[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6206-6208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-2971]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Proposed Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) Interim
Land Retirement Program, Central Valley Project (CVP), California
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a programmatic environmental
assessment and notice of scoping meetings.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2) of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), and the Council of Environmental Quality Regulations
(40 CFR 1506.6), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) announces the
intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Assessment (EA) for the
proposed CVPIA Interim Land Retirement Program. The proposed action
supports implementation of section 3408(h) of the CVPIA, Pub. L. 102-
575, which authorized the Land Retirement Program, based on
recommendations contained in the final report of the San Joaquin Valley
Drainage Program (SJVDP, September 1990).
The purpose of the proposed action is to identify potential impacts
to the environment from the permanent retirement of land and the
disposition of any water allocation that may be acquired under this
program. Disposition of water may include out-of-district transfers,
primarily for environmental purposes, or the water may stay within a
district to be used to establish vegetation for the purposes of
wildlife habitat enhancement and drainage reduction, or the water may
be reallocated among the district's water users as supplemental water.
Regardless of where the water is to be used or for what purpose, the
water may not be applied to lands where it will contribute to drainage
problems, as set forth in the interim program guidelines (revised 11/
97). The need of the proposed action is to reduce subsurface drainage
and restore wildlife habitat values in the San Joaquin Valley. The
action complements the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Draft Recovery
Plan for Upland Species of the San Joaquin Valley, California, 1997.
The chief area of concern is the western side of the San Joaquin
Valley from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on the north to the
Tehachapi Mountains south of Bakersfield, California. The Proposed
Action will focus on the federal CVP service area within this region.
DATES: Public scoping meetings to receive oral and written comments
will be held on the following dates:
Tuesday, February 24, 1998, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.,
Delano, California.
Wednesday, February 25, 1998, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Fresno, California.
Thursday, February 26, 1998, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., Santa
Nella, California.
Written comments on the project scope should be sent to Reclamation
by March 18, 1998. Comments received after this date will be
considered, but will not be included in the resulting scoping report.
ADDRESSES: Public scoping meetings will be held at the following
locations:
The Fruit Tree, 2343 Gerard Street, Delano, California
93215, telephone (805) 725-9532.
[[Page 6207]]
The Fresno Holiday Inn Airport, 5090 East Clinton Avenue,
Fresno, California 93727, telephone (209) 252-3611.
Anderson's Pea Soup, 12411 North Howard Street, Santa
Nella, California 95322, telephone (209) 826-1685.
Written comments on the project scope should be sent to Mr. Robert
May, Program Manager, South-Central California Area Office, Bureau of
Reclamation, 2666 N. Grove Industrial Drive, Fresno, CA 93727-1551.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Mr. May, telephone (209) 487-5137,
fax (209) 487-5130.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A comprehensive study of agricultural
drainage and drainage-related problems on the west side of the San
Joaquin Valley resulted in the management plan presented in the SJVDP
final report, an interagency study, published in 1990. This report
found that the conditions associated with irrigation and agricultural
drainage in the San Joaquin Valley are not new, as inadequate drainage
and accumulation of salts have been persistent problems in parts of the
valley for more than a century, making some cultivated lands unusable
as far back as the 1880's. Widespread acreages of grain, first planted
on the western side of the valley in the 1870's, were irrigated with
water from the San Joaquin and Kings rivers. This type of farming
spread until, by the 1890's, the rivers' natural flows were no longer
adequate to meet the growing agricultural demand for water. Poor
natural drainage conditions, coupled with rising groundwater levels and
increasing soil salinity, meant that land had to be removed from
production and some farms ultimately abandoned.
The development of irrigated agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley
since 1900 resulted mainly from the improvements in pump technology.
These improvements led to the development of large pumps that could
lift water hundreds of feet from below ground. In time, heavy pumping
triggered severe groundwater overdraft because more water was being
extracted than was being replaced naturally. Ground water levels and
hydraulic pressure fell rapidly and widespread land subsidence, or
collapse of the soil's structure, began to occur. Subsidence results in
an uneven land surface which can alter drainage patterns and may
severely damage roads, buildings, or other structures. In western
Fresno County some areas have subsided more than 30 feet. By the late
1950's, estimated overdraft in Kern County alone had reached 750,000
acre-feet per year.
Initial facilities of the federal Central Valley Project
transported water from northern California through the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta region via the Delta-Mendota Canal in 1951 to irrigate
600,000 acres of land in the northern part of the San Joaquin Valley.
This water primarily replaced and supplemented San Joaquin River water
that was diverted at Friant Dam and sent to the southern end of the
east side of the San Joaquin Valley.
The CVP's San Luis Unit and the State Water Project, each
authorized in 1960, began delivering Northern California water to
agricultural lands on the west side of the southern San Joaquin Valley
in 1968. Together these facilities provide water to irrigate 1 million
acres. Authorization of the San Luis Unit also mandated construction of
an interceptor drain known as the San Luis Drain, to collect irrigation
drainage water from its service area and carry it to the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta for disposal. Reclamation's 1955 feasibility report
for the San Luis Unit described the drain as an earthen ditch that
would drain 96,000 acres. By 1962, Reclamation's studies had shown the
need to build a concrete-lined canal to drain 300,000 acres. In 1964,
plans added a regulating reservoir to temporarily retain drainage
water. A decision was made in the mid-1970's to use the reservoir to
store and evaporate drainage water until the drainage canal to the
Delta could be completed.
