[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 198 (Friday, October 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52112-52113]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25657]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


National Estuarine Research Reserve System: Sediment Retention 
System in Goat Canyon Creek and Watershed at Tijuana National Estuarine 
Research Reserve

AGENCY: Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal 
Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a draft Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report on a proposed sediment retention 
system in the Goat Canyon Creek and watershed at the Tijuana River 
National Estuarine Research Reserve, Imperial Beach, California; and 
notice of public hearings on this project.

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[[Page 52113]]

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act and the 
California Environmental Quality Act, the National Ocean Service (NOS), 
in cooperation with California State Parks, has completed the 
preparation of a joint Draft Environmental Impact Statement/
Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) addressing the potential effects 
on the human and natural environment that may result from construction 
of sedimentation, flood control and other facilities within and 
adjacent to Goat Canyon, and the elevation and/or realignment of 
Monument Road through Border Field State Park lands. The purpose of 
these proposed facilities is to enhance the existing Goat Canyon Creek 
and its natural habitat communities, including the Tijuana River 
Estuary, through the management of sediment within the canyon and on 
the adjacent alluvial fan.
    The proposed project is in conformance with the Final Goat Canyon/
Canon de los Laureles Enhancement Plan prepared by the Southwest 
Wetlands Interpretive Association (SWIA). As a result of the 
construction of sedimentation basins, it is anticipated that Goat 
Canyon Creek, its watershed, and the Tijuana River Estuary will be 
enhanced.
    The draft EIS/EIR is available for public review and comment. All 
comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of 
the administrative record and be made available to the public.
    NOS will hold a public hearing from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on 
November 7, 2001, at the City of Imperial Beach City Hall Community 
Room, 825 Imperial Beach Boulevard, Imperial Beach, California 91932. 
The views of interested persons and organizations on the adequacy of 
the joint Draft EIS/EIR are solicited, and may be expressed orally and/
or in written statements. Presentations by the public will be scheduled 
on a first-come, first-heard basis, and may be limited to a maximum of 
five (5) minutes. The time allotment may be extended before the hearing 
after the number of speakers has been determined. All comments received 
at the hearing will be considered in the preparation of the Final EIS/
EIR.
    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Mayda Winter, Goat Canyon 
Enhancement Project, Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association, 925 
Seacoast Drive, Imperial Beach, California, 91932, tel. 619-575-0550.

DATES: The comment period for the draft joint EIS/EIR will end on 
Monday, November 26, 2001. All written comments received by this 
deadline will be considered in the preparation of the FEIS/FEIR.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the joint Draft EIS/EIR should be sent 
to Nina Garfield, NOAA, Estuarine Reserves Division,SSMC-4, 11th Floor, 
1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910-3281.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mayda Winter, Goat Canyon Enhancement 
Project, Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association, 925 Seacoast 
Drive, Imperial Beach, California, 91932, tel. (619) 575-0550.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Goat Canyon Creek is located in the far 
western portion of the greater Tijuana River Watershed. The watershed 
is characterized by steep slopes, sandy soils with cobbles, pockets of 
native coastal sage scrub, riparian vegetation, and a high level of 
human-induced disturbance, especially during the last 20 to 30 years. A 
prominent result of changes in the watershed has been a significant 
increase in sediment yield in response to higher volumes of runoff and 
an increased sediment supply throughout the watershed. Increased 
sedimentation has adversely affected the local habitat communities of 
Goat Canyon and downstream within the Tijuana River Estuary. By the 
mid-1980s, it was estimated that erosion and sedimentation had resulted 
in the loss of 30 acres of intertidal wetland area in the Tijuana River 
Estuary. The composition and distribution of native habitat communities 
along the creek and on the alluvial fan have been altered, as has the 
morphology of the creek. Further, during storm events, sediment is 
deposited on Monument Road, which in turn blocks public access to 
Border Field State Park and impedes the U.S. Border Patrol.
    On August 10, 2000, the National Ocean Service published in the 
Federal Register a Notice of Intent to prepare a joint Environmental 
Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report [Vol. 65 No. 155, 48971-
48972]. The stated intent of the proposed project was to enhance the 
existing Goat Canyon Creek and its natural habitat communities, 
including the Tijuana River Estuary, through the management of sediment 
within the canyon and on the adjacent alluvial fan.
    The draft EIS/EIR examines the potential effects of the No Project 
Alternative and four project alternatives for construction of a 
sedimentation retention system within Goat Canyon and the alluvial fan. 
NOS has identified Alternative D as the Preferred Alternative based on 
an evaluation of the impacts and comparison between the alternatives. 
Alternative D features an in-canyon diversion structure and 
sedimentation basin system consisting of two basins in series to 
capture the flow in Goat Canyon Creek. The system has been designed to 
contain the full 100-year flood event. The Preferred Alternative also 
involves construction of access roads around the basins, staging areas 
adjacent to the basins, a visual berm located between the basins and 
Monument Road, options for improvements to Monument Road and a multi-
purpose trail, and creation of wetland habitat. The preferred option 
for the road and trail has not been determined at this time. The 
Preferred Alternative would be the most efficient at capturing sediment 
and would result in the least impacts to sensitive wetland habitats and 
endangered species.

Document Availability

    Copies of the draft EIS/EIR are available for review at the 
California State Parks, San Diego Coast District Office, 9609 Waples, 
Suite 200, San Diego, California, 92108, (858) 642-4200, the Tijuana 
River National Estuarine Research Reserve at 301 Caspian Way, Imperial 
Beach, California 91932, (619) 575-3613, and at the Imperial Beach 
Public Library, 810 Imperial Beach Boulevard, Imperial Beach, 91932, 
(619) 424-6981.

Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog Number 11.420 (Coastal Zone 
Management) Research Reserves
    Dated: October 5, 2001.
Jamison S. Hawkins,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone 
Management.
[FR Doc. 01-25657 Filed 10-11-01; 8:45 am]
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