[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 240 (Wednesday, December 15, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75086-75087]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27389]


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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 availability of the joint Final Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Final EIS/EIR) FES 04-50.

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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) have prepared a 
Final 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 
(a maximum of 80,000 acre-feet of developed water from conservation 
measures, including tailwater recovery, and groundwater pumping and a 
maximum of 50,000 acre-feet from temporary 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 to Reclamation and/or 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.
    A Notice of Availability of the joint Draft EIS/EIR was published 
in the Federal Register on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 (69 FR 33659). The 
written comment period on the Draft EIS/EIR ended Monday, August 2, 
2004. The Final EIS and Final EIR contain responses to all comments 
received and reflect comments and any additional information received 
during the review period.

DATES: Reclamation will not make a decision on the proposed action 
until at least 30 days after release of the Final EIS/EIR. After the 
30-day waiting period, Reclamation will complete a Record of Decision 
(ROD). The ROD will state the action that will be implemented and will 
discuss all factors leading to the decision.

ADDRESSES: A compact disk or a copy of the Final EIS/EIR may be 
requested from Mr. Bob Eckart, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific 
Region, Division of Environmental Affairs, 2800 Cottage Way, 
Sacramento, California 95825, at (916) 978-5051 (Fax: (916) 978-5055), 
or by e-mail at [email protected]. The final document is available 
online at http://www.usbr.gov/mp.
    See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for locations where copies of 
the Final EIS/EIR are available for public inspection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bob Eckart at the above address, 
by calling (916) 978-5051, or by e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose/objective of the proposed 10-
year transfer program is the transfer of water from the Exchange 
Contractors to:
     South of Delta and Friant Unit CVP contractors to meet 
demands of agriculture, municipal, and industrial uses,
     The Department of the Interior's Water Acquisition Program 
for delivery to the San Joaquin Valley Federal, State, and private 
wildlife refuges to meet Incremental Level 4 needs, and/or
     Reclamation and/or DWR for use by the CALFED EWA Program 
to benefit CVP operations by providing replacement water to CVP 
contractors.
    The Exchange Contractors' proposed water transfer program would 
assist Reclamation in maximizing the use of limited existing water 
resources for agriculture, fish and wildlife resources, and municipal 
and industrial purposes. Water would be transferred to other CVP 
contractors to support the production of agricultural crops and 
livestock within the limits of their current agreements. CVP 
contractors include Santa Clara Valley Water District which 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 and/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

[[Page 75087]]

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, Tulare, and Kern counties. Water 
purchased for use by Reclamation and/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.
    The Draft EIS/EIR addressed impacts associated with water 
development by the Exchange Contractors and related effects associated 
with water use by CVP contractors and the wildlife refuges. Resources 
evaluated for potential direct and indirect effects from the proposed 
transfer program include: surface water, groundwater, biological 
(vegetation, wildlife, and fisheries), air quality, land use (including 
agriculture), socioeconomics, Indian Trust Assets, and environmental 
justice. An evaluation of cumulative hydrologic and water service area 
impacts associated with reasonably foreseeable actions is included 
also.
    One public hearing was held on July 7, 2004 in Los Banos, 
California.
    Copies of the Final EIS/EIR are available for public inspection and 
review at the following locations:
     Bureau of Reclamation, Office of Public Affairs, 2800 
Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825-1898; telephone: (916) 978-5100.
     San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority, 
541 H Street, Los Banos, CA 93635; telephone: (209) 827-8616.
     California State Library, 914 Capitol Mall, Suite E-29, 
Sacramento.
     Resources Agency Library, 1416 Ninth Street, Suite 117, 
Sacramento.
     San Francisco Public Library, McAllister and Larkin, San 
Francisco.
     Fresno County Public Library, 2420 Mariposa Street, 
Fresno.
     Merced County Public Library, 1312 South 7th Street, Los 
Banos.
     Santa Clara County Public Library, 10441 Bandley Drive, 
Cupertino.
     Kern County Library, 701 Truxton Avenue, Bakersfield.
     UCD Shields Library, Documents Department, University of 
California, Davis.
     UCB Water Resources Center Archives, 410 O'Brien Hall, 
Berkeley.
    It is Reclamation's policy 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 will be honored to the extent allowable by law. There 
may be circumstances in which a respondent's identity may also be 
withheld 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. All submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be 
made available for public disclosure in their entirety.

    Dated: November 19, 2004.
John F. Davis,
Deputy Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 04-27389 Filed 12-14-04; 8:45 am]
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