[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 171 (Thursday, September 4, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52613-52614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-22510]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[DES 03-50]


Transfer of Title to Facilities, Works, and Lands of the Gila 
Project, Wellton-Mohawk Division to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and 
Drainage District, Yuma County, AR (Wellton-Mohawk Title Transfer)

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability, Draft Environmental Impact Statement, 
Wellton-Mohawk title transfer.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, as amended, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has prepared 
a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to evaluate the potential 
effects of the proposed Wellton-Mohawk Title Transfer. The title 
transfer will transfer ownership and divest Reclamation of the 
responsibility for the operation, maintenance, management, regulation 
of, and liability for the project facilities and appurtenant lands to 
the entity that has demonstrated its ability to manage the project, the 
Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District (District). This title 
transfer will consolidate management responsibility with the District, 
thereby allowing the District to have greater authority in the 
management of growth and land based issues in the Wellton-Mohawk 
Valley, protect against encroachment on agriculture, and consolidate 
ownership of lands, facilities, and the Gila River Flood Channel.

DATES: The public review period shall close on October 29, 2003. 
Written comments on the DEIS must be received at the address listed 
under the ADDRESSES section.
    Public hearings will also be held to accept oral and written 
comments on the DEIS at:

[sbull] Wellton, Arizona, on Wednesday, October 1, 2003, from 7 to 9 
p.m.
[sbull] Yuma, Arizona, on Thursday, October 2, 2003, from 7 to 9 p.m.

    The public hearing facilities are accessible to those who are 
physically-challenged. Please contact Ms. Nancy Blake by telephone at 
(602) 258-0234 or by facsimile at (602) 258-2352 for accessibility 
accommodations, including sign language interpreters or other auxiliary 
aids. Requests should be made by September 17, 2003, to allow 
sufficient time to arrange for accommodation.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the DEIS should be submitted to Ms. 
Margot Selig, Lower Colorado Regional Office, Bureau of Reclamation, PO 
Box 61470, BCOO-4451, Boulder City, NV 89006-1470, or via facsimile to 
(702) 293-8042.
    The public hearings will be held at:

[sbull] Antelope Union High School, 9168 South Avenue 36E, Wellton, 
Arizona
[sbull] Ramada Inn Chilton and Conference Center--Inca Room, 300 East 
32nd Street, Yuma, Arizona

    See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for locations where 
copies of the DEIS are available for public review and inspection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Margot Selig, Lower Colorado 
Regional Title Transfer Coordinator, Bureau of Reclamation, (702) 293-
8192. Those wishing to obtain a copy of the DEIS in the form of a 
printed document or on compact disk (CD-ROM with Adobe Acrobat Reader 
included), or a summary of the DEIS may contact Ms. Selig.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Disclosure

    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 
may be other 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.

Hearing Process Information

    Requests to make oral comments at the public hearings may be made 
at each hearing. Comments will be recorded by a court reporter. 
Speakers will be called in the order of their requests. In the interest 
of available time, each speaker will be asked to limit oral comments to 
5 minutes. Longer comments should be summarized at the public hearing 
and submitted in writing either at the public hearing or identified as 
hearing comments and mailed to be received by Ms. Selig no later than 
September 29, 2003.

Background

    The DEIS will be used in the decision-making process pursuant to 
the Wellton-Mohawk Transfer Act of June 2000 (Pub. L. 106-221), whereby 
the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to transfer title to the 
Wellton-Mohawk Division of the Gila Project works, facilities and 
certain federally-owned lands from the United States to the District. 
The District is a political subdivision of the State of Arizona 
constituted to own lands and facilities and to contract with 
Reclamation for diversion of Colorado River water for delivery to its 
landowners. Reclamation and the District signed a Memorandum of 
Agreement (MOA) in July 1998,

[[Page 52614]]

amended May 11, 2001, which defines the methods and principles of this 
title transfer process.
    Two alternatives are evaluated in the DEIS: (1) the No Action 
Alternative, under which facilities of the Wellton-Mohawk Division of 
the Gila Project and lands within or adjacent to the Gila Project would 
remain in Federal ownership, and (2) the Proposed Action/Preferred 
Alternative under which Reclamation would transfer title to the 
facilities of the Wellton-Mohawk Division of the Gila Project and lands 
within or adjacent to the Gila Project to the District.

Review and Inspection of the DEIS

    Copies of the DEIS are available for public review at the following 
locations:

[sbull] Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District, 30570 Wellton-
Mohawk Drive, Wellton, AZ, telephone: (928) 785-3351
[sbull] Dateland School Branch Library, Avenue 64 East, Dateland, AZ, 
telephone: (928) 454-2243
[sbull] Foothills Branch Library, 11279 South Glenwood Avenue, Yuma, 
AZ, telephone: (928) 342-1640
[sbull] Roll Branch Library, 5151 South Avenue 39 East, Roll, AZ, 
telephone: (928) 785-3701
[sbull] Wellton Branch Library, 10425 Williams Street, Wellton, AZ, 
telephone: (928) 785-9575
[sbull] Yuma County Main Library, 350 South 3rd Avenue, Yuma, AZ, 
telephone: (928) 782-1871

Internet

    The DEIS is also available on the Internet at http://www.usbr.gov/lc/yuma/ and http://www.bookmanedmonston.com.

    Dated: August 12, 2003.
Lorri Gray,
Assistant Regional Director, Lower Colorado Region.
[FR Doc. 03-22510 Filed 9-3-03; 8:45 am]
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