[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68667-68669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22077]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR040U2000, 23XR0680GB, RXN5570007.3200000]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for the December 2016 Record of Decision Entitled Glen Canyon 
Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: On June 6, 2023, the Secretary of the Interior's Acting 
Designee to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG), 
a Federal advisory committee, directed the Bureau of Reclamation 
(Reclamation) to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 
(SEIS). The supplement is to the December 2016 Record of Decision for 
the Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan (LTEMP) 
Final Environmental Impact Statement and will analyze flow options to 
prevent smallmouth bass and other warmwater invasive nonnative fish 
from establishing below Glen Canyon Dam (by preventing additional 
spawning) and will analyze new information regarding the sediment 
accounting window associated with the LTEMP High-Flow Experiment (HFE) 
protocol.

DATES: This Federal Register notice initiates the public scoping 
process for the SEIS. Reclamation requests that the public submit 
comments concerning the scope of specific operational guidelines, 
strategies, and any other issues that should be considered on or before 
November 3, 2023.
    Reclamation will host two public webinars to provide summary 
information and receive oral comments. For specific information 
concerning the dates, times, and links to the webinars, click on the 
link provided in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments pursuant to this notice to 
[email protected] or by mail to Bureau of Reclamation, Attn: LTEMP 
SEIS Project Manager, 125 South State Street, Suite 800, Salt Lake 
City, UT 84138. For information on the upcoming webinars, go to https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/amp/index.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen Callister, Adaptive 
Management and Water Quality Division Manager, Bureau of Reclamation, 
at (801) 524-3867, or by email at [email protected]. Please also visit 
the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management website at https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/amp/index.html for updates. Individuals in the 
United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a 
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that 
Reclamation intends to prepare an SEIS and a modified Record of 
Decision for the 2016 LTEMP. Reclamation is issuing this Federal 
Register notice pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; the Council on 
Environmental Quality's regulations for implementing NEPA, 43 CFR parts 
1500 through 1508; and the Department of the Interior NEPA regulations, 
43 CFR part 46.

Background

    The Colorado River Basin has been in a prolonged period of drought 
and low-runoff conditions, and despite current projections of 2023 
runoff being above average, the period from 2000 through 2023 is 
currently estimated as the second driest period in more than a century 
and one of the driest periods in the last 1,200 years.
    As the water elevation at Lake Powell has declined, the epilimnion 
(upper layer of water) where most fish reside has become closer to the 
dam's intakes, which move water from the reservoir, into the dam 
through the turbines for hydropower production, and downstream into the 
Colorado River. The decrease in water elevation means that nonnative 
fish in Lake Powell are now more likely than in prior years to become 
entrained, passing through the dam and downstream into the Colorado 
River. While some level of fish mortality occurs during passage through 
the turbines, some fish survive. As Lake Powell elevations decline, 
warmer water from the epilimnion is discharged, resulting in releases 
of water with warmer temperatures. Warm water temperatures below the 
dam create conditions that are suitable for warmwater nonnative fish to 
reproduce and eventually establish populations. This is a concern 
because smallmouth bass and other predatory invasive fish pose a threat 
to federally listed fish species and other native fish downstream of 
Glen Canyon Dam. Although invasive fish, including smallmouth bass, 
have been detected

[[Page 68668]]

below the dam previously, the thermal conditions in the river (that is, 
warmer waters) are now conducive for smallmouth bass reproduction and 
establishment.
    To respond to the changing conditions, the Secretary of the 
Interior's Acting Designee to the AMWG directed Reclamation in August 
2022, through the AMWG, to identify and analyze operational 
alternatives at Glen Canyon Dam that may serve to disrupt spawning of 
smallmouth bass and other warmwater invasive fish that pass through the 
dam.
    Reclamation undertook an environmental assessment (EA) in August 
2022. The draft EA entitled Glen Canyon Dam/Smallmouth Bass (SMB) Flow 
Options was released for public comment on February 24, 2023. Based on 
the EA analysis and nearly 7,000 comments received, Reclamation 
concluded that additional analysis was warranted.
    Additionally, the increased temperatures of water releases, 
entrainment of warmwater nonnative fish, and lower Lake Powell 
elevations have resulted in the Department deciding to not implement 
fall HFEs in 2015, 2021, and 2022, despite reaching input triggers for 
sediment HFEs. The absence of spring HFEs during the first 10 years of 
the HFE protocol, coupled with analyses documenting reduced transport 
of fine sediments in years with low release volumes and low Lake Powell 
elevations, have prompted the researchers to reassess aspects of the 
scientific information supporting the HFE protocol. Assessment of the 
protocol from its use over the past 11 years indicates a need to 
evaluate the potential for longer sediment accounting periods and 
implementations windows as described in the LTEMP Record of Decision. 
The successful implementation of a spring HFE in April 2023 gives 
preliminary credence to altering sediment accounting windows.
    The LTEMP SEIS will also consider modifying the LTEMP HFE protocol 
to incorporate the latest scientific information available. Over the 
past 25 years, scientific information on the use and timing of HFEs has 
improved understanding of how best to manage tributary-derived sediment 
supplies below the dam. Refined evaluation of opportunities and 
impediments for HFEs over the past decade under lower Lake Powell 
reservoir levels warrants review of the HFE implementation protocols. 
The LTEMP SEIS will re-evaluate the HFE sediment accounting period and 
implementation window to more fully achieve the LTEMP goals as they 
relate to using HFEs.

