97-11962. Proposed East Bay Municipal Utility District's Supplemental Water Supply Project, Lower American River, California

[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 89 (Thursday, May 8, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25205-25206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-11962]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Proposed East Bay Municipal Utility District's Supplemental Water 
Supply Project, Lower American River, California

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement/
Environmental Impact Report.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (as 
amended) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the 
Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the East Bay Municipal Utility 
District (EBMUD) propose to prepare a joint Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) on EBMUD's Supplemental 
Water Supply Project (Project). The Project is intended to enable EBMUD 
to receive delivery of Central Valley Project (CVP) Water under its 
water service contract with Reclamation to improve EBMUD's water supply 
and reliability.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of alternatives and impacts to be 
considered should be sent to Reclamation by June 16, 1997. It is 
estimated that the draft EIS/EIR will be available for public review in 
the summer of 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the project scope should be sent to Kurt 
Ladensack, EBMUD, MS 305, P.O. Box 24055, Oakland California, 94623-
1055.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kurt Ladensack, EBMUD, MS 305, P.O. 
Box 24055, Oakland California, 94623-1055; telephone [phone]; or 
Cecil Lesley, Reclamation, 7794 Folsom Dam Road, Folsom California, 
95630; telephone [phone]; TDD [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1970, EBMUD entered into a water service 
contract with Reclamation to obtain up to 150,000 acre-feet of water 
annually from the CVP as a supplementary water supply for its 
customers. CVP water would be diverted by EBMUD from the Folsom South 
Canal (FSC). The FSC is a conveyance facility owned by the United 
States and operated by Reclamation in southeastern Sacramento County. 
The canal originates at Nimbus Diversion Works (Nimbus) on the American 
River at Lake Natoma and extends south approximately 26 miles. A 
turnout near Grant Line Road in Sacramento County, approximately 12 
miles south of Nimbus, is the point of water delivery specified in the 
EBMUD-Reclamation water service contract. Currently, no facilities are 
in place to allow EBMUD to take water under this contract.
    A lawsuit (EDF v. EBMUD, Alameda County Case No. 425,955) filed in 
1972 by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and intervened by 
Sacramento County, Save the American River Association, the California 
Department of Fish and Game, and the California State Lands Commission, 
sought to prevent EBMUD from taking delivery of American River water 
through the FSC as provided in the EBMUD-Reclamation water service 
contract. The plaintiffs' contention was that delivery of water to 
EBMUD from the FSC under EBMUD's federal contract would reduce 
downstream flows to the extent that fisheries and other instream 
resources of the lower American River would be harmed.
    On January 2, 1990, the Alameda County Superior Court issued a 
decision that affirmed EBMUD's right to take delivery under its 
contract with Reclamation subject to minimum flows being met in 
accordance with the terms of a Physical Solution. The minimum instream 
flow levels required under the Physical Solution for the protection of 
fisheries and other instream resources are:
     2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) from October 15 through 
the end of February;
     3,000 cfs from March 1 through June; and
     1,750 cfs from July 1 through October 15.
    In its decision, the court also required that use of the 
Reclamation contract water is to be limited to meeting water supply 
needs of EBMUD customers within its service area.
    Reclamation and EBMUD are considering alternatives for diversion 
and conveyance of American River water by EBMUD. These alternatives 
include:
    1. The no-action alternative.
    2. A joint project between EBMUD, the City of Sacramento, and the 
Sacramento County Water Agency, which would involve the construction of 
a new intake-pumping facility and fish screens on the American River 
near its confluence with the Sacramento River, a pipeline from this 
diversion to the City's E.A. Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant, a 
pipeline henceforth to the FSC, and a connection from the FSC to 
EBMUD's Mokelumne Aqueducts. This alternative would require a change in 
the point of delivery of water to EBMUD and an amendment to the 
existing Reclamation contract.
    3. A pipeline connection from the FSC at the current contract 
turnout location near Grant Line Road to the EBMUD Mokelumne Aqueducts. 
This alternative could be implemented without amending the existing 
Reclamation contract.
    4. A pipeline connection from the terminus of the FSC to the EBMUD 
Mokelumne Aqueducts near Clements, California. This alternative would 
require a change in the point of delivery of water for EBMUD and an 
amendment to the existing Reclamation contract.
    5. A pipeline connection from the terminus of the FSC to the EBMUD 
Mokelumne Aqueducts near Stockton, California. This alternative would 
require a change in the point of delivery of water for EBMUD and an 
amendment to the existing Reclamation contract.
    Scoping is an early and open process designed to determine the 
significant issues and alternatives to be addressed in the EIS/EIR. The 
following significant issues have been identified by Reclamation to 
date: lower American River fishery effects; water quality; agricultural 
and municipal water supply quality; lower American River recreation 
opportunities; construction-related effects on the lower American 
River, urban areas, and natural habitats; and, wetland, upland, and 
aquatic habitats.

[[Page 25206]]

    The draft EIS/EIR will focus on the impacts and benefits of 
implementing the various alternatives. It will contain an analysis of 
the physical, biological, social, and economic impacts arising from the 
alternatives. In addition, it will address the cumulative impacts of 
implementation of the alternatives in conjunction with other past, 
present, and reasonably foreseeable actions.
    Reclamation and EBMUD have been seeking public input on 
alternatives, concerns, and issues to be addressed in the EIS/EIR 
through a series of scoping meetings held from April 28 through May 1, 
1997 in Sacramento, Oakland, Lodi, and Galt, California. EBMUD 
conducted an extensive public notification program to assure that all 
interested parties were notified in advance about these meetings.

    Dated: April 28, 1997.
Kirk C. Rodgers,
Deputy Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 97-11962 Filed 5-7-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-94-P