[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 13 (Thursday, January 20, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3655-3656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1127]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin, Riverside-Corona Feeder Project, 
San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of 
Reclamation (Reclamation) and the Western Municipal Water District 
(Western) have prepared a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact 
Report and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIR/DEIS) for the 
proposed Riverside-Corona Feeder (RCF) Project. Interested parties are 
invited to comment on the SDEIR/DEIS.
    The Federal action will provide funds for a proposed aquifer 
storage and recovery project, including new groundwater wells and a 28-
mile water pipeline with pump stations and a reservoir storage tank. 
The project is intended to improve the reliability of Western's water 
supply through managed storage, extraction and distribution of local 
and imported water supplies, using available capacity in the Bunker 
Hill Groundwater Basin and the Chino Basin.

DATES: Submit written comments on the SDEIR/DEIS by March 22, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Mrs. Amy Witherall, SCAO-7300, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Southern California Area Office, 27708 Jefferson 
Avenue, Suite 202, Temecula, CA 92590; facsimile (951) 695-5319; e-
mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mrs. Amy Witherall, telephone (951) 
695-5310; facsimile (951) 695-5319; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SDEIR/DEIS can be downloaded from our 
Web site: http://www.usbr.gov/lc/socal/envdocs.html. Copies are also 
available for public review and inspection at the following locations:

[[Page 3656]]

     Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Regional Office, 500 
Fir Street, Boulder City, Nevada 89005
     Bureau of Reclamation, Southern California Area Office, 
27708 Jefferson Avenue, Suite 202, Temecula, California 92590
     Western Municipal Water District, 14205 Meridian Parkway, 
Riverside, California 92518
     San Bernardino Public Library, 555 West 6th Street, San 
Bernardino, California 92410
     Corona Public Library, 650 South Main Street, Corona, 
California 92882
     Riverside Public Library, 9556 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, 
California 92503

Authority

    This notice is provided pursuant to NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c), and 
Department of the Interior regulations for the implementation of NEPA, 
43 CFR Part 46.
    Section 9112 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 
(Public Law 111-11, 123 Stat. 1318), signed by the President on March 
30, 2009, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with 
Western, to participate in the planning, design, and construction of 
the Riverside-Corona Feeder Project including: (i) 20 groundwater 
wells; (ii) groundwater treatment facilities; (iii) water storage and 
pumping facilities; and (iv) 28 miles of pipeline in San Bernardino and 
Riverside Counties in the State of California.

Background

    The proposed project will install up to 20 groundwater wells in the 
Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin, San Bernardino County, California. 
Existing recharge basins will be used to store imported water and local 
Santa Ana River flows in the Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin when 
supplies are available. The stored groundwater will be extracted later 
for delivery to communities in Western's service area in Riverside 
County, California, via 28 miles of pipeline ranging in diameter up to 
78 inches, capable of delivering up to 40,000 acre-feet per year of 
groundwater at 100 cubic feet per second. The first phase of the 
project will also provide access to groundwater from the Chino Basin in 
San Bernardino County.
    The currently proposed RCF alignment is a modification to a project 
previously evaluated by Western in 2005 and revised in 2008. The 
original project included eight segments, Reaches A through H, analyzed 
in the Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) for the 
Riverside-Corona Feeder, California State Clearinghouse (SCH) No. 
2003031121, certified by Western on May 18, 2005. Reaches E, F, and G 
were refined slightly in 2007 and evaluated in the Environmental Impact 
Report for the La Sierra Avenue Water Transmission Pipeline Project 
(SCH No. 2006101152), certified by Western on February 20, 2008. 
Western issued a Notice of Preparation of a draft Supplemental Program 
EIR on July 30, 2008, to evaluate a change in the pipeline alignment. 
Reclamation issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement on February 24, 2010 (75 FR 8395).
    The new alignment will not change the number of wells or the Bunker 
Hill groundwater extraction described in the 2005 PEIR, but will now 
allow Western to access available groundwater from existing desalter 
facilities in Chino Basin under an approved Optimum Basin Management 
Plan. The current project includes realignment of Reaches A through D, 
now referred to as the Northern and Central Reaches, with Reach H 
remaining as proposed in the original project. The refined alignment 
for Reaches E, F, and G will remain consistent with the approvals in 
the 2008 EIR.
    Additional connection facilities were added to the project 
including a new well field for five (5) of the 20 wells, two (2) 
additional pump stations, one (1) five-million gallon reservoir, and 
connecting pipelines.
    Reclamation is incorporating the two previous CEQA Environmental 
Impact Reports by reference. They are included as appendices to the 
draft SDEIR/DEIS.

Public Disclosure

    Before including your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, 
or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should 
be aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Dated: January 13, 2011.
Lorri Gray-Lee,
Regional Director, Lower Colorado Region.
[FR Doc. 2011-1127 Filed 1-19-11; 8:45 am]
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