[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 115 (Friday, June 14, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40961-40963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-15022]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[INT-DES-02-23].


City of Albuquerque Drinking Water Project, New Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability and notice of public hearings for the 
draft environmental impact statement for the City of Albuquerque 
drinking water project.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969 (as amended), the Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation (Reclamation), as lead agency, and the City of Albuquerque 
(City), as co-lead

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agency, have prepared a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for 
the City of Albuquerque Drinking Water Project. The U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers is a cooperating agency. The project is the main component of 
the Albuquerque Water Resources Management Strategy, adopted by the 
City Council, which aims to efficiently use existing water resources 
and develop a safe and sustainable water supply for City residents to 
the year 2060. The proposed alternatives provide a means of action 
through which the City would fully consumptively use the City's San 
Juan-Chama Project water to provide a sustainable water supply.

DATES: A 60-day public review period commences with the publication of 
this notice. Written comments on the DEIS are due by August 13, 2002, 
and should be submitted to Lori Robertson at the address given below. 
Public hearings to receive oral and/or written comments from interested 
individuals and organizations on the environmental impacts of the 
proposal will be held during the month of July in Albuquerque, Socorro, 
and Espanola, New Mexico. The public hearings schedule is as follows:
     July 2, 2002--6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (local time) at the 
Albuquerque Convention Center, Brazos Room, 401 2nd Street, 
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
     July 9, 2002--6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (local time) at the Macey 
Hall, New Mexico Tech Campus, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, New Mexico.
     July 10, 2002--6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (local time) at the City 
Council Chambers, 405 Paseo del Onate, Espanola, New Mexico.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the DEIS should be addressed to Lori 
Robertson, Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office, 505 
Marquette, NW., Suite 1313, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102; faxogram 
(505) 248-5356; e-mail: [email protected]. 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. 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 entirely.
    The document is available on the Internet at www.uc.usbr.gov. We 
encourage you to review the DEIS on-line or at the locations listed 
below. You may request a copy of the document by contacting Rick 
Billings, Parsons Engineering Science, Inc., 3150 Carlisle Blvd., N.E., 
Suite 205, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110; telephone (505) 889-4525.
    Copies of the DEIS are available for public review and inspection 
at the following locations:
     City of Albuquerque Public Works Department, 500 
Marquette, N.W., City/County Building, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office, 125 
South State Street, Room 6107, Salt Lake City, Utah 84138-1102.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office, 505 
Marquette, N.W., Suite 1313, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
     Local Government Division, Attention: Ken Hughes, Bataan 
Memorial Building, Room 201, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87503.
     Parsons Engineering Science, Inc., 3150 Carlisle Blvd., 
N.E., Suite 205, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110.

