[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 53 (Friday, March 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14886-14888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05889]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR04310000, 16XR0680A1, RX002361010021000]


Notice of Availability and Notice of Public Hearings for the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Continued Implementation 
of the 2008 Operating Agreement for the Rio Grande Project, New Mexico 
and Texas

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation has made available for public review 
and comment the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on 
continuing to implement the 2008 Operating Agreement for the Rio Grande 
Project(Operating Agreement), and to implement long-term contracts for 
storage of San Juan-Chama Project water in Elephant Butte Reservoir. 
The Operating Agreement is a description of how Reclamation allocates, 
releases from storage, and delivers Rio Grande Project water to Mexico, 
the Elephant Butte Irrigation District in New Mexico, and the El Paso 
County Water Improvement District No. 1 in Texas.

DATES: Written comments on the Draft EIS should be submitted on or 
before Monday, May 9, 2016.
    Public hearings to receive oral or written comments will be held 
on:
     Thursday, April 7, 2016, from 4 to 7 p.m., Albuquerque, 
New Mexico; and
     Tuesday, April 12, 2016, from 6 to 9 p.m., Las Cruces, New 
Mexico.
    A court recorder will be available to take comments from the public 
before a hearing officer during this time.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Ms. Rhea Graham, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office, ALB-103, 555 Broadway Boulevard 
NE., Suite 100, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102; or via email to 
[email protected].
    Public hearings will be held in the following locations:
     Albuquerque--Albuquerque Area Office, 555 Broadway 
Boulevard NE., Suite 100, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
     Las Cruces--Elephant Butte Irrigation District, 530 South 
Melendres Street, Las Cruces, New Mexico.
    To request a compact disc of the Draft EIS, please contact Ms. Rhea 
Graham as indicated above, or call (505) 462-3560.
    The Draft EIS may be viewed at the Bureau of Reclamation's Web site 
at http://www.usbr.gov/uc/envdocs/eis.html. For those without Internet 
access, copies of the EIS are available for public inspection at 
specified government and quasi-state offices.
    See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for specific locations 
where the Draft EIS is available for public review and inspection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Rhea Graham, EIS Project Manager, 
Bureau of Reclamation, via email at [email protected], or at (505) 462-
3560.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Draft EIS examines whether to continue 
to implement the Operating Agreement provisions consisting of a 
diversion ratio adjustment provision and a carryover accounting 
provision when allocating, releasing from storage, and delivering Rio 
Grande Project water; as well as whether to store San Juan-Chama 
Project water in Elephant Butte Reservoir. The area of analysis for the 
Draft EIS extends from the San Marcial Railroad Bridge above Elephant 
Butte Reservoir in New Mexico to the El Paso/Hudspeth County Line in 
Texas; the diversion headings where Reclamation delivers Rio Grande 
Project allocations are located between Caballo Dam and International 
Dam.
    Reclamation allocates Rio Grande Project water supplies such that 
the diversion allocations to Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID) 
and El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1 (EPCWID) are 
proportionate to each district's respective acreages. After annual 
calculation of Rio Grande Project

[[Page 14887]]

allocations, Reclamation delivers water to each district's diversion 
headings, and delivers to the International Boundary and Water 
Commission, in compliance with the Convention of 1906 with Mexico.
    The proposed Federal action analyzed in this Draft EIS is to 
continue to implement the Operating Agreement, which fulfills 
obligations in Reclamation contracts with the EBID and EPCWID, as well 
as resolves litigation in compliance with the legal settlement State of 
New Mexico ex rel. Office of the State Engineer v. Elephant Butte 
Irrigation District, et al.
    The Operating Agreement is a description of how Reclamation 
allocates, releases from storage, and delivers Rio Grande Project 
water. The provisions adopted in the Operating Agreement reflect the 
interest of Reclamation, EBID, and EPCWID in the long-term 
sustainability of the Rio Grande Project.

The Draft EIS Analyzes Five Alternatives

    The Draft EIS describes a No-Action Alternative (Alternative 1) and 
examines four Action Alternatives (Alternatives 2, 3, 4, and 5). All 
five alternatives were simulated with an integrated surface water/
groundwater model developed from historical hydrology to simulate 
potential future hydrology through the terms of the Operating 
Agreement, and the simulations show the effect of current climate 
change scenarios on future hydrology. Reclamation consulted on effects 
to biological resources under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, 
and the biological opinion issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service) may be viewed on the Service's Web site at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/NewMexico/ES_bio_op.cfm.

