01-19697. Central Valley Project Improvement Act, Criteria for Evaluating Water Management Plans

AGENCY:

Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of availability.

SUMMARY:

To meet the requirements of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) of 1992 and the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) developed and published the Criteria for Evaluating Water Conservation Plans (Criteria). Fresno Irrigation District has developed a Water Management Plan (Plan), which Reclamation has evaluated and preliminarily determined to meet the requirements of these Criteria. Reclamation is publishing this notice to allow the public to comment on the preliminary determinations. Public comment on Reclamation's preliminary (i.e., draft) determination of Fresno Irrigation District's Plan is invited at this time.

DATES:

All public comments must be received by September 6, 2001.

ADDRESSES:

Please mail comments to Bryce White, Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento California, 95825, or e-mail them to [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To be placed on a mailing list for any subsequent information, please contact Bryce White at the e-mail address above, or by telephone at [phone] (TDD 978-5608).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

We are inviting the public to comment on our preliminary (i.e., draft) determination of the adequacy of Fresno Irrigation District's Plan. Section 3405(e) of the CVPIA (Title 34 Public Law 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. BMP's for Urban Contractors

5. Plan Implementation

6. Exemption Process

7. Regional Criteria

8. Five Year Revisions

Reclamation will evaluate Fresno Irrigation District's Plan based on these Criteria. Our practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address from public disclosure, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we would 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 comment. We will make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available for public disclosure in their entirety.

A copy of the Plan will be available for review at Reclamation's Mid-Pacific (MP) Regional Office located in Sacramento, California, and MP's South-Central California Area Office located in Fresno, California. If you wish to review a copy of the Plan, please contact Mr. White to find the office nearest you.

Dated: July 17, 2001.

John F. Davis,

Regional Resources Manager.