Libraries

Albuquerque Public Library, Reference Desk, Main Library, 501 Copper, 
N.E., Albuquerque, New Mexico
North Valley Public Library, Reference Desk, 7704 2nd Street, N.W., 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
South Broadway Public Library, Reference Library, 1205 Broadway, S.E., 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Cherry Hills Public Library, Reference Library, 6901 Barstow, N.E., 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Socorro Public Library, 401 Park Street, Socorro, New Mexico Espanola 
Public Library, 921 Paseo del Norte, Espanola, New Mexico
Santa Fe Public Library, 145 Washington Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lori Robertson, Bureau of Reclamation, 
Albuquerque Area Office, 505 Marquette, NW., Suite 1313, Albuquerque, 
New Mexico 87102, telephone (505) 248-5326 or John Stomp, City of 
Albuquerque, Public Works Department, PO Box 1293, Albuquerque, New 
Mexico 87103, telephone (505) 768-3631.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The City proposes to construct and operate a 
surface water diversion on the Rio Grande, with associated water 
treatment and transmission facilities, to fully consumptively use the 
City's San Juan-Chama water to provide a sustainable drinking water 
supply for its citizens. The proposed project, referred to as the 
City's Drinking Water Project, would entail four elements: (1) 
Diverting surface water from the Rio Grande, (2) transporting the raw 
water to a new water treatment plant, (3) treating the raw water to 
drinking water standards, and (4) distributing the treated, potable 
water to customers in the City's water service area. The Drinking Water 
Project is the most significant aspect of the Albuquerque Water 
Resources Management Strategy for purposes of ensuring a sustainable 
water supply.
    The project would use the City's allocation of its San Juan-Chama 
water (48,200 acre-feet per year) to be supplied through existing San 
Juan-Chama Project facilities. After transit losses to Albuquerque, the 
amount available for full use would approximate 47,000 acre-feet per 
year. A total of approximately 94,000 acre-feet per year, consisting of 
47,000 acre-feet per year of the City's San Juan-Chama water and 47,000 
acre-feet per year of native Rio Grande surface water, would be 
diverted from the Rio Grande near Albuquerque and conveyed to a new 
water treatment plant for treatment. After the City's San Juan-Chama 
water is fully consumed, the native Rio Grande water, about half of the 
94,000 acre-feet per year, would be returned to the Rio Grande 
following treatment at the City's Southside Water Reclamation Plant.
    The Santa Fe Group aquifer, the aquifer underlying the Albuquerque 
metropolitan area, is currently the City's sole source of water. 
Continued reliance on groundwater as the sole source of supply is not 
sustainable. The proposed project provides a sustainable water supply 
through full use of renewable surface supplies, reduces the demand on 
the aquifer, and restores it as a drought reserve. Demand on the 
aquifer would be reduced by approximately 94,000 acre-feet per year. 
The proposed project also includes a conjunctive use component by using 
San Juan-Chama water in an aquifer storage and recovery project.
    Current and projected water demands would not be met without the 
proposed project. The aquifer would continue to be mined and could not 
serve as a drought reserve. The long-term effects on the aquifer from 
groundwater extraction would have serious consequences for Albuquerque 
and other users in the metropolitan area and throughout the Middle Rio 
Grande. Environmental consequences from continued and increased pumping 
from the aquifer likely would include large

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groundwater level declines, land-surface subsidence, and water quality 
degradation. The proposed project also represents a viable way for the 
City to satisfy Environmental Protection Agency promulgated arsenic 
standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The project would combine 
treated San Juan-Chama surface water that is low in arsenic with 
groundwater that has higher background levels.
    Public process and participation in the selection and ranking of 
alternatives for the Drinking Water Project, and ultimately for 
analysis in this DEIS, has been extensive. Commencing in 1995 and 
continuing through the present, the City has held over 100 public 
meetings for purposes of presenting, analyzing, ranking, and/or 
selecting alternatives. Pursuant to compliance with NEPA, the 
identification of environmental issues and concerns, and development of 
potential mitigation and environmental enhancements, has been a primary 
focus of the City throughout the course of the development of the 
Drinking Water Project and the alternatives for implementation.
    Public and agency scoping and involvement continued with agency 
scoping workshops conducted in December 1998. Three formal public 
scoping meetings were held during September 1999, one each in the 
cities of Albuquerque, Socorro, and Espanola, New Mexico. Eighteen 
interagency workgroup meetings have been completed to solicit input 
from federal, state, City, and Pueblo entities. Numerous public 
meetings to present status reports and obtain input also have been 
undertaken to review the water treatment plant location and Drinking 
Water Project alternatives-selection process. A Town Hall meeting was 
held in April 2001 to present a preferred alternative.
    Over the course of six years, the City conducted a comprehensive 
evaluation process that incorporated public and agency input into the 
development of the Drinking Water Project as part of the City's 
Albuquerque Water Resources Management Strategy. As a result of this 
extensive public process, three action alternatives and the No Action 
Alternative were selected for further evaluation of environmental and 
socioeconomic consequences in the DEIS. The four alternatives retained 
for detailed analysis are:
    (1) No Action, or continued reliance on groundwater resources to 
meet current and projected drinking water demand, and continuation of 
conservation measures;
    (2) The diversion and full consumptive use of the City's San Juan-
Chama water via the existing Angostura Diversion Dam (a Middle Rio 
Grande Project facility) on the Rio Grande, with conveyance of raw 
water to a new water treatment plant via two existing Middle Rio Grande 
Project conveyance facilities, and distribution of treated, potable 
water to consumers in the Albuquerque metropolitan area;
    (3) The diversion and full consumptive use of the City's San Juan-
Chama water at a new surface diversion dam to be constructed on the Rio 
Grande north of Paseo del Norte in Albuquerque, with conveyance of raw 
water to a new water treatment plant via a new pipeline, and 
distribution of treated, potable water to consumers in the Albuquerque 
metropolitan area; and
    (4) The diversion and full consumptive use of the City's San Juan-
Chama water via a new subsurface diversion to be constructed in the Rio 
Grande near Paseo del Norte, with conveyance of raw water to a new 
water treatment plant via a new pipeline, and distribution of treated, 
potable water to consumers in the Albuquerque metropolitan area.
    The following project components would be common to each of the 
action alternatives:
     A new water treatment plant,
     A potable water distribution pipeline system and 
associated storage facilities, and
     Aquifer storage and recovery.
    The Chappell Drive water treatment plant would treat the raw water 
diverted from the Rio Grande to meet or exceed federal and state 
standards for municipal drinking water. The proposed water treatment 
plant would have a treatment capacity of 92 million gallons per day, or 
142 cubic feet per second. The potable water transmission pipeline 
alignment would distribute treated water via pipelines from the water 
treatment plant to the City's customers. The selected piping 
transmission corridors would permit optimum use of existing hydraulic 
gradients and existing City water distribution lines. Aquifer storage 
and recovery would occur by injection of treated potable water into a 
number of City wells during low demand periods and would later be 
recovered by groundwater pumping.

