[Federal Register: January 31, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 21)]
[Notices]
[Page 5001-5004]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31ja03-60]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Intent To Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact Statement and
Environmental Impact Report for North Delta Improvements Project
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and California
Department of Water Resources (DWR) are proposing the North Delta
Improvements Project (NDIP). The project would implement flood control
improvements in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, principally
on and around Staten Island, Dead Horse Island, and McCormack
Williamson Tract, in a manner that would benefit aquatic and
terrestrial habitats and alleviate flood-related problems in the North
Delta area.
[[Page 5002]]
Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Corps and DWR,
respectively, are initiating the NDIP Feasibility Study for a portion
of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and plan to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR)
for the proposed NDIP. Development of the Feasibility Report will be
closely coordinated with development of the draft EIS/EIR, which will
document existing conditions, project actions, and project effects.
Responsible and trustee agencies under CEQA may include: California
Department of Fish and Game; The Reclamation Board of the State of
California; State Lands Commission; California Regional Water Quality
Control Boards; State Water Resources Control Board; California
Department of Transportation; California Department of Conservation;
and California Department of Boating and Waterways.
DATES: Scoping meetings will be held on February 19, 2003, 6-8 PM, Jean
Harvie Community Center, Walnut Grove, CA, and February 20, 2003, 1:30-
4 PM, Bonderson Building, Sacramento, CA. If special assistance is
required, please contact Gwen Knittweis (see information below) as far
in advance of the workshops as possible to enable DWR to secure the
needed services. If a request cannot be honored, the requestor will be
notified.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action
and EIS/EIR should be addressed to: Ms. Becky Wren, Environmental
Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CESPK-PD-R, 1325 J Street,
Sacramento, CA 95814-2922, telephone: (916) 557-5162, e-mail address:
rebecca.wren@usace.army.mil, or Ms. Gwen Knittweis, North Delta Project
Manager/Engineer, California Department of Water Resources, PO Box
942836, Sacramento, CA 94236-0001, telephone: (916) 653-2118, e-mail
address: gwenk@water.ca.gov. Also, http://ndelta.water.ca.gov contains
further project information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
A resolution adopted by the Senate Committee on Public Works on
June 1, 1948, requests a review of reports submitted on the Sacramento
River, California, to determine if it is advisable to modify existing
projects in any way, particularly to (1) provide for the closing of
Georgiana Slough and (2) eliminate tidal flow into lower Sherman
Island, Frank's Tract, the area south of Dutch Slough, and similar
areas subject to tidal inundation, so that the tidal prism of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) may be reduced to a minimum.
A resolution adopted by both the Senate and House Committee on
Public Works on January 31, 1961, and June 7, 1961, respectively,
requests a review of Delta reports to determine the advisability of
measures to preserve scenic values and to preserve and enhance
recreational and related opportunities in project areas in the Delta
region, consistent with the primary flood protection purposes of
existing and proposed levees and channel improvements. Study authority
is also contained in Section 205 of the Flood Control Act of 1950,
which authorized the Secretary of the Army to make preliminary
examinations and surveys for flood protection and allied purposes in
the Delta.
2. Proposed Action
The Corps and DWR are conducting a study on flood control system
improvements that would benefit aquatic and terrestrial habitats and
alleviate flood-related problems in the North Delta. This study will
result in a feasibility report.
3. Project Background
The Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary provides water for a wide range
of beneficial uses, including drinking water for millions of
Californians, irrigation water for millions of acres of agricultural
land, an spawning and rearing habitat for aquatic organisms. The
estuary also provides a permanent or seasonal home for a large variety
of native plants and wildlife. Over the past several decades increase
in the demand for the estuary's resources have increased conflict
between the needs of water users and efforts to sustain the estuary's
aquatic ecosystem and support recovery of listed fish.
The North Delta area of the estuary faces the need to balance the
same issues as the larger estuary, particularly with regard to flood
control and ecosystem restoration. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is
the focus of complex issues involving water supply, water quality,
flood control requirements, and the environment. Of particular concern
to this project, runoff from the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Mokelumne,
and Cosumnes rivers, as well as from the South Sacramento Stream Group
(Morrison Creek, Florin Creek, Union House Creek, Elder Creek, and
North Beach-Stone Lakes area) during large storm events has caused
flooding in the North Delta. Additionally, the degradation and loss of
aquatic and terrestrial habitat are a primary concern in the North
Delta.
