[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]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P