Proposed Federal Action

    The federal actions requiring NEPA compliance are: (1) Issuance of 
a license by Reclamation to the City for the location of project 
facilities on Reclamation-owned property or right-of-way, or approval 
of a license between the City and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy 
District for the location of facilities on a right-of-way held by 
Reclamation over property owned by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy 
District; (2) execution of a water carriage contract authorizing use of 
federal irrigation canals to convey non-project water (this action 
would be required only if there would be diversion of the City's San 
Juan-Chama Project water at the Angostura Diversion Dam and conveyance 
of the water through existing facilities of the Middle Rio Grande 
Project). Special legislation would be needed to authorize carriage of 
non-project water for municipal and industrial purposes through Middle 
Rio Grande Project facilities; and (3) Clean Water Act Section 404 
permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in conjunction with 
construction of project facilities in waters of the United States. The 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Protection Agency 
will provide consultation and review pursuant to their respective 
statutory authority under the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, 
and NEPA.
    Hearing Process Information: An open house will begin at 6 p.m. 
followed by an informal question and answer period at 6:30 p.m. The 
formal public hearings will begin at 7 p.m. A question and answer 
period before the hearing serves to assist the public in focusing their 
comments on the DEIS and issues related to it. The question and answer 
period will not be part of the formal hearing record. Oral comments at 
the hearings will be limited to 10 minutes. The hearing officer may 
allow any speaker to provide additional oral comments after all persons 
wishing to comment have been heard. All comments will be formally 
recorded. Speakers not present when called will lose their privilege in 
the scheduled order and will be recalled at the end of the scheduled 
speakers. Speakers are encouraged to provide written versions of their 
oral comments, and any other additional written materials, for the 
hearing record.
    Written comments from those unable to attend or those wishing to 
supplement their oral presentations at the hearings should be received 
by Reclamation's Albuquerque Area Office at the address given above no 
later than August 13, 2002, for inclusion in the hearing record. Under 
the NEPA process, written and oral comments received by the due date 
are given the same consideration.

    Dated: June 7, 2002.
Connie L. Rupp,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 02-15022 Filed 6-13-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P