Reclamation began construction of the San Luis Drain in 1968, and
by 1975 had completed 85 miles of the main drain, 120 miles of
collector drains, and the first phase of the regulating reservoir
(Kesterson). In 1970, Kesterson Reservoir became part of a new national
wildlife refuge managed jointly by Reclamation and the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service (USFWS). Federal budget constraints and growing
environmental concerns about releasing irrigation drainage water into
the Delta halted work on the reservoir and the drain.
In 1975, Reclamation, the California Department of Water Resources
and the State Water Resources Control Board formed the San Joaquin
Valley Interagency Drainage Program to find a solution to the valley's
drainage problem that would be economically, environmentally, and
politically acceptable. The group's recommendation was to complete the
drain to a discharge point in the Delta, near Chipp's Island. In 1981,
Reclamation began a special study to fulfill requirements for a
discharge permit from the State Water Resources Control Board.
The 1983 discovery of deformities and deaths of aquatic birds at
Kesterson Reservoir altered the perception of drainage problems on the
west side of the valley. Selenium poisoning was determined to be the
probable culprit. In 1985, the Secretary of the Interior ordered that
the discharge of drainage water to Kesterson be halted and the feeder
drains closed. In 1986 Kesterson Reservoir was closed and the
vegetation plowed under. Contamination problems similar to those
identified at Kesterson are now appearing in other parts of the Valley,
such as the Tulare Basin, which receives irrigation water from the
State Water Project.
In 1984 the SJVDP was established as a joint Federal and State
effort to investigate drainage and drainage-related problems and to
identify possible solutions. The potential solutions were published in
the program's September 1990 report. Due to environmental and political
concerns, the report assumes that an out-of-valley solution, or
completion of the San Luis Drain to the Delta would not be possible in
the near future.
The concept behind land retirement is to stop irrigating lands with
poor drainage and shallow groundwater high in concentrations of
selenium, as a means of lowering the water table. Hydrologic studies
have shown that if large blocks of land (+/-5,000 acres) were retired
from irrigation, then the water table beneath those lands would drop.
The SJVDP final report recommended permanent retirement of 75,000
acres of irrigated lands that are characterized by low productivity,
poor drainage, and high selenium concentration in shallow groundwater.
Land retirement will cease irrigation on these selected lands as a
means to reduce subsurface drainage problems. Additionally, retired
lands will be rehabilitated to provide wildlife habitat. The chief area
of concern is the western side of the San Joaquin Valley from the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on the north to the Tehachapi Mountains
south of Bakersfield, California. The Proposed Action will focus on the
federal CVP service area within this region.
Land Retirement Team
With the passage of the CVPIA in October 1992, Reclamation's
Central Valley Water Project's (CVP) mission was changed to modify
water flows to better support the needs of fish and wildlife throughout
the project area. With the development of modern agriculture,
railroads, and the highway
[[Page 6208]]
system, the face of California's landscape was changed forever, and
over time the majority of the San Joaquin Valley's natural habitats
have been converted to agricultural or urban uses.
Reclamation, a Department of the Interior agency, has
responsibility for management of the CVP. In order to implement the
provisions of the CVPIA as the people had intended, Reclamation needed
the help of its sister agencies, the USFWS, and the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM). These three agencies share the mission to protect and
enhance the nation's natural resources for the continuing benefit of
the American people. In particular, the USFWS and the BLM will act as
the land managers for lands acquired under the land retirement program.
Representatives from these three agencies make up the land retirement
team and will work in partnership to accomplish the goals of the
program.
Eligibility
Lands eligible for participation in the Land Retirement Program are
those that receive CVP water under a contract executed with the United
States, and are offered by willing sellers. Reclamation will not use
condemnation to acquire land or other property interests.
Program Goals
The goals of the program are to:
Provide drainage source reduction.
Enhance fish & wildlife habitat.
Acquire water for other purposes of the Act.
Potential Issues
It is anticipated that there may be some effect on local
governments in the form of a loss to the tax base due to lands moving
from private ownership to the tax-exempt Federal ownership status.
There may be impacts to the local economy by taking irrigated
agricultural lands out of production. There is some concern that the
change in land use may result in soil degradation or increasing the
salt content of the soil. Additional potential issues may arise,
depending upon whether acquired water remains in the water district or
is transferred out-of-district. Land retirement may have an effect on
present and future available water supplies. Additionally, it is
anticipated that there will be benefits to wildlife from the change in
land use on the acquired parcels.
Federal, State and local agencies, and interested individuals are
encouraged to participate in the scoping process for the EA to
determine the range of issues and alternatives to be addressed.
Dated: February 2, 1998.
William Luce,
Area Manager, South-Central California Area Office.
[FR Doc. 98-2971 Filed 2-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-94-P
