[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 28, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14612-14613]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5560]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[DES-07-17]


North Sonoma County Agricultural Reuse Project (NSCARP)--Sonoma 
County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) and notice of public 
hearings.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), and Public Resources Code, sections 21000-
21177 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of 
Reclamation (Reclamation), the lead Federal agency, and the Sonoma 
County Water Agency (SCWA), the local sponsor and CEQA lead agency, 
have made available for public review and comment a Draft EIS/EIR for 
the NSCARP.
    The NSCARP Draft EIS/EIR describes a no action alternative 
(Alternative 1) and three action alternatives (Alternative 2, 
Alternative 3, and Alternative 4) that include numerous features that 
would create an agricultural irrigation system comprised of 19 recycled 
water storage reservoirs totaling about 11,200 acre-feet in storage 
capacity. In addition, NSCARP would involve the design and construction 
of approximately 112 miles of transmission pipeline and numerous 
pumping stations for conveying water from the Geysers Pipeline to the 
storage reservoirs, and for distribution of the storage recycled water 
from the reservoirs to approximately 21,500 acres of agricultural 
lands.
    As part of the NEPA/CEQA process, one public hearing will be held 
to provide interested individuals and organizations with an opportunity 
to comment verbally and in writing on the NSCARP Draft EIS/EIR.

DATES: Comments on the NSCARP Draft EIS/EIR should be submitted on or 
before May 18, 2007 to Mr. David Cuneo, Senior Environmental 
Specialist, at the address below.
    The public hearing will be held on May 15, 2007 at 10 a.m. at Santa 
Rosa, CA.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held at: Sonoma County Board of 
Supervisors Meeting Room, 575 Administration Drive, Santa Rosa, 
California 95403.
    Send written comments on the NSCARP Draft EIS/EIR to Mr. David 
Cuneo, Sonoma County Water Agency, P.O. Box 11628, Santa Rosa, CA 
95406-1628 (e-mail: [email protected]). Send requests for a compact 
disk or a bound copy of the Draft EIS/EIR to Mr. David Cuneo at the 
address above, telephone: (707) 547-1935, or e-mail: [email protected]. 
The NSCARP Draft EIS/EIR will also be available on the Web at: http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=2152 and http://www.sonomacountywater.org/projects/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Douglas Kleinsmith, Reclamation, 
Environmental Specialist, telephone: (916) 978-5034 or e-mail: 
[email protected]; or Mr. David Cuneo, Sonoma County Water 
Agency, telephone (707) 547-1935 or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NSCARP Draft EIS/EIR discusses the 
project background, purpose and need, project description and 
alternatives, and related projects. The Draft EIS/EIR addresses the 
impacts of project construction and operation on aesthetics, 
agricultural resources, air quality, biological resources, cultural 
resources, environmental justice, geology and soils, hydrology/water 
quality, land use, noise, population and housing, public health and 
safety, public services/utilities, recreation, and transportation and 
circulation.
    The NSCARP area encompasses portions of Sonoma County involving 
four geographical sub areas within the Russian River watershed: 
Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, North Alexander Valley, and Russian 
River Valley, comprising about 46,000 acres. These four sub areas 
correspond to discrete service areas that would be served recycled 
water by sub area-specific water storage and transmission facilities.
    Federal and state regulatory agencies have expressed concerns 
regarding the potential impacts to fisheries resources and habitat 
within the Russian River and its tributaries. These concerns have and 
will continue to result in increased scrutiny of future diversion of 
water for all uses. In 1996, NOAA Fisheries listed the coho salmon as 
threatened in the Russian River watershed and adjacent

[[Page 14613]]

watersheds pursuant to the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). 
Chinook salmon and steelhead trout were similarly listed in 1997 and 
1999, respectively. Through the proposed distribution, storage, and use 
of recycled water for agricultural purposes, the SCWA has identified a 
strategy to reduce reliance on diversions from the Russian River and 
other natural waterways.
    The use of recycled water for irrigation for agricultural purposes 
has been occurring in California since 1890 (California Recycled Water 
Task Force 2003). By the year 2000, there were 234 wastewater treatment 
plants providing recycled water for agricultural and landscape purposes 
in California (California Recycled Water Task Force 2003). Today, 
recycled water in California is being used for a variety of purposes, 
such as irrigation for row crops, vineyard, pasture, stock feed, 
nursery products, turf in parks and schoolyards, and landscaping. In 
Sonoma County, the City of Santa Rosa, Town of Windsor, and the 
Airport-Larkfield-Wikiup Sanitation Zone currently provide recycled 
water for irrigation of about 7,200 acres of agricultural land.
    The SCWA regulates the flow of the Russian River for the benefit of 
agricultural, municipal, and instream beneficial uses. The use of 
recycled water and conjunctive use of surface and groundwater supplies 
within the SCWA service area are all important factors in evaluating 
the management of the regional water supply. SCWA believes the use of 
recycled water to offset surface and groundwater sources used by 
agricultural entities in the Russian River, Alexander, North Alexander, 
and Dry Creek valleys to benefit fisheries in the Russian River 
watershed. 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.
    Copies of the NSCARP Draft EIS/EIR are available for public review 
at the following locations:
     Sonoma County Water Agency, 404 Aviation Boulevard, Santa 
Rosa, CA 95403.
     Sonoma County Central Library, Third and E Street, Santa 
Rosa, CA 95404.
     Healdsburg Regional Library, Piper and Center Streets, 
Healdsburg, CA 95448.
     Windsor Regional Library, 9291 Old Redwood Highway, 
Windsor, CA 95492.
     Guerneville Regional Library, 14107 Armstrong Woods Road, 
Guerneville, CA 95446.
     Forestville Library Station, 7050 Covey Road, Forestville, 
CA 95436.
     Cloverdale Regional Library, 401 N Cloverdale Boulevard, 
Cloverdale, CA 95425.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office Library, Building 67, 
Room 167, Denver Federal Center, 6th and Kipling, Denver, CO 80225.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office 
Library, 2800 Cottage Way, W-1825, Sacramento, CA 95825-1898.
     Natural Resources Library, U.S. Department of the 
Interior, 1849 C Street NW., Main Interior Building, Washington, DC 
20240-0001.

Additional Information

    If special assistance is required at the public hearings, please 
contact Mr. David Cuneo at (707) 547-1935 (e-mail: [email protected]). 
Please notify Mr. Cuneo as far in advance of the hearings as possible 
to enable the SCWA to secure the needed services. If a request cannot 
be honored, the requestor will be notified.
    Comments received in response to this notice will become part of 
the administrative record and are subject to public inspection. Our 
practice is to make comments, including names, home addresses, home 
phone 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: December 11, 2006.
Kirk C. Rodgers,
Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.

     This document was received at the Office of the Federal 
Register on March 22, 2007.
[FR Doc. E7-5560 Filed 3-27-07; 8:45 am]
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