[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 29, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52365-52366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-21328]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for the Arkansas Valley Conduit and Long-Term Excess Capacity
Master Contract, Fryingpan-Arkansas Project; Bent, Chaffee, Crowley, El
Paso Pueblo, Fremont, Kiowa, Otero, and Prowers Counties, CO
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearings.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation has made available for public review
and comment the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the
Arkansas Valley Conduit and Long-Term Excess Capacity Contract,
Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, Colorado.
The proposed Arkansas Valley Conduit, conveyance contract for the
Pueblo Dam north-south outlet works interconnect, and long-term excess
capacity master contract to store water in available space in Pueblo
Reservoir would deliver high quality water that would meet
Environmental Protection Agency and state water quality requirements
and help water providers throughout the Arkansas River Basin in
Colorado reliably meet existing and future water demands.
DATES: Submit written comments on the Draft EIS on or before October
30, 2012.
Public hearings will be held on:
1. Monday, September 24, 2012, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Salida,
Colorado.
2. Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m.
to 8 p.m., Pueblo, Colorado.
3. Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., La Junta,
Colorado.
4. Thursday, September 27, 2012, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Lamar,
Colorado.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on the Draft EIS to Ms. J. Signe
Snortland, Bureau of Reclamation, P.O. Box 1017, Bismarck, North Dakota
58502; or by email to [email protected].
The public hearings will be held at:
1. Salida--Salida Community Center, 305 F Street, Salida, Colorado
81201.
2. Pueblo--Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main St., Pueblo,
Colorado 81003.
3. Otero--Otero Junior College, 2222 San Juan Ave., La Junta,
Colorado 81050.
4. Lamar--Lamar Community Building, 610 South 6th Street, Lamar,
Colorado 81052.
To request an Executive Summary and DVD of the Draft EIS, please
contact J. Signe Snortland as indicated above, or call 701-221-1278.
The Draft EIS may be viewed or downloaded at the Bureau of
Reclamation's Web site at http://www.usbr.gov/avceis. See Supplementary
Information section for locations where copies of the Draft EIS are
available for public review.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: J. Signe Snortland, Environmental
Specialist at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Three proposed federal actions by the Bureau of Reclamation are
analyzed in the Draft EIS: (1) Construct and operate the Arkansas
Valley Conduit (AVC) and enter into a repayment contract with
Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District; (2) enter into a
conveyance contract with various water providers for use of a pipeline
interconnection between Pueblo Dam's south and north outlet works; and
(3) enter into a excess capacity master contract with Southeastern
Colorado Water Conservancy District to store water in Pueblo Reservoir.
While serving similar water supply and delivery purposes, the proposed
actions are independent of each other.
The AVC was authorized by Congress in the original Fryingpan-
Arkansas legislation in 1962 (Pub. L. 87-590). However, it was not
constructed with the original project, primarily because of the
beneficiaries' inability to repay the construction costs. In 2009,
Congress amended the original legislation in Public Law 111-11, which
authorized annual federal funding as necessary for constructing AVC,
and included a cost sharing plan with 65 percent federal and 35 percent
local funding. The Bureau of Reclamation would enter into a 50-year
repayment contract with Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy
District which would be responsible for paying the local share.
The AVC would be a water supply pipeline to help meet existing and
future municipal and industrial water demands of southeastern Colorado
water providers. Forty towns and rural domestic water supply systems in
Pueblo, Crowley, Otero, Bent, Prowers, and Kiowa counties would
participate in the AVC. Water providers are requesting annual water
deliveries of 10,256 acre-feet to help meet 2070 water demands.
Fourteen of these water providers are currently under orders by the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to remove
naturally-occurring radioactive contaminants from their surface or
groundwater source using expensive treatment or to find another better
quality water source.
The interconnection would move water between the existing south
outlet works and future north outlet works (currently under
construction as part of the Southern Deliver System) at Pueblo
Reservoir during emergencies or periodic maintenance activities.
Interconnect operations would require a long-term (40-year) contract
between AVC, Pueblo Fish Hatchery, Board of Water Works of Pueblo,
Pueblo West, Southern Delivery System, and Fountain Valley Authority.
The purpose of the excess capacity master contract would be to
allow use of extra storage space in Pueblo Reservoir to store up to
29,938 acre-feet of water. A long-term storage contract, rather than
short-term contracts, is needed by 37 water providers to help meet
projected demand through 2060 (the term of the contract).
Some of the resources potentially affected by the proposed actions
that are evaluated in the Draft EIS include: surface water quantity and
quality in the Arkansas River and Fryingpan-Arkansas reservoirs,
groundwater, climate change, recreation biological resources, human
environment, socioeconomics, environmental justice, and historic
properties.
Hearing Process and Distribution Information
Requests to make oral comments at the public hearing may be made at
the hearing. In order to ensure that all those interested in providing
oral comments have an opportunity to do so, oral comments at the
hearing will be limited to five minutes. Comments will be recorded by a
court reporter. Speakers will be called in the order indicated on the
sign in list for speaking. Speakers not present when called will be
recalled at the end of the scheduled speakers. Speakers may provide
written versions of their oral comments or other additional written
comments for the hearing record. Longer comments should be summarized
at the public hearing and submitted in writing either at the public
hearing or identified as hearing comments and mailed within seven days
of the hearing date to J. Signe Snortland as indicated under the
Addresses section.
Copies of the Draft EIS are available for public review at the
following locations:
Bureau of Reclamation, Eastern Colorado Area Office, 11056
West
[[Page 52366]]
County Road 18E, Loveland, Colorado 80537
Bureau of Reclamation, Great Plains Regional Office, 316 North
26th Street, Billings, Montana 59101
Carnegie Library--Ca[ntilde]on City, 516 Macon Avenue,
Ca[ntilde]on City, Colorado 81212
Pueblo City-County Library District, 100 E. Abriendo Avenue,
Pueblo, Colorado 81004
Pikes Peak Library District, 5550 North Union Boulevard,
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918
Pueblo West Public Library, 298 South Joe Martinez Boulevard,
Pueblo, Colorado 81007
Frank & Marie Barkman Library, 1300 Jerry Murphy Road, Pueblo,
Colorado 81001
Pueblo City-County Library District--Lamb Branch, 2525 South
Pueblo Boulevard, Pueblo, Colorado 81005
Salida Regional Library, 405 East Street, Salida, Colorado
81201
John C. Fremont Library District, 130 Church Ave., Florence,
Colorado 81226
Fountain Branch Library, 230 S. Main St., Fountain, Colorado
80817
Fowler Public Library, 400 6th Ave., Fowler, Colorado 81039
La Junta-Woodruff Memorial Library, 522 Colorado Ave., La
Junta, Colorado 81050
Lamar Public Library, 102 E. Parmenter St., Lamar, Colorado
81052
Las Animas-Bent County Library District, 306 Fifth St., Las
Animas, Colorado 81054
Manzanola School-Public Library, 301 Catalpa, Manzanola,
Colorado 81058
Rocky Ford Public Library, 400 S. 10th St., Rocky Ford,
Colorado 81067
Security Public Library, 715 Aspen Drive, Colorado Springs,
Colorado 80911
Swink School-Public Library, 610 Columbia Ave., Swink,
Colorado 81077
Trimble Library, 1111 Academy Park Loop, Colorado Springs,
Colorado 80910
Public Disclosure Statement
Before including your address, phone number, email 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 may
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: August 22, 2012.
Gary W. Campbell,
Deputy Regional Director, Great Plains Region.
[FR Doc. 2012-21328 Filed 8-28-12; 8:45 am]
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