Alternative 1: The No-Action Alternative

    Under Alternative 1, Reclamation would continue implementation 
through 2050 of the operating procedures defined in the Operating 
Agreement. Under these operating procedures, both provisions (diversion 
ratio and carryover allocation) of the Operating Agreement would 
continue. The implementation of the diversion ratio adjustment 
provision of the Operating Agreement in computing annual diversion 
allocations would continue. The carryover accounting provisions of the 
Operating Agreement allowing carryover of the unused allotment balance 
from one year to the next would continue. Under Alternative 1, 
Reclamation would execute a multi-year contract through 2050 for the 
Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Authority to store up to 50,000 
acre-feet per year of San Juan-Chama Project water in Elephant Butte 
Reservoir every year, if reservoir space is available.

Alternative 2: No San Juan-Chama Project Storage

    Alternative 2 would continue to implement the diversion ratio 
adjustment provision of the Operating Agreement in computing annual 
diversion allocations, and continue to implement the carryover 
accounting provisions of the Operating Agreement, which allow carryover 
of unused allotment balance from one year to the next. However, there 
would be no storage of San Juan-Chama Project water in Elephant Butte 
Reservoir. San Juan Chama-Project repayment contractors receive their 
annual water allocations with no provisions for carryover; therefore, 
contractors can benefit by storing unused annual allocations in 
Elephant Butte Reservoir for future use.

Alternative 3: No Carryover Provision

    Alternative 3 would continue to implement the diversion ratio 
adjustment provision of the Operating Agreement in computing annual 
diversion allocations, but would eliminate the carryover allocations, 
and each district would relinquish the unused allotment balance at the 
end of each calendar year. Alternative 3 would continue to store up to 
50,000 acre-feet per year of San Juan-Chama Project water in Elephant 
Butte Reservoir. Alternative 3 is the same as Alternative 1 (No-Action 
Alternative), except Reclamation would not continue to implement the 
carryover allocation accounting provisions of the Operating Agreement. 
Using the hydrology model simulations, the effects of the carryover 
provision of the Operating Agreement can be determined.

Alternative 4: No Diversion Ratio Adjustment

    Alternative 4 would compute the annual diversion allocations based 
only on the regression equations in the Operating Agreement, but 
without adjusting for variations in Rio Grande Project performance from 
the effects of losses and inflows on deliveries. Alternative 4 would 
continue to implement the carryover accounting provisions of the 
Operating Agreement, allowing carryover of unused allotment balance 
from one year to the next. Alternative 4 would continue to store up to 
50,000 acre-feet per year of San Juan-Chama Project water in Elephant 
Butte Reservoir. Alternative 4 is the same as Alternative 1 (No-Action 
Alternative), except Reclamation would not implement the diversion 
ratio adjustment provision of the Operating Agreement. Using the 
hydrology model simulations, the effects of the diversion ratio 
adjustment provision of the Operating Agreement can be determined.

Alternative 5: Prior Operating ``Ad Hoc'' Practices

    Alternative 5 would compute the annual diversion allocations based 
only on regression equations that reflect historical conditions and Rio 
Grande Project performance, without adjusting for variations in Rio 
Grande Project performance; and also, would eliminate the carryover 
allocations and each district would relinquish the unused allotment 
balance at the end of each calendar year. Alternative 5 would continue 
to store up to 50,000 acre-feet per year of San Juan-Chama Project 
water in Elephant Butte Reservoir. Alternative 5 allows comparison 
through 2050 of operations under the Operating Agreement and a 
simulation of procedures prior to the Operating Agreement, by 
eliminating the carryover and diversion ratio adjustment provisions. 
Alternative 5 is the best possible representation of prior operating 
practices in a modeling context, but is not the same as historical 
operations. Alternative 5 would not continue implementation of the 
Operating Agreement.

Public Review and Where To Find Copies of the Draft EIS

    Copies of the Draft EIS are available for public review and 
inspection at the following locations:
     Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office, 555 
Broadway NE., Suite 100, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
     Bureau of Reclamation, El Paso Field Division, 10737 
Gateway West, Suite 350, El Paso, Texas 79935.
     Natural Resources Library, U.S. Department of the 
Interior, 1849 C Street NW., Main Interior Building, Washington, DC 
20240-0001.
     Elephant Butte Irrigation District, 530 South Melendres 
Street, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88005.
     El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1, Main 
Office, 13247 Alameda Avenue, Clint, Texas 79836.
     El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1, Canutillo 
Office, 7254 La Junta Drive, Canutillo, Texas 79835.

[[Page 14888]]

Special Assistance for Public Hearings

    If special assistance is required to participate in the public 
hearing, please contact Ms. Tina Villegas at (505) 462-3542, or via 
email at [email protected]. Please contact Ms. Villegas at least 10 
working days prior to the hearing. A telephone device for the hearing 
impaired (TTY) is available at 1-800-877-8339.

Public Disclosure

    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 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: February 17, 2016.
Brent Rhees,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2016-05889 Filed 3-17-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4332-90-P