. Michael Delamore, Bureau of 
Reclamation, South-Central California Area Office, 1243 N Street, 
Fresno CA 93721-1813; or by telephone at (559) 487-5039; or faxed to 
(559) 487-5130 (TDD 559-487-5933).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jason Phillips, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Division of Planning, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 
95825 or by telephone at (559) 487-5070 (TDD 916-978-5608).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Act of June 3, 1960 (Pub. L. No. 88-
488), which authorized the construction, operation, and maintenance of 
the SLU, provided for the construction of San Luis Dam, San Luis Canal, 
Coalinga Canal, San Luis Drain (SLD), distribution systems, drains, 
pumping facilities, and other appurtenant works. The authorization 
provided for joint development with the State of California. The State 
agreed to provide 55 percent of the construction, operation, and 
maintenance costs of the main project facilities and agreed to operate 
those facilities as a part of both the CVP and the California State 
Water Project. SLU construction started in 1963 and the first 
significant water deliveries began in 1968. SLU facilities can provide 
about 1.4 million acre-feet of water annually to CVP water users. With 
the implementation of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act and 
Endangered Species Act protections, the actual average deliveries have 
been reduced by nearly 50 percent. Initial SLU project planning 
recognized the need to provide drainage service to protect lands from 
rising water tables and accumulation of salts which would otherwise 
render the soil unsuitable for farming. The authorizing legislation 
provided for the construction of an interceptor drain that would serve 
the SLU area and discharge to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. 
Reclamation began construction of the SLD in 1968. By 1975, 83 miles of 
the planned 188-mile SLD had been completed, and 1,283 acres of shallow 
ponds (later named Kesterson Reservoir) were constructed about 80 miles 
south of the Delta to provide temporary storage to facilitate future 
control of the SLD flow into the Delta. Construction was then suspended 
pending determination of the final point of discharge for the SLD. 
During the ensuing years, Kesterson Reservoir received drain water and 
functioned as an evaporation facility while studies and investigations 
continued concerning a final point of discharge. In 1984, waterfowl 
deaths and deformities at Kesterson were linked to elevated levels of 
selenium in the food chain. In 1985, the State Water Resources Control 
Board directed Reclamation to clean up and abate the conditions at 
Kesterson. The Department of the Interior announced that Kesterson 
would be closed, and a phased elimination of SLD discharges was 
completed by June 1986.
    In 1990, the San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program (SJVDP) published 
A Management Plan For Agricultural Subsurface Drainage and Related 
Problems on the Westside San Joaquin Valley. This report, which was 
prepared based on a major State-Federal interagency investigation of 
the drainage problems, recommended a series of ``in-valley'' drainage 
management actions. In 1991, pursuant to a stipulated judgment in a 
lawsuit regarding the rights and responsibilities of CVP water users in 
Westlands Water District, Reclamation published a Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement on a proposed drainage plan for the SLU that was based 
on and consistent with the SJVDP report recommendations. That plan, 
however, was not finalized. In a subsequent lawsuit, (Sumner Peck Ranch 
v. Bureau of Reclamation), the Court directed Reclamation to apply to 
the California State Water Resources Control Board for a discharge 
permit in order to complete the SLD to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 
as was contemplated in Pub. L. No. 88-488. Upon appeal to the 9th 
Circuit Court of Appeals, the Appellate Court affirmed the District 
Court's conclusion that the United States must act promptly to provide 
drainage service, but reversed that part of the District Court judgment 
that foreclosed non-interceptor drain solutions.
    Reclamation has been engaged for many years with other State and 
Federal agencies as well as farmers, water districts, and stakeholders, 
to develop effective, affordable, and implementable drainage service 
and drainage management solutions. Several of these efforts have 
resulted in innovative and promising drainage management techniques, 
and Reclamation is committed to continuing to support development of 
those approaches. However, the only proven technologies that have been 
identified to date to provide long-term drainage service and achieve 
sustainable salt balance on drainage-affected, irrigated lands in 
Westlands Water District are disposal of salts out of valley via 
completion and operation of the SLD or disposal to evaporation ponds. 
Therefore, alternatives incorporating those technologies, as well as 
other approaches identified during scoping, will be considered in the 
analysis.
    The environmental review will be conducted pursuant to NEPA, the 
Endangered Species Act and other applicable laws, to analyze the 
potential environmental impacts of implementing

[[Page 50214]]

each of the feasible alternative means of providing drainage service to 
lands within the SLU. All reasonable alternatives as required by NEPA 
and its implementing regulations will be examined. Draft EISs prepared 
in the early 1980's and in 1991 for drainage solutions to the SLU will 
provide a useful beginning, thus allowing Reclamation to expedite 
completion of the analysis. Alternatives, with their related designs 
and cost estimates identified in these earlier efforts, will be re-
evaluated and updated to reflect current conditions. Public input on 
additional alternatives, or combinations of alternatives, that should 
be considered will be sought through the initial scoping meetings. In 
addition, public input will be sought on the criteria that should be 
used to carry forward alternatives, or combination of alternatives, for 
further consideration.
    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

    Dated: September 14, 2001.
Laura Allen,
Deputy Regional Environmental Officer.
[FR Doc. 01-24564 Filed 10-1-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P