E6-18760. Central Valley Project Improvement Act, Water Management Plans

AGENCY:

Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of availability.

SUMMARY:

The following Water Management Plans are available for review:

• Patterson Irrigation District.
• Porterville Irrigation District.
• Pixley Irrigation District.
• Lower Tule River Irrigation District.

To meet the requirements of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act of 1992 (CVPIA) and the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) developed and published the Criteria for Evaluating Water Management Plans (Criteria).

Note:

For the purpose of this announcement, Water Management Plans (Plans) are considered the same as Water Conservation Plans. The above entities have developed a Plan, which Reclamation has evaluated and preliminarily determined to meet the requirements of these Criteria. Reclamation is publishing this notice in order to allow the public to review the plans and comment on the preliminary determinations. Public comment on Reclamation's preliminary (i.e., draft) determination is invited at this time.

DATES:

All public comments must be received by December 7, 2006.

ADDRESSES:

Please mail comments to Laurie Sharp, Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California 95825, or contact at 916-978-5232 (TDD 978-5608), or e-mail at [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To be placed on a mailing list for any subsequent information, please contact Mrs. Sharp at the e-mail address or telephone number above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

We are inviting the public to comment on our preliminary (i.e., draft) determination of Plan adequacy. Section 3405(e) of the CVPIA (Title 34, Pub. L. 102-575), requires the Secretary of the Interior to establish and administer an office on Central Valley Project water conservation best management practices that shall. “* * * develop criteria for evaluating the adequacy of all water conservation plans developed by project contractors, including those plans required by section 210 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982.” Also, according to Section 3405(e)(1), these criteria must be developed “* * * with the purpose of promoting the highest level of water use efficiency reasonably achievable by project contractors using best available cost-effective technology and best management practices.” These criteria state that all parties (Contractors) that contract with Reclamation for water supplies (municipal and industrial contracts over 2,000 acre-feet and agricultural contracts over 2,000 irrigable acres) must prepare Plans that contain the following information:

1. Description of the District.

2. Inventory of Water Resources.

3. Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Agricultural Contractors.

4. BMPs for Urban Contractors.

5. Plan Implementation.

6. Exemption Process.

7. Regional Criteria.

8. Five-Year Revisions.

Reclamation will evaluate Plans based on these criteria. A copy of these Plans will be available for review at Reclamation's Mid-Pacific (MP) Regional Office located in Sacramento, California, and the local area office. Our practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual respondents may request that Reclamation withhold their home address from public disclosure, and we will honor such request to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which Reclamation would elect to withhold a respondent's identity from public disclosure, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comments. We will make all submissions from organizations, businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses available for public disclosure in their entirety. If you wish to review a copy of these Plans, please contact Mrs. Sharp to find the office nearest you.

Dated: October 17, 2006.

Michael Heaton,

Acting Regional Resources Manager, Mid-Pacific Region, Bureau of Reclamation.