[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1239-1240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-177]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[FES-06-53]


Transfer of Title to Facilities, Works, and Lands of the Gila 
Project, Wellton-Mohawk Division, to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and 
Drainage District, Yuma County, AZ (Wellton-Mohawk Title Transfer)

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability, Final Environmental Impact Statement, 
Wellton-Mohawk Title Transfer.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, as amended, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has prepared 
a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to evaluate the potential 
effects of the proposed Wellton-Mohawk Title Transfer. The title 
transfer would transfer ownership and divest Reclamation of the 
responsibility for the operation, maintenance, management, regulation 
of, and liability for the identified project facilities and appurtenant 
lands to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District 
(District). This title transfer would consolidate management 
responsibility with the District, thereby allowing them to have greater 
authority in the management of growth and land-based issues in the 
Wellton-Mohawk Valley, protect against encroachment on agriculture, and 
consolidate ownership of lands, facilities, and the Gila River Flood 
Channel.

ADDRESSES: To obtain a compact disc or paper copy of the FEIS, please 
e-mail Christa Monaco at [email protected] or write Ms. Monaco at the 
Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Regional Office, P.O. Box 61470, 
Boulder City, NV 89006-1470. A copy of the FEIS is available for public 
review and inspection on the Region's Web site at http://www.usbr.gov/lc under ``Latest News and Info'', or at the following locations:

     Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District, 30570 
Wellton-Mohawk Drive, Wellton, AZ, telephone: (928) 785-3351.

[[Page 1240]]

     Dateland School Branch Library, Avenue 64 East, Dateland, 
AZ, telephone: (928) 454-2243.
     Foothills Branch Library, 11279 South Glenwood Avenue, 
Yuma, AZ, telephone: (928) 342-1640.
     Roll Branch Library, 5151 South Avenue 39 East, Roll, AZ, 
telephone: (928) 785-3701.
     Wellton Branch Library, 10425 Williams Street, Wellton, 
AZ, telephone: (928) 785-9575.
     Yuma County Main Library, 350 South 3rd Avenue, Yuma, AZ, 
telephone: (928) 782-1871.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Yuma Area Office, 800 Calle Agua 
Salada, Yuma, AZ, telephone: (928) 343-8139.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Public Affairs Office, Annex 
Building, corner of Nevada Highway and Park Street, Boulder City, NV, 
telephone: (702) 293-8421.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office Library, Building 67, 
Room 167, Denver Federal Center, 6th and Kipling, Denver, CO telephone: 
(303) 445-2072.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Renee Kolvet, Project Lead, Lower 
Colorado Regional Office, Bureau of Reclamation, 702-293-8443, fax 702-
293-8146 or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) Notice of 
Availability was published in the Federal Register on September 4, 2003 
(68 FR 52613). The public review period ended on October 29, 2003. All 
comments received on the DEIS were carefully reviewed and considered in 
preparing the FEIS. Where appropriate, responses to comments received 
from interested organizations and individuals during the review period 
are addressed in the FEIS.
    The amount of land to be transferred has been reduced by 
approximately 8,850 acres from that identified in the Proposed Action 
of the DEIS. These changes were made to reflect the correct legal land 
ownership status and in response to concerns raised during 
consultations with tribal governments. No additional adverse 
environmental impacts would result from the changes as documented in 
the FEIS.
    Reclamation will not make a decision on the proposed action until 
at least 30 days after Environmental Protection Agency's Notice of 
Availability of the FEIS is published in the Federal Register. After 
the 30-day waiting period, Reclamation may complete a Record of 
Decision (ROD) which would state the action that will be implemented 
and would discuss all factors leading to the decision.
    The FEIS will be used in the decision-making process pursuant to 
the Wellton-Mohawk Transfer Act of June 2000 (Pub. L. 106-221), whereby 
the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to transfer title to the 
Wellton-Mohawk Division of the Gila Project works and facilities, and 
certain federally-owned lands from the United States to the District. 
The District is a political subdivision of the State of Arizona 
constituted to own lands and facilities and to contract with 
Reclamation for diversion of Colorado River water for delivery to its 
landowners. Reclamation and the District signed a Memorandum of 
Agreement (MOA) in July 1998, as amended, which defines the methods and 
principles of this title transfer process.
    Two alternatives are evaluated in the FEIS: (1) The No Action 
Alternative, under which facilities of the Wellton-Mohawk Division of 
the Gila Project and lands within or adjacent to the Gila Project would 
remain in Federal ownership, and (2) the Proposed Action/Preferred 
Alternative under which Reclamation would transfer title to the 
facilities of the Wellton-Mohawk Division of the Gila Project and lands 
within or adjacent to the Gila Project to the District.

    Dated: November 29, 2006.
Jayne Harkins,
Deputy Regional Director, Lower Colorado Region.
[FR Doc. E7-177 Filed 1-9-07; 8:45 am]
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