[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 39 (Wednesday, February 28, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9026-9028]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-3447]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[DES-07-05]


Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and 
Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability and Notice of Public Hearings for the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Colorado River Interim 
Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for 
Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, as amended, and the Council on Environmental Quality's 
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions

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of NEPA, the Department of the Interior (Department), acting through 
the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), has prepared a draft 
environmental impact statement (Draft EIS) on the proposed adoption of 
specific Colorado River Lower Basin shortage guidelines and coordinated 
reservoir management strategies to address operations of Lake Powell 
and Lake Mead, particularly under low reservoir conditions. This action 
is proposed in order to provide a greater degree of certainty to U.S. 
Colorado River water users and managers of the Colorado River Basin by 
providing detailed and objective guidelines for the operations of Lake 
Powell and Lake Mead, thereby allowing water managers and water users 
in the Lower Basin to know when, and by how much, water deliveries will 
be reduced in drought and other low reservoir conditions. The 
Department proposes that these guidelines be interim in duration and 
extend through 2026.
    Cooperating agencies are the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service (NPS), the Western 
Area Power Administration (Western), and the United States Section of 
the International Boundary and Water Commission.

DATES AND ADDRESSES: A public review period commences with the 
publication of this notice. Comments on the Draft EIS must be submitted 
no later than Monday, April 30, 2007, to: Regional Director, Lower 
Colorado Region, Bureau of Reclamation, Attention: BCOO-1000, P.O. Box 
61470, Boulder City, Nevada 89006-1470; faxogram at (702) 293-8156; or 
e-mail at [email protected].
    Reclamation will conduct three public hearings to receive written 
or oral comments from the public on the Draft EIS at the following 
locations:
     Tuesday, April 3, 2007--6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Henderson 
Convention Center, Sierra Room, 200 South Water Street, Henderson, 
Nevada.
     Wednesday, April 4, 2007--6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Phoenix 
Airport Marriott, Buckhorn Room, 1101 North 44th Street, Phoenix, 
Arizona.
     Thursday, April 5, 2007--6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Hilton Salt 
Lake City Center, Canyon Room A & B, 255 South West Temple, Salt Lake 
City, Utah.
    If special assistance is required regarding accommodations for 
attendance at any of the public hearings, please contact Nan Yoder at 
(702) 293-8495, faxogram at (702) 293-8156, or e-mail at 
[email protected] no less than 5 working days prior to the applicable 
meeting(s).
    The Draft EIS is electronically available for viewing and copying 
at Reclamation's project Web site at: http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies.html. Alternatively, a compact disc or hard copy is 
available upon written request to: Regional Director, Lower Colorado 
Region, Bureau of Reclamation, Attention: BCOO-1000, P.O. Box 61470, 
Boulder City, Nevada 89006-1470; faxogram at (702) 293-8156; or e-mail 
at [email protected].
    Copies of the Draft EIS are available for public inspection and 
review at the following locations:
     Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Regional Office, 400 
Railroad Avenue, Boulder City, Nevada.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office, 125 
South State Street, Room 7220, Salt Lake City, Utah.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office, 6150 West 
Thunderbird Road, Glendale, Arizona.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Yuma Area Office, 7301 Calle Agua 
Salada, Yuma, Arizona.
     Bureau of Reclamation Library, Denver Federal Center, 6th 
Avenue and Kipling, Building 67, Room 167, Denver, Colorado.
     Department of the Interior, Natural Resources Library 1849 
C Street NW., Washington, DC.
     Yuma County Library, 185 South Main Street, Yuma, Arizona.
     Palo Verde Valley Library, 125 West Chanslor Way, Blythe, 
California.
     Mohave County Library, 1170 Hancock Road, Bullhead City, 
Arizona.
     Laughlin Library, 2840 South Needles Highway, Laughlin, 
Nevada.
     Las Vegas Clark County Library, 833 Las Vegas Boulevard N, 
Las Vegas, Nevada.
     James I. Gibson Library, 280 Water Street, Henderson, 
Nevada.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terrance J. Fulp, Ph.D., at (702) 293-
8500 or e-mail at [email protected]; and/or Randall Peterson at 
(801) 524-3633 or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During the period from 2000-2006, the 
Colorado River has experienced the worst drought conditions in 
approximately one hundred years of recorded history. During this 
period, storage in Colorado River reservoirs has dropped from nearly 
full to less than 60 percent of capacity at the end of 2006. Currently, 
the Department does not have specific operational guidelines in place 
to address the operation of Lake Mead and Lake Powell during drought 
and low reservoir conditions.
    Accordingly, the Department proposes the adoption of specific 
interim guidelines for Lower Basin shortages and coordinated operations 
of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The proposed federal action will be 
implemented through the adoption of interim guidelines in effect 
through 2026 that would be used each year by the Department in 
implementing the Criteria for Coordinated Long-Range Operation of 
Colorado River Reservoirs Pursuant to the Colorado River Basin Project 
Act of September 30, 1968, through issuance of the Annual Operating 
Plan for Colorado River Reservoirs.
    The proposed federal action considers four operational elements 
that collectively are designed to address the purpose and need for the 
proposed federal action. These elements are addressed in each of the 
alternatives described and analyzed in the Draft EIS. The interim 
guidelines would be used by the Secretary of the Department of the 
Interior (Secretary) to:
     Determine those circumstances under which the Secretary 
would reduce the annual amount of water available for consumptive use 
from Lake Mead to the Colorado River Lower Division states (Arizona, 
California, and Nevada) below 7.5 million acre-feet (a ``Shortage'') 
pursuant to Article II(B)(3) of the United States Supreme Court in the 
case of Arizona v. California, 547 U.S.----(2006);
     Define the coordinated operation of Lake Powell and Lake 
Mead to provide improved operation of these two reservoirs, 
particularly under low reservoir conditions;
     Allow for the storage and delivery, pursuant to applicable 
federal law, of conserved Colorado River system and non-system water in 
Lake Mead to increase the flexibility of meeting water use needs from 
Lake Mead, particularly under drought and low reservoir conditions; and
     Determine those conditions under which the Secretary may 
declare the availability of surplus water for use within the Lower 
Division states. The proposed federal action would modify the substance 
of the existing Interim Surplus Guidelines (ISG), published in the 
Federal Register on January 25, 2001 (66 FR 7772), and the term of the 
ISG from 2016 to 2026.
    The purpose of the proposed federal action is to: (1) Improve 
Reclamation's management of the Colorado River by considering the 
trade-offs between the frequency and magnitude of reductions of water 
deliveries, and considering the effects on water storage in Lake Powell 
and Lake Mead, water supply, power

