[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 36 (Friday, February 22, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9780-9781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3315]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare Draft Environmental Impact Statement for 
Updated Water Control Manuals for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint 
River Basin

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Mobile District, 
intends to prepare an update and revision of the water control manuals 
for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin. Concurrent 
with that revision, a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will 
be prepared, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA). The Draft EIS will address updated operating criteria and 
guidelines for managing the water storage and release actions of agency 
water managers and associated environmental impacts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the manual update or 
NEPA process can be answered by: Mr. Brian Zettle, Inland Environment 
Team, Environment and Resources Branch, Planning and Environmental 
Division, U.S. Army Engineer District-Mobile, Post Office Box 2288, 
Mobile, AL 36628-0001; Telephone (251) 690-2115; or delivered by 
electronic facsimile at (251) 694-3815; or E-mail: 
[email protected]. You may also request to be included on 
the mailing list for public distribution of notices, meeting 
announcements and documents associated with the preparation and review 
of the Draft EIS.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background. Water control manuals are guidance documents that 
assist Federal water managers in the operation of individual and 
multiple interdependent Federal reservoirs on the same river system. 
They provide technical, historical, hydrological, geographic, 
demographic, policy and other information that guide the proper 
management of reservoirs during times of high water, low water, and 
normal conditions. The manuals contain water control plans for each of 
the reservoirs within the basin system and specify how the various 
reservoir projects will be operated as a balanced system. The manuals 
also contain drought plans and zones to assist Federal water managers 
in knowing when to reduce or increase reservoir releases and conserve 
storage in the Federal reservoirs, and how to ensure the safety of dams 
during extreme conditions such as floods. The authority and guidance 
for the Corps to prepare and update these manuals may be found in 
Section 7 of the 1944 Flood Control Act, and the following Corps of 
Engineer Regulations: ER 1110-2-240, ER 1110-2-241, ER 1110-2-1941 and 
ER 1110-2-8156.
    The ACF Basin provides water resources for multiple purposes from 
northwestern GA down, along the Alabama-Georgia border and then into 
Florida and the Gulf Coast at Apalachicola Bay, extending a distance of 
approximately 540 miles along the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Rivers 
and an additional 350 miles on the Flint River, and encompassing an 
area of approximately 19,600 square miles. The master operating manual 
for the ACF River Basin dates to 1958, prior to the completion of most 
of the reservoir projects in the basin, and the individual reservoir 
project water control manuals were last updated at various dates as far 
back as the 1970s and 1980s, with primarily administrative updates 
approved in the 1990s. There are 16 major dams and reservoirs (five 
Federal and 11 non-Federal) located in the basin. The Federal projects 
owned and operated by the Corps include Buford Dam and Lake Lanier, 
West Point Dam and Lake, Walter F. George Dam and Lake, George W. 
Andrews Dam and Lake located on the Chattahoochee River; and Jim 
Woodruff Dam and Lake Seminole located on the Apalachicola River at the 
confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint River. The authorized project 
purposes at the Corps lakes include flood control, hydropower, 
navigation, water supply, water quality, fish and wildlife 
conservation, and recreation.
    Other non-Federal reservoirs located on the Chattahoochee River and 
Flint River include power projects owned and operated by the Georgia 
Power Company and Crisp County, Georgia. The non-Federal power lakes 
are primarily run-of-river projects that do not impact Federal project 
operations significantly, but operations between the Georgia Power 
projects and the Federal projects are coordinated as necessary to meet 
downstream water quality and water supply demands.
    In 1989, a draft master manual for the ACF basin was proposed which 
described operations current at that time. This draft manual was never 
finalized due to the initiation of litigation by the State of Alabama, 
which is still ongoing. However, since that time, Corps operations have 
continued to conform with the operations described in the 1989 draft 
manual and other more recently updated water control manuals for the 
various Federal projects. The new manuals will eventually replace any 
current ones and will address the basin-wide management of those water 
resources.
    Public participation throughout the water control manual revision 
process is essential. The Corps invites full public participation at 
all stages to promote open communication and better decision making. 
All persons, stakeholders, and organizations that have an interest in 
water-related resources in the ACF basin, including minority, low-
income, disadvantaged and Native American groups, are urged to 
participate in this NEPA environmental analysis process. Assistance 
will be provided upon request to anyone having difficulty understanding 
how to participate. Dates and locations for public scoping meetings 
will be announced by future publication in the Federal Register and in 
the local news media. Tentative dates for publication of the draft 
water control manuals and EIS and other opportunities for public 
involvement will also be announced at that time. Public comments are 
welcomed anytime throughout the NEPA process.

[[Page 9781]]

    Cooperating Agencies. The lead responsibility for this action rests 
with the Corps. The Corps intends to coordinate and/or consult with an 
interagency team of Federal and State agencies during scoping and 
preparation of the draft EIS. A decision will be made during the 
scoping process whether other agencies will serve in an official role 
as cooperating agencies.
    Scoping. The Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa Rivers (ACT)/Apalachicola-
Chattahoochee-Flint Rivers (ACF) Comprehensive Study from 1990 to 1997 
and ACF Compact negotiations from 1997 to 2004 involved the States 
(Alabama, Florida and Georgia), stakeholders and the public in 
identifying areas of concern; collecting and developing water resource, 
environmental, and socioeconomic data; and developing tools to assist 
in decisions affecting water resources within the two basins. 
Development of the updated water control manuals and scoping for this 
EIS will continue to build upon the knowledge and information developed 
during the Comprehensive Study and subsequent Compact negotiations. 
Scoping meetings were also held in the fall of 2006 associated with 
initiation of a draft EIS for the Lake Lanier Interim Storage Contracts 
associated with the Southeastern Federal Power Customers, Inc. vs. the 
Secretary of the Army settlement agreement, and information gathered 
during this scoping process will also contribute to the information 
base for the ACF water control manual EIS. Additional scoping meetings 
or workshops with agencies and stakeholder groups will be scheduled to 
identify significant issues and data gaps, focus on the alternatives to 
be evaluated, and to identify appropriate tools to assist in the 
evaluation of alternatives and analysis of impacts.

    Dated: February 13, 2008.
R. Daren Payne,
Lieutenant Colonel, Corps of Engineers, Acting District Commander.
[FR Doc. E8-3315 Filed 2-21-08; 8:45 am]
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