[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 61 (Tuesday, March 30, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16596-16597]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7034]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR


Central Utah Project Completion Act

AGENCIES: Department of the Interior, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary--Water and Science, (Interior); Utah Reclamation Mitigation 
and Conservation Commission, (Mitigation Commission); Central Utah 
Water Conservancy District, (CUWCD).

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Utah Lake Drainage Basin Water 
Delivery System, Draft Environmental Impact Statement authorized in 
Section 202(a)(1) of the Central Utah Project Completion Act (CUPCA), 
which is part of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, as amended, Interior, CUWCD, and the Mitigation 
Commission (joint lead agencies), have issued a Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Utah Lake Drainage Basin Water Delivery 
System (Utah Lake System), Bonneville Unit, Central Utah Project. The 
DEIS addresses potential impacts related to construction and operation 
of the features proposed for the Utah Lake System. The DEIS is intended 
to satisfy disclosure requirements of the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) and will serve as the NEPA compliance document for 
contracts, agreements and permits that would be required for 
construction and operation of the Utah Lake System. The DEIS is 
intended to provide NEPA compliance for the Clean Water Act Section 
404(r) exemption process. In addition to this notification, notices 
will be published in local newspapers. The purpose of these 
publications is to give notice to all interested parties of the 
availability of the Utah Lake System DEIS and provide an opportunity 
for the public to submit written comments.

DATES: Written comments on the DEIS must be submitted or postmarked no 
later than June 11, 2004. Electronic comments will not be accepted. 
Comments on the DEIS may also be presented verbally or submitted in 
writing at public hearings that will be held on: April 28, 2004, at 5 
p.m. at the Sandy City Hall, located at 10,000 South Centennial 
Parkway, Sandy, Utah; and April 29, 2004, at 5 p.m. at the Veterans 
Memorial Building in Spanish Fork, located at 386 North Main Street, 
Spanish Fork, Utah. Verbal comments at the hearings will be limited to 
5 minutes. Those wishing to give verbal comments should submit a 
registration form, included at the end of the DEIS, to the address 
listed below one week prior to the public hearings. In order to be 
included as part of the hearing record, written comments must be 
submitted at the time of the hearing.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the DEIS should be addressed to Mr. Mark 
Breitenbach, Central Utah Water Conservancy District, 355 West 
University Parkway, Orem, Utah, 84058.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional information on matters 
related to this notice can be obtained from Mr. Reed Murray at (801) 
379-1237, or he can be reached over the Internet at 
[email protected].
    Additional copies of the DEIS, and copies of the resource technical 
reports can be obtained from Ms. Laurie Barnett, Central Utah Water 
Conservancy District, 355 West University Parkway, Orem, Utah, 84058.
    Copies are also available for inspection at:

Central Utah Water Conservancy District, 355 West University Parkway, 
Orem, Utah 84058.
Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, 102 West 500 
South, Suite 315, Salt Lake City UT 84101.
Department of the Interior, Natural Resource Library, Serials Branch, 
18th C Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20240.
Department of the Interior, Central Utah Project Completion Act Office, 
302 East 1860 South, Provo, Utah 84606. and on the Central Utah Water 
Conservancy District Web site at: http://www.cuwcd.com/cupca/projects/uls/index.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background--The Utah Lake System is one of 
the systems of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project that 
would develop central Utah's water resources for municipal and 
industrial supply, fish and wildlife, and recreation. Initiation of 
planning for the Utah Lake System was announced in the Federal Register 
on October 14, 1998, (FR Doc. 98-27484). Notice of intent to initiate 
scoping and prepare a DEIS was announced in the Federal Register on 
August 23, 2000, (FR Doc. 00-21458). Scoping was accomplished in two 
stages: informal scoping was conducted through public meetings in 
September 2000 and October 2001; and formal scoping was conducted 
through mailings and public meetings during February 2002. Comments 
received through the scoping process were considered during preparation 
of the DEIS.
    Preferred Alternative--The Utah Lake System Preferred Alternative 
would provide an average transbasin diversion of 101,900 acre-feet 
which consists of 30,000 acre-feet of Municipal and Industrial (M&I) 
secondary water to southern Utah County and 30,000 acre-feet of M&I 
water to Salt Lake County water treatment plants; 1,590 acre-feet of 
M&I water already contracted to southern Utah County cities, and 40,310 
acre-feet of M&I water to Utah Lake for exchange to Jordanelle 
Reservoir. It would conserve water in a Mapleton-Springville Lateral 
Pipeline, conserve water in the Provo River basin and deliver it along 
with acquired water to assist June sucker spawning and rearing, convey 
water to support in-stream flows in Provo River and in Hobble Creek to 
assist recovery of the June sucker, and develop hydropower. This 
alternative would involve construction of five new pipelines for 
delivery of water and 2 new hydropower plants and associated 
transmission lines. Under this alternative, Interior would acquire up 
to 57,003 acre-feet of the District's secondary water rights in Utah 
Lake to provide a firm annual yield of 60,000 acre-feet of M&I water.
    Bonneville Unit Water Alternative--The Bonneville Unit Water 
Alternative would have an average transbasin diversion of 101,900 acre-
feet consisting of: 1,590 acre-feet of M&I water already contracted to 
the southern Utah County cities; 15,800 acre-feet of M&I water to 
southern Utah County to be used in secondary water systems; and 84,510 
acre-feet of M&I water delivered to Utah

[[Page 16597]]

Lake for exchange to Jordanelle Reservoir. It would conserve water in a 
Mapleton-Springville Lateral Pipeline, conserve water in the Provo 
River basin and deliver it along with acquired water to assist June 
sucker spawning and rearing, convey water to support in-stream flows in 
Hobble Creek to assist recovery of the June sucker, and develop 
hydropower. It would involve construction of three new pipelines and 
two new hydropower plants with associated transmission lines. Under 
this alternative, Interior would acquire up to 15,000 acre-feet of the 
District's secondary water rights in Utah Lake to provide a firm annual 
yield of 15,800 acre-feet of M&I water.
    No Action Alternative--No new water conveyance features would be 
constructed under the No Action Alternative. The delivery of 86,100 
acre-feet of Bonneville Unit M&I exchange water would be made without 
any shortages. Some of the Bonneville Unit M&I exchange water would be 
routed through the Strawberry Tunnel to meet instream flow needs in 
Sixth Water and Diamond Fork creeks. The remaining Bonneville Unit M&I 
exchange water would be conveyed through the Diamond Fork System and 
discharged into Diamond Fork Creek at the outlet near Monks Hollow or 
discharged from the Diamond Fork Pipeline into the Spanish Fork River 
at the mouth of Diamond Fork Canyon. The irrigation diversions on lower 
Spanish Fork River would be modified to bypass and measure the 86,100 
acre-feet into Utah Lake, and to allow fish passage as previously 
agreed by the Interior and District in the 1999 Diamond Fork FS-FEIS 
and ROD. The Interior would not purchase any of the District's 
secondary water rights in Utah Lake and no water would be conveyed to 
Hobble Creek. The No Action Alternative would be the same as the 
Interim Proposed Action in the Diamond Fork FS-FEIS.

    Dated: March 25, 2004.
Ronald Johnston,
Program Director, Department of the Interior.
Michael C. Weland,
Executive Director, Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation 
Commission.
[FR Doc. 04-7034 Filed 3-29-04; 8:45 am]
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