[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 173 (Monday, September 8, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52953-52955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-22710]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Southern Delivery System Project, Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, 
Colorado

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Regional Water Infrastructure Authority (RWIA) is 
proposing to construct a pipeline and related facilities known as the 
Southern Delivery System (SDS) that will deliver Fryingpan-Arkansas 
Project (Fry-Ark) water and non-Fry-Ark water from the Arkansas River 
near the City of Pueblo to an area east of Colorado Springs. On 
February 19, 2003, RWIA and its individual participants, the cities of 
Colorado Springs and Fountain, along with the Security Water District, 
requested a long-term water conveyance contract from the Bureau of 
Reclamation (Reclamation). On July 14, 2003, Colorado Springs Utilities 
(Springs Utilities) made a request for a long-term storage contract for 
Pueblo Reservoir in association with this project. Because the RWIA 
proposal involves long-term storage and conveyance contracts from 
Reclamation, it has been determined that Reclamation should be the lead 
Federal agency for compliance with National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA).

DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for the dates and times of 
the scoping meetings.

ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for the locations of 
the scoping meetings.
    Please send comments on potentially significant issues or the 
proposed alternatives to the attention of Pat Mangan, Southern Delivery 
System EIS, Bureau of Reclamation, Eastern Colorado Area Office, 11056 
W. County Road 18E, Loveland, CO 80537; or FAX to (303) 445-6328 or 
(303) 445-2236; or e-mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anyone interested in more information 
about the EIS or the project may contact Pat Mangan by telephone at 
(303) 445-2236 or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of NEPA, 
Reclamation will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to 
identify and disclose the environmental effects of the proposed 
project. Cooperating agencies may be identified at a later date.

[[Page 52954]]

    Reclamation will use the NEPA compliance process to ensure that the 
public has opportunities to review and comment on the direct and 
indirect effects of Reclamation's long-term storage and conveyance 
contract(s), the pipeline and related facilities, and changes to Fry-
Ark operations for the SDS project. Reclamation and RWIA will hold five 
public scoping meetings in which Federal, State, and local government 
agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the public are invited to 
participate in an open exchange of information to identify potentially 
significant issues and to submit comments on the proposed scope of the 
EIS. Written comments concerning issues and alternatives to be 
evaluated in the EIS will be accepted and considered during preparation 
of the EIS. To be most effective, comments should be postmarked or e-
mailed no later than 30 days following the final public scoping 
meeting.
    In 2000, Reclamation evaluated a request from the Pueblo Board of 
Water Works (PBWW) to connect a pipeline to the Pueblo Reservoir 
Municipal Outlet Works (South Outlet Works), construct a pipeline 
across Reclamation land, and execute related storage and conveyance 
contracts. As this request was being considered, Springs Utilities and 
PBWW agreed to enlarge the upper portion of the pipeline (referred to 
below as the ``Joint Use Manifold and Pipeline'') to accommodate 
potential future use by Springs Utilities. As a part of the 
environmental compliance process for PBWW's request, Reclamation 
prepared an environmental assessment (EA) to evaluate the impacts of 
construction and operation of the Joint Use Manifold and Pipeline. The 
EA acknowledged additional environmental compliance would be needed 
when Springs Utilities requested approval to convey their non-Fry-Ark 
water through the South Outlet Works to the Joint Use Manifold and 
Pipeline. Springs Utilities has now made that request through the RWIA 
request for Reclamation's approval of water-related contracts 
associated with the SDS project.
    The proposed SDS Project would be located in the Arkansas River 
basin extending northward from the Arkansas River at or downstream of 
Pueblo Reservoir to the City of Colorado Springs. As proposed, the 
project includes construction and operation of the following 
components:
    [sbull] An approximately 43-mile long, 66-inch diameter raw water 
pipeline and pump stations;
    [sbull] A water treatment plant to provide potable water for 
municipal and industrial use;
    [sbull] Distribution pipelines to convey potable water;
    [sbull] A terminal raw water storage reservoir; and
    [sbull] A water exchange reservoir.

The proposed system would be sized to meet water demands from Pueblo 
Reservoir in the year 2040 that are projected to be 78 million gallons 
per day (mgd).
    The use of Pueblo Reservoir to store water is an important 
component of the proposed SDS project. Pueblo Reservoir is part of 
Reclamation's Fry-Ark Project and is a State Water Court-approved 
exchange reservoir for Colorado Springs' Arkansas River water rights. 
Reclamation will prepare an EIS prior to making decisions on the 
proposed Federal actions involved in the SDS project including storing 
non-Fry-Ark water in Pueblo Reservoir and conveying Fry-Ark and non-
Fry-Ark water through Pueblo Reservoir to Colorado Springs. The EIS may 
also be used by other Federal agencies involved in permitting or 
approving specific aspects of the proposed project.

