[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 241 (Thursday, December 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75341-75342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27479]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[FES 04-53]


Sacramento River Settlement Contractors

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS).

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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 Sacramento River Settlement 
Contractors (SRSC) have prepared a Final EIS for the Renewal of the 
Sacramento River Settlement Contracts. The proposed renewal of long-
term contracts provides for delivery of water from the Central Valley 
Project (CVP) to the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors and the 
diversion of Base Supply water.
    A Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS was published in the 
Federal Register on Friday, October 1, 2004 (69 FR 58947). The comment 
period on the Draft EIS closed Monday, November 15, 2004. The Final EIS 
contains responses to all substantive comments received on the Draft 
EIS and those comments, or summaries thereof. Additional information 
received during the period was reviewed and responses are provided 
stating how the information was addressed.

DATES: Reclamation will not make a decision on the proposed action 
until at least 30 days after release of the Final EIS. 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 may be requested 
from Ms. Sammie Cervantes, Public Affairs Office, Bureau of 
Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825, at 916-978-5104. 
The Final EIS and ROD are available online at www.usbr.gov/mp/cvpia/3404c/index.html, scroll to Final EISs.
    See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations where copies of the 
Final EIS are also available.

FOR FUTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Mr. Buford Holt, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Northern California Office, 16349 Shasta Dam Blvd., Shasta 
Lake, CA 96019, at 530-275-1554 or e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CVP was first authorized as a Federal 
project in 1935 and includes facilities on the Sacramento River. Prior 
to the authorization of the CVP, individuals and entities along the 
Sacramento River were diverting water for irrigation and municipal and 
industrial (M&I) uses under various claims of right. Construction of 
CVP dams on the Sacramento River and the Trinity River modified the 
flows of the Sacramento River. To settle controversy over assertions of 
rights, the United States, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, 
negotiated the Settlement Contracts to provide agreement on diversion 
of the natural flow of the Sacramento River and stored CVP water. Using 
jointly conducted studies, the parties negotiated to arrive at agreed 
amounts of Base Supply and Project Water. Base Supply is water the 
Settlement Contractors divert during the period of April through 
October each year, free of charge in recognition of their unquantified 
water rights, which existed prior to the construction of the CVP. In 
addition, Reclamation agreed to provide the Settlement Contractors with 
certain designated monthly quantities of CVP water, referred to as 
Project Water, primarily in the months of July, August, and/or 
September. Project Water is subject to all requirements of the Federal 
Reclamation Law, including pricing regulations. Base Supply water is 
subject only to the provisions of the Settlement Contracts and 
applicable State law. The term of the initial Sacramento River 
Settlement contracts was not to exceed 40 years, and the contracts were 
set to expire on March 31, 2004; however, Congress has granted a 2-year 
extension of the contracts.
    The EIS addresses impacts related to the proposed March 2005 
renewal of up to 145 Sacramento River Settlement contracts to continue 
delivery of supplemental Project Water for agricultural and M&I uses 
and the renewal of a contract with the Colusa Basin Drain Mutual Water 
Company for Project Water to replace the drain water that is 
consumptively used. Water would continue to be delivered through 
existing CVP facilities, with no new construction required. With the 
exception of Sutter Mutual Water Company and the Anderson-Cottonwood 
Irrigation District, the proposed Settlement contracts provide for the 
continued delivery of the same quantities of Project Water provided for 
under the expiring Settlement contracts. In addition, the Colusa Basin 
Drain Mutual Water Company's project water allocation is being reduced 
from 100,000 to 70,000 acre-feet.
    Under the proposed action, the Sacramento River Settlement 
Contractors would divert up to 1.8 million acre-feet of Base Supply per 
year from the Sacramento River, and up to 380,000 acre-feet of Project 
Water per year from the Sacramento River. Twenty of the 145 Settlement 
Contractors account for approximately 94 percent of the total 
Settlement contract amount. The proposed contract renewal amounts range 
in size from 10 to 825,000 acre-feet per year. Contracts would be 
renewed for a 40-year term. The renewal contracts provide for continued 
delivery of CVP water to the same lands and for the same purposes of 
use, with exception of Natomas Central Municipal Water Company which 
has requested a change from agricultural use to M&I use in the Metro 
Air Park portion of its service area. The EIS describes and analyzes 
the effects of the proposed contract renewals on fish resources, 
vegetation, and wildlife, hydrology, and water quality, recreation, 
cultural resources, land use, geology and soils, and air quality.
    A public hearing was held on Wednesday, October 27, 2004, in 
Willows, California.
    Copies of the Final EIS and ROD are available for public inspection 
and review at the following locations:
     Bureau of Reclamation, Northern California Area Office, 
16349 Shasta Dam Boulevard, Shasta Lake, CA 96019-8400 (Shasta County); 
telephone 530-275-1554
     Bureau of Reclamation, Mid Pacific Construction Office, 
1140 West Wood Street, Willows, CA 95988-0988 (Glenn County); telephone 
530-934-7066

[[Page 75342]]

     Bureau of Reclamation, 7794 Folsom Dam Road, Folsom, CA 
95630; telephone 916-988-1707
     Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office Library, Building 67, 
Room 167, Denver Federal Center, 6th and Kipling, Denver, CO 80225; 
telephone 303-445-2072
     Bureau of Reclamation, Office of Public Affairs, 2800 
Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825-1898; telephone 916-978-5100
     Bureau of Reclamation, Red Bluff Field Office, 22500 
Altube Road, Red Bluff, CA 96080 (Tehama County); telephone 530-529-
3890
     Natural Resources Library, U.S. Department of the 
Interior, 1849 C Street NW., Main Interior Building, Washington, DC 
20240-0001
    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 29, 2004.
Susan Ramos,
Assistant Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 04-27479 Filed 12-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P