[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 30, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58802-58804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23234]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
[RR02015200, 14XR0687NA, RX185279294000000]
Notice of Availability and Notice of Public Hearings for the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for
Long-Term Water Transfers, Central Valley and Bay Area, California
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota
Water Authority have made available for public review and comment the
Long-Term Water Transfers Draft Environmental Impact Statement/
Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR). The Draft EIS/EIR addresses
water transfers to Central Valley Project (CVP) contractors south of
the Delta and in the San Francisco Bay area from CVP and non-CVP
sources from north of the Delta using Delta pumps (both CVP and State
Water Project (SWP) facilities). Water transfers would occur through
various methods such as groundwater substitution, cropland idling,
reservoir release, and conservation, and would include individual and
multiyear transfers from 2015 through 2024.
DATES: Send written comments on the Draft EIS/EIR on or before December
1, 2014.
Three hearings to receive oral or written comments will be held on
the following dates:
Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.,
Sacramento, California.
Thursday, October 16, 2014, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Los
Banos, California.
[[Page 58803]]
Tuesday, October 21, 2014, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Chico,
California.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments or requests for copies to Mr. Brad
Hubbard, Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825;
or via email to [email protected].
The hearing locations are:
Sacramento--Quality Inn and Suites at Cal Expo, 1413 Howe
Avenue, Sacramento, California 95825, (916) 922-9833.
Los Banos--San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, 842
Sixth Street, Los Banos, California 93635, (209) 826-9696.
Chico--Chico Masonic Family Center, 1110 W. East Avenue,
Chico, California 95926, (530) 342-7143.
To request a compact disc of the Draft EIS/EIR, please contact Mr.
Brad Hubbard as indicated above, or call (916) 978-5204. The Draft EIS/
EIR may be viewed at the Bureau of Reclamation's Web site at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=18361. 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, Project Manager,
Bureau of Reclamation, via email at [email protected], or at (916) 978-
5204; or Ms. Frances Mizuno, Assistant Executive Director, San Luis &
Delta-Mendota Water Authority, via email at [email protected],
or at (209) 832-6200.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Hydrologic conditions, climatic variability,
and regulatory requirements for operation of water projects commonly
affect water supply availability in California. Project supplies are
often the primary source of water for south of Delta users, and the
complex factors constraining operational decisions not only strain
total annual water supplies, but regularly create mismatched timing
between planting decisions and announcement of final water supply
allocations, making advance planning for water shortages necessary and
routine. These conditions and resulting shortages create a need for
water transfers to help meet water demands.
The purpose of Long-Term Water Transfers is to facilitate voluntary
water transfers from willing sellers upstream of the Delta to water
users south of the Delta and in the San Francisco Bay Area. The maximum
approvable quantity transferable to any contractor cannot exceed that
contractor's total contract supply, but instead helps to make up for
shortages. Such transfers need to be implementable within narrow annual
windows for decisions on each end and flexible enough to address highly
variable shortages and annual differences in farming decisions north
and south of the Delta.
The objectives for long-term water transfers through 2024 include:
Develop supplemental water supply for the San Luis &
Delta-Mendota Water Authority (SLDMWA) member agencies during times of
CVP shortages to meet anticipated demands up to the total CVP contract
quantities.
Allow for transfers to meet the need of SLDMWA member
agencies for a supplemental water supply that are quickly implementable
and flexible enough to respond to changes in hydrologic conditions and
CVP allocations.
Provide a framework to facilitate transfers that will be
needed in most years.
The EIR/EIS analyzes four alternative actions. Alternative 1 is No
Action.
Alternative 2, Full Range of Transfers, is the Proposed Action.
This alternative combines all potential transfer measures that met the
purpose and need and were carried forward through the screening
process. Alternative 3, No Cropland Modifications, includes
conservation, groundwater substitution, and reservoir release.
Alternative 4, No Groundwater Substitution, includes conservation,
cropland idling transfers--rice, field and grains, crop shifting, and
reservoir release.
Transfers of CVP supplies and transfers that require use of CVP
facilities are subject to review by the Bureau of Reclamation
(Reclamation) in accordance with the Central Valley Project Improvement
Act of 1992, Reclamation's water transfer guidelines, and California
State law. Pursuant to Federal and State law and subject to separate
written agreement, Reclamation and the Department of Water Resources
would facilitate water transfers involving CVP contract water supplies
and CVP and SWP facilities. Buyers and sellers would be responsible for
negotiating the terms of the transfers, including amount of water for
transfer, method to make water available, and price.
The EIS/EIR identifies potential selling parties in northern
California, methods by which water could be made available for
transfer, and maximum amounts of water available through each method.
The EIS/EIR also identifies potential purchasing agencies south of the
Delta and the proposed use of transfer water.
The EIS/EIR analyzes alternative transfer methods to make water
available through operational flexibility of the existing system.
Groundwater substitution transfers occur when sellers forego diversion
of their surface water supplies and pump an equivalent amount of
groundwater as an alternative supply. The purchasing agency would
receive the foregone surface water supply. The quantity of water
available for transfer would account for potential stream flow losses
as a result of groundwater-surface water interaction. Cropland idling
would make water available for transfer that would have been used for
agricultural irrigation without the transfer. Typically, the proceeds
from the water transfer would pay farmers to idle land that they would
have placed in production. Reservoir release transfers would involve
releasing water from non-Project entities (not part of the CVP or SWP)
for transfer that would have otherwise remained in storage.
Conservation transfers involve actions to reduce the diversion of
surface water by the transferring entity by reducing irrecoverable
water losses.
Water transfers under the Proposed Action involving conveyance
through the Delta would be implemented within the operational
parameters of the existing system, which includes Biological Opinions
on the Continued Long-term Operations of the CVP/SWP and any other
regulatory restrictions in place at the time of implementation of the
water transfers. Current operational parameters applicable to the
transfer water include use of the SWP's Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant
and CVP's C.W. ``Bill'' Jones Pumping Plant during July through
September only.
Public Review of Draft EIS
Copies of the Draft EIS/EIR are available for public review at the
following locations:
1. Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region, Regional Library,
2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825.
2. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office Library, Building 67, Room
167, Denver Federal Center, 6th and Kipling, Denver, CO 80225.
3. Natural Resources Library, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849
C Street NW., Main Interior Building, Washington, DC 20240-0001.
4. San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, 842 6th Street, Los
Banos, CA 93635.
Special Assistance for Public Hearings
If special assistance is required to participate in the scoping
meeting, please contact Mr. Louis Moore at (916) 978-5106, or via email
at [email protected]. Please contact Mr. Moore at least 10 working days
prior to the
[[Page 58804]]
meeting. A telephone device for the hearing impaired (TDD) is available
at (916) 978-5608.
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: August 13, 2014.
Pablo R Arroyave,
Deputy Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 2014-23234 Filed 9-29-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P