Purpose and Need

    The purpose of the proposed SDS is to deliver up to 78 mgd of water 
from the Arkansas River at or downstream of Pueblo Reservoir to the 
service areas of the City of Colorado Springs, the City of Fountain, 
and the Security Water District (Project Participants) to meet their 
projected municipal and industrial water needs through 2040. The 
Project Participants have existing Arkansas River water rights that can 
be used to meet their projected water needs. However, their existing 
infrastructure lacks sufficient capacity to deliver the water and to 
fully utilize the Project Participants' decreed water rights. The 
purpose of the proposed SDS project is to meet that need for additional 
delivery capacity. Delivering this water is necessary to meet projected 
growth demands within the Project Participant's service areas and to 
fully utilize their existing Arkansas River water rights. The proposed 
SDS is also needed to provide redundancy for the Project Participant's 
existing Arkansas River basin water delivery systems to improve 
operational reliability, drought resiliency, and to maximize the use of 
existing water rights.
    The Project Participants are currently using water conservation and 
related programs to reduce consumption. However, the Project 
Participants have determined that even with these programs, water needs 
in their service areas will increase in the future beyond their 
existing infrastructure's ability to supply water.

Proposed Alternatives

    Technical, environmental, and economic screening criteria were used 
to identify potential alternatives capable of meeting the proposed 
project's purpose and need. The raw water pipeline would draw from one 
of four possible sources:
    1. Directly from Pueblo Reservoir, using a new tap northwest of 
Pueblo Dam;
    2. The Joint Use Manifold east of the South Outlet Works of Pueblo 
Reservoir, west of the City of Pueblo;
    3. The Joint Use Pipeline, east of the Joint Use Manifold; or
    4. The Arkansas River, just upstream of its confluence with 
Fountain Creek.
    The pipeline would run north to a site east of Colorado Springs 
where it is anticipated to terminate at a water treatment plant located 
near Jimmy Camp Creek. There are several pipeline alignments associated 
with each possible source water location.
    As required by Council on Environmental Quality implementing 
regulations (40 CFR 1502.2(e)), a full range of reasonable alternatives 
that meet the purpose and need and a no action alternative will be 
evaluated in the EIS. The EIS will evaluate potential environmental 
impacts of each alternative along with engineering and socioeconomic 
considerations. A preferred alternative has not been identified at this 
time.

Preliminary Identification of Environmental Issues

    The following issues have been tentatively identified for analysis 
in the EIS. This list is preliminary and is intended to facilitate 
public comment on the scope of this EIS.
    [sbull] What are the impacts of constructing the pipeline, 
including:
    [sbull] Maintenance access roads,
    [sbull] Substations,
    [sbull] Construction lay down, staging, and borrow areas?
    [sbull] Are there growth-inducing impacts?
    [sbull] Are there environmental justice issues?
    [sbull] What are the impacts to aquatic resources?
    [sbull] What would be the impact to streams and wetlands?
    [sbull] How would wildlife habitat be affected?
    [sbull] Would new reservoirs provide recreational opportunities?
    [sbull] Would significant cultural resources be affected?
    [sbull] How would water quality in the Arkansas River and Fountain 
Creek be affected?
    [sbull] How would the proposed project affect operation of the Fry-
Ark project

[[Page 52955]]

and the existing storage and conveyance contracts?
    [sbull] How would streamflow in the Arkansas River be affected?
    [sbull] Would this project affect water levels in Pueblo Reservoir?
    [sbull] Will this project and other reasonably-foreseeable projects 
result in significant cumulative effects?

Timing

    Reclamation plans to issue the draft EIS in the fall of 2004. 
Availability of the draft EIS will be publicized. Federal, State, and 
local government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the 
general public will have an opportunity to review and comment on the 
draft EIS.

Scoping Meetings

    Scoping meeting will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on the following 
dates:
    [sbull] Wednesday, September 24 , 2003, Buena Vista, Colorado
    [sbull] Thursday, September 25, 2003, Fountain, Colorado
    [sbull] Tuesday, October 7, 2003, La Junta, Colorado
    [sbull] Thursday, October 9, 2003, Pueblo, Colorado
    [sbull] Wednesday, October 15, 2003, Colorado Springs, Colorado
    Meetings will be held at the following locations:
    [sbull] Buena Vista Community Center, Pinon Room, 715 E. Main, 
Buena Vista, Colorado
    [sbull] Fountain-Fort Carson High School Cafeteria, 900 Jimmy Camp 
Creek Road, Fountain, Colorado
    [sbull] Koshare Indian Museum, Kiva Room, 115 West 18th, La Junta, 
Colorado
    [sbull] Colorado State University--Pueblo, Occhiato Center--West 
Colorado Ball Room, 2200 Bonforte Blvd., Pueblo, Colorado
    [sbull] Colorado Springs City Auditorium, 221 E. Kiowa, Colorado 
Springs, Colorado
    Issues raised at the scoping meetings will be documented and 
summarized in a report that will be distributed to public libraries 
near the meeting locations, posted on Reclamation's Web site, and 
mailed upon request. This report will identify those issues that will 
be evaluated in the EIS.

Public Disclosure Statement

    Comments received in response to this notice will become part of 
the administrative record for this project and are subject to public 
inspection. Comments, including names and home addresses of 
respondents, will be available for public review. Individual 
respondents may request that Reclamation withhold their home address 
from public disclosure, which will be honored to the extent allowable 
by law. There also may be circumstances in which Reclamation would 
withhold a respondent's identity from public disclosure, as allowable 
by law. If you wish to have your name and/or address withheld, you must 
state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. Reclamation 
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: August 29, 2003.
Gerald W. Kelso,
Acting Regional Director, Great Plains Region.
[FR Doc. 03-22710 Filed 9-5-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P