[[Page 9028]]

production, recreation, and other environmental resources; (2) provide 
mainstream U.S. users of Colorado River water, particularly those in 
the Lower Division states, a greater degree of predictability with 
respect to the amount of annual water deliveries in future years, 
particularly under drought and low reservoir conditions; and, (3) 
provide additional mechanisms for the storage and delivery of water 
supplies in Lake Mead.
    The Draft EIS presents four possible action alternatives for 
implementation, plus a ``No Action Alternative.'' Reclamation has not 
identified a preferred alternative in this Draft EIS. The preferred 
alternative will be identified following public comments on the Draft 
EIS and will be expressed in the Final EIS. The action alternatives 
reflect input from Reclamation staff, the cooperating agencies, 
stakeholders, and other interested parties. Reclamation received two 
written proposals for alternatives that met the purpose and need of the 
proposed federal action, one from the Basin States and another from a 
consortium of environmental organizations. These proposals were used 
and refined by Reclamation to formulate two of the alternatives 
considered and analyzed in this Draft EIS: the Basin States Alternative 
and the Conservation Before Shortage Alternative. A third alternative 
(Water Supply Alternative) was developed by Reclamation and a fourth 
alternative (Reservoir Storage Alternative) was developed in 
coordination with the NPS and Western.
    The Basin States Alternative proposes a coordinated operation of 
Lake Powell and Lake Mead that would minimize shortages in the Lower 
Basin and avoid the risk of curtailments of use in the Upper Basin. 
This alternative also provides a mechanism, Intentionally Created 
Surplus (ICS), for promoting water conservation in the Lower Basin.
    The Conservation Before Shortage Alternative includes voluntary, 
compensated reductions in water use to minimize involuntary shortages 
in the Lower Basin and avoid risk of curtailments of use in the Upper 
Basin. This alternative also provides a mechanism for promoting water 
conservation in the Lower Basin by expanding the ICS mechanism.
    The Water Supply Alternative is intended to maximize water 
deliveries at the expense of retaining water in storage in the 
reservoirs for future use. This alternative would implement shortages 
only when insufficient water to meet entitlements is available in Lake 
Mead.
    The Reservoir Storage Alternative would keep more water in storage 
in Lake Powell and Lake Mead by reducing water deliveries and 
increasing shortages to benefit power and recreational interests; and 
this alternative also provides a mechanism for promoting water 
conservation in the Lower Basin.

Public Disclosure

    It is our practice to make comments, including names, home 
addresses, home telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of respondents, 
available for public review. Individual respondents may request that we 
withhold their names and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to 
consider withholding this information you must state this prominently 
at the beginning of your comments. In addition, you must present a 
rationale for withholding this information. This rationale must 
demonstrate that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted 
invasion of privacy. Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. 
In the absence of exceptional, documentable circumstances, this 
information will be released. We will always make submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

    Dated: February 2, 2007.
Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. E7-3447 Filed 2-27-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P