[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 5069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1189]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


North Sonoma County Agricultural Reuse Project Sonoma County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS/ Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and notice of public scoping 
meeting.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and Public Resources Code, Section 21000-
21178.1 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau 
of Reclamation (Reclamation), the lead Federal agency, and the Sonoma 
County Water Agency (Agency), the lead State agency, propose to prepare 
a joint EIS/EIR for the proposed North Sonoma County Agricultural Reuse 
Project (Project).
    The purpose of the proposed Project is to: (1) Reduce agricultural 
reliance on natural regional water supplies; (2) provide an alternative 
source of water for agricultural irrigation; and (3) address potential 
regulatory issues.

DATES: A scoping meeting will be held on February 16, 2006 from 5:30 
p.m. to 8 p.m. in Healdsburg, California to solicit comments from 
interested parties to assist in determining the scope of the 
environmental analysis and to identify the significant issues related 
to the proposed Project. Written comment forms will be supplied for 
those who wish to submit written comments at the scoping meeting.

ADDRESSES: The public scoping meeting will be held at Alexander Valley 
Community Hall, 5512 Highway 128, Healdsburg, California.
    Send written comments on the scope of the project to Mr. David 
Cuneo, Sonoma County Water Agency, P.O. Box 11628, Santa Rosa, 
California 95406, no later than March 15, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Cuneo at telephone number: 
(707) 547-1935 or e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Agency, in its continuing efforts to 
develop a recycled water supply for agricultural water users in the 
Russian River, Alexander, and Dry Creek valley areas (North Sonoma 
County area) has identified up to 25,000 acres of agricultural lands 
that could potentially use recycled water. Based on this estimate, the 
Agency developed the Project. The Project would include the design and 
construction of storage reservoirs, conveyance and distribution 
pipelines, and pump stations. The water for the Project would be 
tertiary-treated municipal wastewater generated and conveyed primarily 
through the City of Santa Rosa's (City) Geysers Pipeline to the project 
areas. Reclamation is the federal lead agency because the Agency has 
entered into a cooperative funding agreement with Reclamation to 
provide matching funds up to $500,000 for the Project.
    The purpose of the Project is to provide a reliable alternative 
source of agricultural water to reduce reliance on natural regional 
water supplies and address regional water supply and regulatory issues. 
The Project is needed to address current and future regulatory concerns 
and regional water supply issues. The public would also benefit from 
this project through the reduction of use of natural regional water 
supplies, the reduction of wastewater discharges to regional waterways, 
and from the resulting environmental benefit to fish and wildlife.
    Two local groups, the Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) 
and the Dry Creek Agricultural Water Users, Inc. (DCAWU) have expressed 
significant interest in participating in a recycled water project to 
develop alternative sources of water for existing agricultural use. The 
CSA and the DCAWU both recognize that increased instream demands for 
environmental purposes within the Russian River watershed will compete 
with agriculture and other uses for available water supplies in the 
region. The CSA and the DCAWU also recognize that the agricultural use 
of recycled water may benefit the environment, and consider the Project 
to be part of a regional water supply solution that balances the needs 
of municipalities, agricultural interests, and the environment.
    Presently, agricultural entities divert water directly from the 
Russian River and its tributaries, from the underflow of the Russian 
River and its tributaries, and from groundwater wells. Use of recycled 
water for agricultural purposes on project lands would reduce reliance 
on the Russian River and its tributaries as well as on local 
groundwater wells. Additionally, Federal and State regulatory agencies 
have expressed concern regarding potential impacts to fisheries 
resources and habitat within the Russian River and its tributaries. 
Providing agricultural lands with an alternative source of water would 
allow water to remain in the Russian River and its tributaries, thus 
providing benefits to listed fish species and their habitat. The 
recycled water would be used for agricultural purposes consistent with 
the California Code of Regulations, Title 22 pertaining to the use of 
tertiary-treated recycled water.
    Our practice is 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 also may be 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 the entirety.

    Dated: December 2, 2005.
Frank Michny,
Regional Environmental Officer, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. E6-1189 Filed 1-30-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P