[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 242 (Friday, December 17, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75560-75561]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-26871]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Buckman Water Diversion Project, Santa Fe County, New Mexico

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. Forest Service, 
Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management, Taos Field Office, and 
Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest, announce the availability of 
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Buckman Water 
Diversion Project.

DATES: The Buckman Water Diversion Project DEIS will be available for 
review for 60 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal 
Register. The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service can best 
utilize your comments and resource information submissions within the 
60 day review period provided above. Any meetings or public involvement 
activities associated with distribution of the DEIS will be announced 
at least 15 days in advance through the local media, at Web site http://www.nm.blm.gov, and/or mailings.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the DEIS have been sent to affected Federal, 
State, and local government agencies and to interested parties, and 
will be available via the Internet at http://www.nm.blm.gov.
    Copies of the DEIS will also be available at the following 
locations:
     Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office, 1474 
Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505.
     Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest, 1474 Rodeo Road, 
Santa Fe, NM 87505.
     Tetra Tech, Santa Fe Office, 502 West Cordova Road, Santa 
Fe,NM 87505.
     City of Santa Fe, Sangre de Cristo Water Division, 801 
West San Mateo, Santa Fe, NM 87504.
     Santa Fe County, Utilities Department, 205 Montezuma Ave., 
Santa Fe, NM 87501.
     USDI Bureau of Reclamation, 555 Broadway Ave., 
Albuquerque, NM 87102.
    Comments must be sent to Mr. Sandy Hurlocker (Buckman Diversion 
Comments), Espanola Ranger District, PO Box 3307, Espanola, New Mexico 
87533. E-mail comments may be directed to the following e-mail address: 
[email protected]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTRACT: The Bureau of Land Management contact 
is Ms. Sher Churchill, Planning and Environmental Coordinator, Taos, 
Field Office, 226 Cruz Alta Rd., Taos, New Mexico 87571, telephone 
(505) 751-4725. The Forest Service contact is Mr. Sandy Hurlocker, NEPA 
Coordinator, Espanola Ranger District, P.O. Box 3307, Espanola, New 
Mexico 87533, telephone (505) 753-7331.
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project area is located northwest of 
Santa Fe, New Mexico. The DEIS describes and analyzes the impacts of 
alternatives for approximately 9 miles of upgrades to an existing 
access road and for construction and operation of a water diversion 
intake on the Rio Grande; sediment settling ponds; pumps and water 
pipelines to move the withdrawn water approximately 15 miles to the 
vicinity of its use; two water treatment plants; and and two power 
lines a 115 Kv and a 12.47 Kv plus one substation.
    If authorized, the project will be predominantly located on public 
lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest 
Service; and a relatively small portion of the project facilities will 
be located on private lands and Bureau of Land Management lands leased 
to the City of Santa Fe.
    The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are co-lead 
agencies for this project; the Department of Interior Bureau of 
Reclamation (contributing funds), City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County 
are cooperating agencies. The City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County and Las 
Companas Limited Partnership are the project applicants.
    The project applicants (City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, and Las 
Companas Limited Partnership) have proposed the Buckman Water Diversion 
Project to meet the immediate need for a sustainable means of accessing 
water supplies that make more direct use of the Applicants' water 
rights by diverting San Juan-Chama Project water and native Rio Grande 
water while reducing impacts to the aquifer. The Applicants propose to 
construct and operate a surface water diversion facility at the Rio 
Grande near the western terminus of Buckman Road located within the 
Santa Fe National Forest, near the existing Buckman Well Field. The 
water will be pumped to the Santa Fe vicinity where it will serve 
municipal and community water supply customers.
    The Buckman Water Diversion is proposed to be constructed with the 
capacity necessary to meet the near-term need for water, based on 
physical, technical, and environmental limitations. The proposed 
project has an independent utility from the long-term water management 
strategy being undertaken by the City and the County.
    The scoping process has included public meetings, field reviews, 
and interactions with various State and

[[Page 75561]]

Federal agencies. Issues identified during scoping led to the 
development of alternatives to a number of components in the proposed 
action. Also, on-going discussions and evaluations conducted by the 
lead agencies and Applicants have resulted in the identification of 
additional action items (such as power infrastructure and road 
upgrades) that have been incorporated into the proposed action and 
other action alternatives. The DEIS describes and analyzes the direct, 
indirect and cumulative effects of a range of action alternatives and 
the No Action alternative in detail. The alternatives, including the 
Agencies' Preferred Alternative, conform to existing laws and 
regulations, and provide for resource protection.

Sam DesGeorges,
BLM Taos Field Manager.

Gilbert Zepeda,
Santa Fe Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 04-26871 Filed 12-16-04; 8:45 am]
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