[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 214 (Monday, November 5, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66480-66481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-26912]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[FES 12-23]


Final Environmental Impact Statement, Narrows Project, Sanpete 
County, Utah

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the Bureau of Reclamation, announce the availability of 
the final environmental impact statement on the Narrows Project, a non-
Federal dam and reservoir proposed by the Sanpete Water Conservancy 
District on Gooseberry Creek in Sanpete County, Utah.

DATES: We will make a decision on the proposed action 30 days or more 
after the Environmental Protection Agency publishes their Notice of 
Availability of Weekly Receipt of Environmental Impact Statements in 
the Federal Register. This notice, usually published on Fridays, lists 
all environmental impact statements filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency during the preceding week. After the 30-day public 
review period, we will complete a Record of Decision which will explain 
how we arrived at our decision on the proposed action.

ADDRESSES: The final environmental impact statement is available at 
www.usbr.gov/uc/envdocs/index.html. To receive a copy on a compact disc 
send a request to Mr. Peter Crookston, Bureau of Reclamation, Provo 
Area Office, 302 East 1860 South, Provo, Utah 84606. See the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for locations where copies are 
available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Peter Crookston, telephone (801) 
379-1152; facsimile (801) 379-1159; email [email protected]. Persons 
who use a telecommunications device for the deaf may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above 
individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours 
a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above 
individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, as amended, we have prepared a final environmental 
impact statement (FEIS) on a proposal under which Sanpete Water 
Conservancy District (SWCD) would construct, operate, and maintain the 
Narrows Project--a proposed non-Federal water development and 
conveyance project funded with a variety of public and private 
financing and located in part on Federal lands.

The FEIS Analyzes Four Alternatives

    The FEIS describes and analyzes the potential effects of four 
alternatives. The No Action Alternative represents the conditions of 
the affected area in Sanpete and Carbon counties if the project is not 
built. The three action alternatives represent three different versions 
of the Narrows Project, each differing in the size of the dam and 
reservoir. Three reservoir sizes were analyzed to enable the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers to determine the Least Environmentally Damaging 
Practicable Alternative.
    Under all three action alternatives, a supplemental water supply 
would be developed for presently irrigated lands and for municipal and 
industrial water users in north Sanpete County. The alternatives would 
require diversion of up to 5,400 acre-feet of water annually from 
Gooseberry Creek drainage in the Colorado River Basin to northern 
Sanpete County in the Sevier River drainage basin. The water right used 
under the action alternatives represents about 6.6 percent of the 
average annual yield of the Price River above the City of Price. Under 
all action alternatives, the SWCD's conversion of water from irrigation 
to municipal and industrial use would occur in stages.

What the Preferred Alternative Does

    The preferred alternative is to allow SWCD to build, operate, and 
maintain the largest dam with a reservoir capacity of 17,000 acre-feet 
of water stored behind a dam with a height of 120 feet, a crest length 
of 550 feet, and a reservoir surface area of 604 acres. The reservoir 
would produce an average yield of 5,136 acre-feet per year. In 
addition, it would provide an average annual supply of 4,281 acre-feet 
of water for 15,420 acres of farmland and 855 acre-feet of water for 
municipal and industrial use. Irrigation is expected to yield a third 
crop of alfalfa in an area where usually only two crops are harvested.

Previous Publications

    The Narrows Project Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (SDEIS) was issued to the public on March 29, 2010, and we 
published a Notice of Availability of the SDEIS in the Federal Register 
on March 29, 2010 (75 FR 15458). A 63-day public review and comment 
period for the SDEIS ended on June 1, 2010. During the public comment 
period, public hearings were held in both Carbon and Sanpete counties. 
The FEIS contains responses to all comments received on the SDEIS.

Where to Find Copies of the FEIS

    Copies of the FEIS are available at the following locations:
     Main Interior Building, Natural Resources Library, Room 
1151, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240-0001
     Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office Library, Denver 
Federal Center, Sixth and Kipling, Building 67, Room 167, Denver, 
Colorado 80225-0007
     Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office, 125 
South State Street, Room 7418, Salt Lake City, Utah 84138-1147
     Bureau of Reclamation, Provo Area Office, 302 East 1860 
South, Provo, Utah 84606

Libraries

     College of Eastern Utah, 451 East 400 North, Price, Utah 
84501
     Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 701 East 
University Parkway, Provo, Utah 84602-6800
     Manti Public Library, 50 South Main Street, Manti, Utah 
84642
     Marriott Library, University of Utah, 295 South 1500 East, 
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
     Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University, 3000 Old 
Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322-3000
     Price Public Library, 159 East Main Street, Price, Utah 
84501
     Salt Lake City Public Library, 210 East 400 South, Salt 
Lake City, Utah 84111
     Snow College, 150 East College Avenue, Ephraim, Utah 84627
     Stewart Library, Weber State University, 2901 University 
Circle, Ogden, Utah 84408

Public Disclosure

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in any communication, you should 
be aware that your entire comment--including

[[Page 66481]]

your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you can ask us in your communication to withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

    Dated: September 28, 2012.
Brent Rhees,
Deputy Regional Director--Upper Colorado Region, Bureau of Reclamation.
[FR Doc. 2012-26912 Filed 11-2-12; 8:45 am]
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