The joint state-federal CALFED Bay-Delta Program (CALFED) was
formed to develop and implement a long-term comprehensive plan to
restore ecological health and improve water management for beneficial
uses of the Bay-Delta system. The CALFED Programmatic EIS/EIR (PEIS/
EIR) and Programmatic Record of Decision (ROD) were issued in July and
August 2000, respectively. The CALFED ROD identifies, as a component of
conveyance actions, the NDIP, which is to design and construct floodway
improvements in the North Delta (such as on the lower Mokelumne River
and Georgiana Slough) to provide conveyance, flood control, and
ecosystem benefits.
The CALFED ROD also identifies other improvements to the North
Delta, including changes to the Delta Cross Channel (DCC) and an
evaluation of a through-Delta facility on the Sacramento River. The
NDIP will not be addressing these improvements.
4. Need for the Project
Flood control improvements are needed to reduce flood damage to
land uses, infrastructure, and the Bay-Delta ecosystem resulting from
overflows caused by insufficient channel capacities and catastrophic
levee failures within the NDIP study area, including the Point Pleasant
area. The existing and historical conditions that warrant flood control
and ecosystem quality improvements are described below.
Flood Control--The Mokelumne and Cosumnes rivers and the Morrison
Creek Stream group do not have sufficient channel capacity to safely
convey 100-year peak flows from Sierra Nevada watersheds through the
North Delta to the San Joaquin River. Channel capacities for the north
and south forks of the Mokelumne River are approximately 40,000 cubic
feet per second (cfs). The combined channel capacity required to safely
convey flows from a 100-year flood event would be 90,000 cfs. The lack
of channel capacity, combined with constrictions in vulnerable areas
(e.g., bridge abutments) and an increase in sedimentation levels over
time (which reduces channel capacity), makes a number of areas in the
North Delta vulnerable to flooding. Since 1955, several areas have been
flooded after levees were either breeched or overtopped, including the
Point Pleasant area, McCormack-Williamson Tract, Dead Horse Island, New
Hope Tract, Brack and Canal
[[Page 5003]]
Ranch Tracts, and the Franklin Pond area. The potential for flooding
also threatens important public facilities and institutions in the
North Delta area, including Interstate 5, the Union Pacific Railroad
line, and the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center.
The North Delta is also susceptible to levee failure during peak
flows. Levees on McCormack-Williamson Tract and Dead Horse Island
frequently have been overtopped or have failed during large storm
events, and many other levees have been subject to structural failure
during past storm events. Failure of Bay-Delta levees could:
(1) Result in flooding of Delta communities, farmland, habitat, key
roads and highways;
(2) Expose adjacent islands to increased wave action, increased
seepage, and risk of levee erosion;
(3) Affect water supply distribution systems; or
(4) Affect flow patterns, potentially resulting in adverse impacts
on water quality if the levee breach is not repaired.
Ecosystem Quality--Degradation and the loss of habitats that
support various life stages of aquatic and terrestrial biota are a
primary concern in the North Delta. These habitat changes have many
causes, including sedimentation from hydraulic mining, habitat
conversion, dredging and water diversions. Thirty years of hydraulic
mining (in the 19th century) in the river drainages along the eastern
edge of the Central Valley have increased sedimentation levels in
downstream watercourses, degrading valuable aquatic habitat. In
addition, many of the seasonally-inundated lands in the Bay-Delta
system that historically provided habitat to a variety of bird and
animal species have been converted to agricultural, industrial, and
urban uses. Levees constructed to protect lands in the Delta from
inundation eliminated fish access to shallow overflow areas. Dredging
to construct levees eliminated the tule bed habitat along the river
channels. Upstream water development and use, depletion of natural
flows by local diverters, and the export of water from the Bay-Delta
system have altered hydrodynamic processes. This alteration has
resulted in changed seasonal patterns of inflow, reduced Delta outflow,
and diminished natural variability of flows into and through the Bay-
Delta system. Facilities constructed to support water diversions may
contribute to straying or direct losses of fish and can increase
exposure of juvenile fish to predation.
5. Purpose of the Project
The purpose of the NDIP is to implement flood control improvements
in a manner that benefits aquatic and terrestrial habitats.
To be consistent with the overall goals of CALFED, the NDIP would
also be compatible with and supportive of the other programmatic
elements outlined in the PEIS/EIR. Therefore, to the extent that
meeting other goals is consistent with the primary purpose of the NDIP,
the Corps and DWR will incorporate project elements that support the
following CALFED objectives:
(a) Improve conveyance to improve water supply reliability at the
South Delta export pumps.
(b) Improve conveyance to facilitate reductions in salinity levels
in the San Joaquin River and improve the quality of the water at the
South Delta export pumps.
(c) Recommend ecosystem restoration and science actions in the
project area consistent with the CALFED Ecosystem Restoration Program's
strategic goals and objectives.
