[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 203 (Tuesday, October 21, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60115-60116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-26468]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Water Transfer Program for the San Joaquin River Exchange 
Contractors Water Authority, 2005 to 2014

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

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

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of 
Reclamation (Reclamation) and the San Joaquin River Exchange 
Contractors Water Authority (Exchange Contractors) propose to prepare a 
joint EIS/EIR for a 10-year water transfer program. The program would 
consist of the transfer of up to 130,000 acre-feet of substitute water 
(maximum of 80,000 acre-feet of developed water and a maximum of 50,000 
acre-feet from land fallowing) from the Exchange Contractors to other 
Central Valley Project (CVP) contractors, to Reclamation for delivery 
to the San Joaquin Valley wetland habitat areas (wildlife refuges), 
and/or to Reclamation and/or the Department of Water Resources (DWR) 
for use by the CALFED Environmental Water Account (EWA) as replacement 
water for CVP contractors. Reclamation would approve and/or execute 
short-term and/or long-term temporary water transfers or agreements

DATES: A public scoping meeting will be held on November 18, 2003 at 6 
p.m. in Los Banos, California.
    Written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR should be mailed to 
Mr. Bob Eckart at the address below by November 25, 2003.

ADDRESSES: The public scoping meeting will be held at the San Joaquin 
Exchange Contractors Board Room, 541 H Street, Los Banos, CA 93635.
    Written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR should be sent to 
Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region, Division of Environmental 
Affairs, Attention: Mr. Bob Eckart, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, 
California 95825.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bob Eckart at the above address or 
by calling (916) 978-5051.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The objective of the proposed 10-year 
transfer program is the transfer of CVP water from the Exchange 
Contractors to:
    [sbull] Other CVP contractors to meet demands of agriculture, 
municipal, and industrial uses,
    [sbull] the Department of the Interior's Water Acquisition Program 
for delivery to the San Joaquin Valley Federal, state, and private 
wildlife refuges, and/or
    [sbull] Reclamation or DWR for use by the CALFED EWA Program to 
benefit CVP operations by providing replacement water to CVP 
contractors.
    The Exchange Contractor's proposed water transfer program would 
assist Reclamation in optimizing the use of limited existing water 
resources for agriculture, fish and wildlife resources, and municipal 
and industrial purposes. CVP water would be transferred to other CVP 
contractors to support the production of agricultural crops and 
livestock. Also, the Santa Clara Valley Water District is in need of 
short-term water supplies to support agriculture, municipal, and 
industrial uses in Santa Clara County. Reclamation's Water Acquisition 
Program needs additional water to provide the refuges with the 
increment between Level 2 and Level 4 water quantities for fish and 
wildlife habitat development. Reclamation or DWR may also need to 
acquire additional CVP water south of the Delta to replace water used 
for fish protection actions pursuant to CALFED's EWA Program (for the 
benefit of the CVP).
    The water transfers would occur largely within the San Joaquin 
Valley of central California. The Exchange Contractors service area 
covers parts of Fresno, Madera, Merced, and Stanislaus counties. The 
agricultural water users that would benefit from the potential 
transfers are located in the counties of Stanislaus, San Joaquin, 
Merced, Madera, Fresno, San Benito, Santa Clara, Tulare, Kings, and 
Kern. The wetland habitat areas that may receive the water are located 
in Merced, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern counties. Water purchased 
for use by Reclamation or DWR for the EWA may be provided to CVP 
contractors in the West San Joaquin and San Felipe divisions to replace 
water bypassed at Tracy Pumping Plant pursuant to EWA fish protection 
actions.
    Some of the resources potentially affected by transfers under the 
proposed 10-year transfer program include: surface water, groundwater, 
biological resources (vegetation, wildlife, and fisheries), land use 
(including agriculture), socioeconomics, Indian Trust Assets, and 
environmental justice.
    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 addresses from 
public disclosure, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. 
There may also be

[[Page 60116]]

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: September 19, 2003 .
Frank Michny,
Regional Environmental Officer, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 03-26468 Filed 10-20-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P