[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 87 (Friday, May 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26578-26579]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10766]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report
and Notice of Public Meeting for the Water Transfer Program for the San
Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority, 2014-2038, San
Joaquin Valley, CA
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability and public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation and the San Joaquin River Exchange
Contractors Water Authority have made available for public review and
comment the joint draft environmental impact statement/environmental
impact report (Draft EIS/EIR) for the Water Transfer Program, 2014-
2038.
The proposed new transfer program would provide for the transfer
and/or exchange of up to 150,000 acre-feet of substitute water from the
San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority to several
potential users over a 25-year timeframe (water service years 2014-
2038).
DATES: Submit written comments on the Draft EIS/EIR on or before July
3, 2012.
One public meeting is scheduled with the Bureau of Reclamation and
San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority's staff. Oral or
written comments will be received at this meeting regarding the
project's environmental effects. The meeting will be held on Wednesday,
June 13, 2012 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in Los Banos, California.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on the Draft EIS/EIR to Mr. Brad
Hubbard, Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Room 2905,
Sacramento, California 95825. Email electronic comments to
bhubbard@usbr.gov.
The public meeting will be held at the Miller & Lux Building, Floor
1, 830 Sixth Street, Los Banos, California 93635.
To request a compact disc of the Draft EIS/EIR, please contact Mr.
Brad Hubbard as indicated above, or call 916-978-5034. The Draft EIS/
EIR may be viewed at Reclamation's Web site at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=9086. See Supplementary
Information section for locations where copies of the Draft EIS/EIR are
available for public review.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Brad Hubbard, Natural Resources
Specialist, at 916-978-5204, or email at bhubbard@usbr.gov; or Ms.
Joann White, San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority, at
209-827-8616, or email at jwhite@sjrecwa.net.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors
Water Authority (Exchange Contractors) propose to make water available
via tailwater recovery, water conservation, and temporary land
fallowing for transfer and/or exchange of substitute water to either
the state and Federal wildlife refuges, Central Valley Project (CVP)
contractors for existing municipal and industrial (M&I) and/or
agricultural areas, and other potential State Water Project (SWP)
contractors for agricultural and/or municipal and industrial (M&I)
uses, or to some combination of these users. The action would be to
execute agreements for water transfers among the Bureau of Reclamation
(Reclamation), Mid-Pacific Region; Central Valley Project (CVP) and
State Water Project (SWP) contractors; and the Exchange Contractors for
water service years 2014 to 2038.
The program would consist of the annual development and transfer of
up to 150,000 acre-feet of substitute CVP water (maximum of 80,000
acre-feet of tailwater and a maximum of 20,000 acre-feet of conserved
water, and a maximum of 50,000 acre-feet from land fallowing) from the
Exchange Contractors to other CVP contractors, to Reclamation's Refuge
Water Supply Program (RWSP) for delivery to the San Joaquin Valley
wetland habitat areas (wildlife refuges), and/or SWP contractors. The
purposes of the proposed twenty-five year transfer program are the
transfer and/or exchange of CVP water from the Exchange Contractors to:
The RWSP to meet water supply needs (Incremental Level 4)
for San Joaquin River Basin wildlife refuges and Tulare Lake Basin
wildlife areas.
Other CVP contractors and SWP contractors to meet demands
of agriculture, municipal, and industrial uses, and/or
The continuation of a program of temporary annual water transfers
and/or exchanges is needed to maximize the use of limited water
resources for agriculture, fish and wildlife resources, and M&I
purposes with the following objectives:
Develop supplemental water supplies from willing seller
agencies within the Exchange Contractors' service area through water
conservation measures/tailwater recovery and crop idling/fallowing
activities consistent with agency policies.
Assist in providing water supplies to meet the Incremental
Level 4 requirements for the San Joaquin River Basin and Tulare Lake
Basin wildlife refuges.
Assist Friant Division CVP repayment contractors or water
service contractors to obtain additional CVP water for the production
of agricultural crops or livestock and/or M&I uses because of water
supply shortages or when full contract deliveries cannot otherwise be
made.
Assist SWP (Kern County Water Agency and Santa Clara
Valley Water District (SCVWD)) and other CVP agricultural service and
M&I contractors (San Luis Unit, SCVWD, East Bay Municipal Utility
District, Contra Costa Water District, and Pajaro Valley Water
[[Page 26579]]
Management Agency) to obtain additional supplemental water supplies.
Promote seasonal flexibility of deliveries to the Exchange
Contractors through exchange with CVP and SWP agricultural service and
M&I contractors wherein water would be delivered and then returned at a
later date within the year.
Reclamation's RWSP needs additional water to provide the refuges
with the increment between Level 2 and Level 4 water quantities for
fish and wildlife habitat development. The Exchange Contractors propose
to transfer CVP water for the production of agricultural crops or
livestock and/or municipal and industrial uses because of water supply
shortages or when full contract deliveries cannot otherwise be made.
The water transfers would occur largely within the San Joaquin
Valley of central California but could extend to districts taking water
deliveries in the North Delta. The Exchange Contractors' service area
covers parts of Fresno, Madera, Merced, and Stanislaus counties. The
agricultural water users that would benefit from the potential
transfers are located in the counties of Stanislaus, San Joaquin,
Merced, Madera, Fresno, San Benito, Santa Clara, Tulare, Kern, Kings,
Contra Costa, Alameda, Monterey, and Santa Cruz counties. The wetland
habitat areas that may receive the water are located in Merced, Fresno,
Kings, Tulare, and Kern counties.
Some of the resources potentially affected by transfers under the
proposed twenty-five year transfer program that are evaluated in the
Draft EIS/EIR include: surface water including the San Joaquin River,
groundwater, biological resources, land uses including agricultural
lands, air quality/climate change, socioeconomics including impacts to
agricultural production, and environmental justice.
Copies of the Draft EIS/EIR are available for public review at the
following locations:
Bureau of Reclamation, Regional Library, 2800 Cottage Way,
Sacramento, CA 95825-1898
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office Library, P.O. Box
25007, Mail Code 84-21320, Denver, CO 80225-0007
California State Library, 914 Capitol Mall, Suite E-29,
Sacramento, CA 95814-4802
University of California, Berkeley, Water Resources Center
Archives, 410 O'Brien Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1718
University of California, Davis, Peter J. Shields Library,
Documents Department, 100 Northwest Quad, Davis, CA 95616-5292
California Research Bureau, California State Library, PO
Box 942837, Sacramento, CA 94237-0001
Fresno County Public Library, Government Publications,
2420 Mariposa Street Fresno, CA 93721-2204
Merced County Library, 2100 O Street, Merced, CA 95340-
3637
Merced County Public Library, 1312 South 7th Street, Los
Banos, CA 93635-4757
Stanislaus County Library, 1500 I Street, Modesto, CA
95354
San Francisco Public Library, Government Documents
Department, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Special Assistance for Public Meetings
If special assistance is required to participate in the public
meetings, please contact Mr. Brad Hubbard at 916-978-5204, TDD 916-978-
5608, or via email at bhubbard@usbr.gov. Please notify Mr. Hubbard as
far in advance as possible to enable Reclamation to secure the needed
services. If a request cannot be honored, the requestor will be
notified. A telephone device for the hearing impaired (TDD) is
available at 916-978-5608.
Public Disclosure
Before including your name, 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: March 5, 2012.
Pablo R. Arroyave,
Deputy Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 2012-10766 Filed 5-3-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P