[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 22 (Monday, February 3, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5307-5308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-2390]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Millerton Lake Resource Management Plan and General Plan, Fresno 
and Madera Counties, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a programmatic environmental impact 
statement/environmental impact report for a resource management plan 
and general plan.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA), Reclamation proposes to prepare a Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (PEIS/EIR) 
for the Millerton Lake Resource Management Plan (RMP) and General Plan, 
which will be issued concurrent with the PEIS/EIR. A scoping meeting 
will be conducted to elicit comments on the scope and issues to be 
addressed in the PEIS/EIR. The date and time for this meeting is noted 
below. The draft RMP/General Plan and draft PEIS/EIR are expected to be 
issued in early 2003.

DATES: The scoping meeting will be held on February 12, 2003, at 6:30 
p.m. in Friant, California. Written comments should be sent to 
Reclamation at the address below by March 5, 2003.

ADDRESSES: The meeting location is at the Millerton Courthouse, 
Millerton State Recreation Area, 5290 Millerton Road, Friant, 
California 93626.
    Written comments on the scope of the alternatives and impacts 
should be sent to Mr. Dan Holsapple, Bureau of Reclamation, South-
Central California Area Office, 1243 N Street, Fresno, CA 93721-1813; 
or faxed to 559-487-5130 (TDD 559-487-5933).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Dan Holsapple, Bureau of 
Reclamation, at the above address, telephone: 559-487-5409.

[[Page 5308]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Millerton Lake is located in the southern 
portion of California's Central Valley in Fresno and Madera counties. 
The lake lies in the upper San Joaquin River Watershed. The San Joaquin 
River has an average annual inflow of 1,860,000 acre-feet upstream of 
Friant Dam. Millerton Lake was created in 1942 by the construction of 
Friant Dam, approximately 25 miles northeast of Fresno. The dam is a 
concrete gravity structure, 319 feet high and 3,488 feet wide at its 
crest. Millerton Lake has a total storage capacity of 520,500 acre-feet 
and supplies water to the Central Valley Project water users. The lake 
and the majority of adjacent lands are owned by Reclamation. Land 
within the project area is managed by Reclamation and the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation.
    Millerton Lake is a multi-purpose facility, supplying agricultural 
irrigation water, flood control, and recreational functions such as 
boating, fishing, camping, and swimming. The lake receives 
approximately 600,000 visitor days per year. Operation of the reservoir 
requires evacuation of a large portion of the storage space prior to 
the rainy season. Due to its small capacity compared to the potential 
runoff from the watershed, it is necessary to draw down water levels 
annually to its minimum pool in order to make effective use of 
available storage space. Thus, there is little opportunity to carry 
over water from one season to another.
    Reclamation is preparing an RMP and General Plan for the Millerton 
Lake area. The RMP will specifically address the Millerton Lake State 
Recreation Area, including the entire lake and all Reclamation land 
surrounding the lake. The objectives of the joint plan are to establish 
management objectives, guidelines, and actions to be implemented by 
Reclamation directly, or through its recreation contract with the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation, that will protect the 
water supply and water quality functions of Millerton Lake; protect and 
enhance natural and cultural resources in the Recreation Area, 
consistent with Federal law and Reclamation policies; and provide 
recreational opportunities and facilities consistent with the Central 
Valley Project purposes, and Reclamation policies. In addition, the 
General Plan is the primary management guideline for defining a 
framework for resource stewardship, interpretation, facilities, visitor 
use, and services. General plans define an ultimate purpose, vision, 
and intent for management through goal statements, guidelines, and 
broad objectives, but stop short of defining specific objectives, 
methodologies, and designs on how to accomplish these goals.
    The development of the RMP and General Plan will be performed 
within the authorities provided by the Congress through the Reclamation 
Act, Federal Water Project Recreation Act, Reclamation Recreation 
Management Act, and applicable agency and Department of the Interior 
policies and the California Public Resources Code Division 5.
    The RMP and General Plan shall be a long-term plan (with an 
approximate 20-year planning horizon) that will guide specific actions 
in the Millerton Lake State Recreation Area and on Reclamation lands 
surrounding the lake. The RMP and General Plan will be developed based 
on a comprehensive inventory of environmental resources and Project 
facilities. It will include an analysis of resources in the area, 
identification of land use suitability and capability, and development 
of management policies, objectives, responsibilities, guidelines, and 
plans. Resource areas to be addressed in the RMP and General Plan 
include: Soils and geology, biology, cultural resources, water 
resources, hydrology, groundwater and water quality, land use, 
transportation/traffic, rangeland, fire/fuels management, hazardous 
materials, recreation, and park administration. Data from these 
resource areas will be included in a GIS database, as available.
    The RMP and General Plan will enable managers to make land use and 
resource decisions that are consistent with the overall management 
objectives of Reclamation land and water areas, while meeting the needs 
of the public. The RMP and General Plan will assist Reclamation in its 
efforts to minimize conflicts among the competing interests and types 
of use at Millerton Lake.
    The RMP and General Plan will be developed through a cooperative 
effort between the Federal and State agencies and the public in an 
effort to manage the similar resources in the area as one. The plan 
will be developed with input from other Federal agencies such as U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of 
Land Management; involved state agencies such as the California 
Department of Fish and Game and the California Department of Forestry 
and Fire Protection; and local involved agencies such as Friant Water 
Users Authority and the Chowchilla Madera Water and Power Authority; 
and the general public.
    The environmental impacts of the RMP and General Plan and 
associated alternatives will be assessed in a PEIS/EIR that will be 
prepared concurrent with the RMP and General Plan. The environmental 
review will focus on the potential for management actions to cause 
adverse environmental impacts to natural and cultural resources such as 
water quality, endangered species, public safety, and historic 
resources. It will include an analysis of alternative land, recreation, 
and natural resource management approaches. The joint document will be 
programmatic in nature in that it will be used as a planning tool to 
guide future resource management. Specific projects will tier off this 
programmatic document and will have their own environmental process and 
report.
    It is Reclamation's practice 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 
may also 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: December 4, 2002.
Frank Michny,
Regional Environmental Officer, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 03-2390 Filed 1-31-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P