[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55870-55871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-22172]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


South Delta Improvements Program

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement/
environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) and notice of public scoping 
meetings.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of 
Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) 
intend to prepare an EIS/EIR for implementing the South Delta 
Improvements Program (SDIP). The purpose of the SDIP is to increase 
conveyance capacity at the State Water Project's Delta export facility 
to meet water supply demands south of the Delta in a manner which does 
not further significantly adversely impact Bay-Delta fish species or 
other currently permitted beneficial uses of water in the south Delta.

DATES: A series of public scoping meetings will be held to solicit 
public input on alternatives, concerns, and issues to be addressed in 
the EIS/EIR. The dates are:
     October 7, 2002, 1:30 to 4 p.m., Sacramento, California.
     October 9, 2002, 6 to 8 p.m., Brentwood, California.
     October 10, 2002, 6 to 8 p.m., Los Angeles, California.
     October 15, 2002, 6 to 8 p.m., Fresno, California.
    Written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR may be mailed to 
Reclamation at the address below by October 4, 2002. Comments received 
after this date will be considered but may not be included in the 
resulting EIS/EIR scope.

ADDRESSES: The meeting locations are:
     Sacramento at Resources Building Auditorium, 1416 Ninth 
Street.
     Brentwood at Brentwood Community Center Multipurpose Room, 
730 Third Street.
     Los Angeles at Metropolitan Water District of Southern 
California, 700 North Alameda Street.
     Fresno at Fresno Convention and Conference Center, 700 M 
Street, Wine Room.
    Written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR should be sent to Mr. 
Dan Meier, Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, MP-700, Sacramento, 
CA 95825.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Meier, Reclamation, at the above 
address, or by telephone at 916-978-5086 or TDD 1-800-735-2922; or Mr. 
Paul Marshall, Department of Water Resources, 1416 Ninth Street, 
Sacramento, CA 94236, or by telephone at 916-653-2118.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Demands for water supplies from the Delta for municipal, 
agricultural, and environmental purposes have increased in recent 
years, creating conflicts between water users and efforts to sustain 
the Delta's aquatic ecosystem and recover listed fish. The joint 
Federal-State CALFED Bay-Delta Program (CALFED) was formed to develop 
and implement a long-term comprehensive plan to restore ecological 
health and improve water management for beneficial uses of the Bay-
Delta system. The CALFED Programmatic EIS/EIR and Programmatic Record 
of Decision (ROD) were issued in July and August 2000, respectively.
    The water export facilities for both of California's largest water 
projects, the State Water Project (SWP) (operated by DWR) and the 
Central Valley Project (CVP) (operated by Reclamation), are located in 
the south Delta. These export

[[Page 55871]]

facilities provide water for urban, industrial, and agricultural uses 
from the San Francisco Bay area to southern California. In the south 
Delta, much of the land is used for agriculture purposes. There are 
approximately 170 diversions within the area of the South Delta Water 
Agency (SDWA) that provide water for irrigation. Through its 
Programmatic EIS/EIR, CALFED determined that its overall program 
objectives could not be met without some south Delta conveyance 
improvements. The SDIP contains key conveyance improvements identified 
for implementation in Stage 1 of CALFED.
    There are three primary issues with respect to water in the south 
Delta: Water level, water quality, and fishery concerns. For water 
level, current diversion rates and the proposed diversion rates could 
lower the water stage, making the water in the channels too low for 
agricultural purposes during some low-tide conditions. To mitigate the 
effects of the lowered stage levels, DWR has been installing temporary 
rock hydraulic barriers each year; however, temporary barriers are 
expensive and inflexible in use, and limit water quality actions in the 
south Delta. The second issue is related to water quality. In addition 
to an adequate water supply, salinity standards set forth by the State 
Water Resources Control Board must also be met. Water quality for 
agriculture has been addressed through a partial exchange of water 
during high tides. However, this method is limited to the exchange that 
the tides can offer. The third issue is fishery concerns related to 
salmon and Delta smelt. San Joaquin River salmon populations have 
greatly declined since the construction of the CVP and SWP. Some of the 
decline is attributable to the operation of the CVP and SWP Delta 
export facilities, where San Joaquin River salmon smolts are lost 
through predation and entrainment. DWR has been installing a temporary 
rock barrier at the Head of Old River (where Old River bifurcates from 
the San Joaquin River) to reduce the number of fish entering the south 
Delta channels and being lost due to predation or entrainment.
    The major components of the SDIP are:
     Increasing the maximum allowable diversion capacity at the 
SWP's Clifton Court Forebay to 8,500 cubic feet per second;
     Dredging a portion of Old River to improve conveyance 
capability during periods of high SWP and CVP Delta exports;
     Construction of permanent operable barriers to improve 
water supply reliability and water quality in the south Delta;
     Dredging local channels to reduce the frequency of 
barriers operations and to accommodate improvements to existing 
agricultural diversions both upstream and downstream of the proposed 
barriers;
     Constructing a permanent operable fish control structure 
at the head of Old River to reduce fish losses.
    The SDIP is intended to address the needs of the export projects, 
the Delta ecosystem and local in-Delta agricultural water users. An 
integral element of the SDIP is to minimize water supply conflicts by 
incrementally increasing to the maximum pumping capability at Banks 
Pumping Plant when impacts to aquatic resources are low, thereby 
allowing reduced exports during environmentally sensitive times. The 
SDIP would provide more reliable long-term export capability by the SWP 
and CVP, protect local diversions in the Delta and minimize fishery 
impacts, and supplement and/or replace ongoing annual installation of 
temporary barriers and local dredging and diversion improvements in the 
Delta.

Alternatives

    Initial types of alternatives identified for consideration involve 
alternative barrier design, number of barriers and locations of 
barriers, and operating criteria at Banks Pumping Plant. These 
alternatives will be analyzed in the EIS/EIR if they are determined to 
be reasonable and feasible alternatives that meet the basic purpose and 
need and objectives of the Proposed Action/Project. Additional 
alternatives may be identified through the public involvement and 
scoping process.

Additional Information

    Comments provided on this NOI and as part of public scoping 
meetings, including names and home addresses of respondents, may be 
made available for public review. Individual respondents may request 
that their home address be withheld from public disclosure, which will 
be honored to the extent allowable by law. There may also be 
circumstances in which the respondent's identity may be withheld from 
public disclosure, as allowable by law. If you wish to withhold your 
name and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning 
of your comments. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and 
from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials 
of organizations or businesses, will be made available for public 
disclosure in their entirety.
    If special services are required at the meeting, please contact 
Sammie Cervantes at (916) 978-5104, as far in advance of the meeting as 
possible. If a request cannot be honored, the requestor will be 
notified.

    Dated: August 19, 2002.
Frank Michny,
Regional Environmental Officer.
[FR Doc. 02-22172 Filed 8-29-02; 8:45 am]
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