(d) Improve levee stability and integrity in the NDIP project area.
(e) Minimize the conversion of prime, statewide-important, and
unique farmlands to NDIP uses.
(f) Minimize impacts to recreational use in the NDIP project area.
6. Project Area
The NDIP project area is approximately 197 square miles. The
project area defines the area within which DWR is considering
alternatives for flood control and restoration actions. Direct (on-the-
ground) impacts of constructing the alternatives will be evaluated
within the project area. However, this area does not represent the
limits of the area considered during impact analysis.
7. Alternatives
The NDIP is currently in the preliminary design phase, meaning that
alternatives for project actions have not yet been fully defined.
However, the team has a list of project design concepts that will be
run through a hydraulic model to test their feasibility. The draft
concepts include:
(a) Whole/Partial Island Flood Detention Areas--Whole and partial
island flood detention areas have been proposed for Staten Island, Dead
Horse Island, and McCormack-Williamson Tract. This concept would entail
strengthening the landward sides of an island's levees and installing
weirs and pumps to allow flood control operators to divert water on and
off the island from swollen rivers during peak flood flows.
(b) Parallel Levee Bypasses--The parallel levee concept would
create a controlled flood bypass by constructing a second levee inland
from an existing levee and installing weirs at either end of the new
bypass area, allowing flood control operators to divert water into the
bypass to alleviate peak flood flows. This concept could include the
placement of pumps at the downstream end of the bypass in order to
return floodflows to the main channel.
(c) Steback Levees--Under this concept, a second levee, or setback
levee, would be built inland from the existing levee, and the existing
levee would be removed or breached in order to permanently widen the
existing floodplain and create more capacity in the river corridor.
(d) Bridge Replacement--Historically, many bridges in the Delta
have constricted channels as a result of their large concrete abutments
and pilings. In addition, floating debris often gets entangled on the
low bridges during flood events and continues to collect, forming a
dam, which restricts flow and can cause upstream flooding. Bridge
replacement in the North Delta area would include redesigning bridges
with smaller abutments and pilings. Such bridge redesign would place
less concrete in the channel, increasing channel capacity. Redesigned
bridges would span rivers at a higher elevation, facilitating debris
passage, and avoiding or minimizing debris buildup during flood events.
(e) Maintenance Dredging--Maintenance dredging has been proposed on
the north and south forks of the Mokelumne River to increase channel
capacity.
8. Scoping Process
(a) The Corps and DWR invites comments from State and Federal
agencies with respect to the scope and content of the environmental
information in the proposed EIS/EIR that are within each agency's
statutory responsibilities in connection with the proposed NDIP. In
addition, written comments from interested parties regarding the scope
and content of the environmental documents are invited to ensure that
the full range of alternatives and issues related to the proposed
project are identified. All comments received, including names and
addresses, will become part of the official administrative record and
may be made available to the public. Comments should be submitted to
the previously mentioned Corps or DWR
[[Page 5004]]
contact at the earliest possible date, but no later than February 28,
2003.
(b) The draft EIS/EIR will contain an analysis of the physical and
biological impacts to the environment rising from the proposed project
and alternatives to the project. In addition, it will address the
cumulative impacts of implementation of alternatives in conjunction
with other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions.
Potential environmental effects could include, but are not limited
to, the following: permanent and temporary effects on bodies of water
and wetlands associated with the construction of flood control
structures and flood control and ecosystem improvements; effects are
rare and sensitive biological plant and animal species from
construction of flood control structures and flood control and
ecosystem improvements; short term effects on water quality associated
with excavation and dredging in bodies of water; short term effects on
air quality during construction from the operation of heavy equipment;
and effects on cultural resources during earth moving operations
associated with the construction of flood control structures and flood
control and ecosystem improvements.
(c) DWR will consult with the State Historic Preservation Officer
to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Corps
will consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide a Fish
and Wildlife Coordination Act Report as an appendix to the EIS/EIR.
(d) A 30-day public review period will be provided for individuals
and agencies to review and comment on the draft EIS/EIR. All interested
parties are encouraged to respond to this notice and provide a current
address if they wish to be notified of the EIS/EIR circulation.
(e) Scoping is an early and open process designed to determine the
issues and alternatives to be addressed in a draft EIS/EIR. Two public
scoping meetings are scheduled (see DATES).
9. Availability
The draft EIS/EIR is scheduled to be available for review and
comment in the summer of 2004.
Dated: January 24, 2003.
Mark W. Connelly,
LTC, EN, Acting Commander.
[FR Doc. 03-2318 Filed 1-30-03; 8:45 am]