Purpose and Need

    The purpose of the LTEMP SEIS is for Reclamation to analyze 
additional flow options at Glen Canyon Dam in response to invasive 
smallmouth bass and other warmwater nonnatives recently detected 
directly below the dam. The need is to prevent the establishment of 
smallmouth bass below the Glen Canyon Dam (by preventing additional 
spawning), which could threaten core populations of threatened humpback 
chub in and around the Little Colorado River and its confluence with 
the Colorado River mainstem.
    The LTEMP SEIS will also consider the HFE protocol by including the 
latest scientific information to improve Reclamation's ability to 
implement HFEs as originally intended in the LTEMP EIS. Specifically, 
Reclamation is considering adjusting sediment accounting periods and 
HFE implementation windows.

Preliminary Proposed Action

    Reductions in water temperature combined with changes in flow 
velocity may be vital tools that can be used to disrupt smallmouth bass 
from successfully spawning and establishing a population. As such, 
Reclamation has determined that an SEIS is necessary to pursue 
implementation of additional flow options at Glen Canyon Dam. A range 
of reservoir releases with temperature and flow velocity combinations 
will be analyzed to determine efficacy of their ability to disrupt and 
prevent smallmouth bass spawning behavior. Reclamation will also 
analyze the sediment accounting periods and implementation windows 
associated with the HFE protocol analyzed in LTEMP.

Alternatives To Be Considered

    During the EA process, nearly 7,000 public comments were received. 
Many of the substantial comments focused on the effects to hydropower 
generation and revenues as well as the effects on Tribal resources. 
Upon direction from the Secretary of the Interior's Acting Designee, 
Reclamation is transitioning to an SEIS analysis.
    For the LTEMP SEIS scoping process, Reclamation anticipates the 
following preliminary alternatives will be considered:
     No Action.
     Four actions initially analyzed in the Glen Canyon Dam/
Smallmouth Bass Flow Options Draft Environmental Assessment (February 
2023). The Draft EA can be accessed at this web address: https://www.usbr.gov/uc/DocLibrary/EnvironmentalAssessments/20230200-GCDSmallmouthBassFlowOps_Draft%20EA_508.pdf.
     Hydropower flow option that does not include the use of 
bypass to reduce water temperatures.
     Included in all but the No Action alternative will be a 
revised annual sediment accounting period and implementation window 
associated with the HFE protocol.

Summary of Expected Impacts

    The LTEMP SEIS will analyze reasonably foreseeable impacts from the 
alternatives considered. An initial analysis of impacts was done as 
part of the Glen Canyon Dam/Smallmouth Bass Flow Options Draft 
Environmental Assessment (February 2023). This initial analysis and 
alternatives considered will be further informed by comments received 
during the public EA comment process, the current SEIS scoping process 
and analysis of the current hydrology. These analyses will build upon 
and utilize information described in the 2016 LTEMP Final EIS and 
relevant analyses. The analyses in the SEIS will consider potential 
effects on the resources below Glen Canyon Dam, including natural and 
cultural resources, endangered species, recreation, water resources, 
hydropower resources, and other resources and uses. Reclamation will 
use an interdisciplinary approach incorporating expertise in the 
relevant resource fields.

Schedule

    Reclamation is planning to provide opportunities for public 
participation consistent with the NEPA process, including a 30-day 
scoping period and a 45-day public comment period on the draft LTEMP 
SEIS. The draft LTEMP SEIS is anticipated to be made available for 
public review in the winter of 2023-2024 and the final LTEMP SEIS with 
a Record of Decision, as appropriate, is anticipated to be available 
during the early summer 2024. The proposed duration of the flow options 
would potentially run through 2027. Any decisions regarding revisions 
to the HFE protocol are anticipated to run through duration of the 
LTEMP Record of Decision.

Cooperating Agencies

    Reclamation will be inviting the cooperating and co-lead agencies 
that participated in the LTEMP EIS to be cooperating agencies on the 
current LTEMP SEIS. Federal agencies with jurisdiction by law or with 
specialized expertise include the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service,

[[Page 68669]]

Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Western Area Power Administration.

Public Disclosure of Comments

    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.

Wayne Pullan,
Regional Director, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Basin Region.
[FR Doc. 2023-22077 Filed 10-3-23; 8:45 am]
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