[Federal Register: February 28, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 39)]
[Notices]
[Page 9026-9028]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28fe07-86]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
[DES-07-05]
Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and
Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability and Notice of Public Hearings for the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Colorado River Interim
Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for
Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969, as amended, and the Council on Environmental Quality's
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions
[[Page 9027]]
of NEPA, the Department of the Interior (Department), acting through
the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), has prepared a draft
environmental impact statement (Draft EIS) on the proposed adoption of
specific Colorado River Lower Basin shortage guidelines and coordinated
reservoir management strategies to address operations of Lake Powell
and Lake Mead, particularly under low reservoir conditions. This action
is proposed in order to provide a greater degree of certainty to U.S.
Colorado River water users and managers of the Colorado River Basin by
providing detailed and objective guidelines for the operations of Lake
Powell and Lake Mead, thereby allowing water managers and water users
in the Lower Basin to know when, and by how much, water deliveries will
be reduced in drought and other low reservoir conditions. The
Department proposes that these guidelines be interim in duration and
extend through 2026.
Cooperating agencies are the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service (NPS), the Western
Area Power Administration (Western), and the United States Section of
the International Boundary and Water Commission.
DATES AND ADDRESSES: A public review period commences with the
publication of this notice. Comments on the Draft EIS must be submitted
no later than Monday, April 30, 2007, to: Regional Director, Lower
Colorado Region, Bureau of Reclamation, Attention: BCOO-1000, P.O. Box
61470, Boulder City, Nevada 89006-1470; faxogram at (702) 293-8156; or
e-mail at strategies@lc.usbr.gov.
Reclamation will conduct three public hearings to receive written
or oral comments from the public on the Draft EIS at the following
locations:
Tuesday, April 3, 2007--6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Henderson
Convention Center, Sierra Room, 200 South Water Street, Henderson,
Nevada.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007--6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Phoenix
Airport Marriott, Buckhorn Room, 1101 North 44th Street, Phoenix,
Arizona.
Thursday, April 5, 2007--6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Hilton Salt
Lake City Center, Canyon Room A & B, 255 South West Temple, Salt Lake
City, Utah.
If special assistance is required regarding accommodations for
attendance at any of the public hearings, please contact Nan Yoder at
(702) 293-8495, faxogram at (702) 293-8156, or e-mail at
nyoder@lc.usbr.gov no less than 5 working days prior to the applicable
meeting(s).
The Draft EIS is electronically available for viewing and copying
at Reclamation's project Web site at: http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies.html.
Alternatively, a compact disc or hard copy is
available upon written request to: Regional Director, Lower Colorado
Region, Bureau of Reclamation, Attention: BCOO-1000, P.O. Box 61470,
Boulder City, Nevada 89006-1470; faxogram at (702) 293-8156; or e-mail
at strategies@lc.usbr.gov.
Copies of the Draft EIS are available for public inspection and
review at the following locations:
Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Regional Office, 400
Railroad Avenue, Boulder City, Nevada.
Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office, 125
South State Street, Room 7220, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office, 6150 West
Thunderbird Road, Glendale, Arizona.
Bureau of Reclamation, Yuma Area Office, 7301 Calle Agua
Salada, Yuma, Arizona.
Bureau of Reclamation Library, Denver Federal Center, 6th
Avenue and Kipling, Building 67, Room 167, Denver, Colorado.
Department of the Interior, Natural Resources Library 1849
C Street NW., Washington, DC.
Yuma County Library, 185 South Main Street, Yuma, Arizona.
Palo Verde Valley Library, 125 West Chanslor Way, Blythe,
California.
Mohave County Library, 1170 Hancock Road, Bullhead City,
Arizona.
Laughlin Library, 2840 South Needles Highway, Laughlin,
Nevada.
Las Vegas Clark County Library, 833 Las Vegas Boulevard N,
Las Vegas, Nevada.
James I. Gibson Library, 280 Water Street, Henderson,
Nevada.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terrance J. Fulp, Ph.D., at (702) 293-
8500 or e-mail at strategies@lc.usbr.gov; and/or Randall Peterson at
(801) 524-3633 or e-mail at strategies@lc.usbr.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During the period from 2000-2006, the
Colorado River has experienced the worst drought conditions in
approximately one hundred years of recorded history. During this
period, storage in Colorado River reservoirs has dropped from nearly
full to less than 60 percent of capacity at the end of 2006. Currently,
the Department does not have specific operational guidelines in place
to address the operation of Lake Mead and Lake Powell during drought
and low reservoir conditions.
Accordingly, the Department proposes the adoption of specific
interim guidelines for Lower Basin shortages and coordinated operations
of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The proposed federal action will be
implemented through the adoption of interim guidelines in effect
through 2026 that would be used each year by the Department in
implementing the Criteria for Coordinated Long-Range Operation of
Colorado River Reservoirs Pursuant to the Colorado River Basin Project
Act of September 30, 1968, through issuance of the Annual Operating
Plan for Colorado River Reservoirs.
The proposed federal action considers four operational elements
that collectively are designed to address the purpose and need for the
proposed federal action. These elements are addressed in each of the
alternatives described and analyzed in the Draft EIS. The interim
guidelines would be used by the Secretary of the Department of the
Interior (Secretary) to:
Determine those circumstances under which the Secretary
would reduce the annual amount of water available for consumptive use
from Lake Mead to the Colorado River Lower Division states (Arizona,
California, and Nevada) below 7.5 million acre-feet (a ``Shortage'')
pursuant to Article II(B)(3) of the United States Supreme Court in the
case of Arizona v. California, 547 U.S.----(2006);
Define the coordinated operation of Lake Powell and Lake
Mead to provide improved operation of these two reservoirs,
particularly under low reservoir conditions;
Allow for the storage and delivery, pursuant to applicable
federal law, of conserved Colorado River system and non-system water in
Lake Mead to increase the flexibility of meeting water use needs from
Lake Mead, particularly under drought and low reservoir conditions; and
Determine those conditions under which the Secretary may
declare the availability of surplus water for use within the Lower
Division states. The proposed federal action would modify the substance
of the existing Interim Surplus Guidelines (ISG), published in the
Federal Register on January 25, 2001 (66 FR 7772), and the term of the
ISG from 2016 to 2026.
The purpose of the proposed federal action is to: (1) Improve
Reclamation's management of the Colorado River by considering the
trade-offs between the frequency and magnitude of reductions of water
deliveries, and considering the effects on water storage in Lake Powell
and Lake Mead, water supply, power
[[Page 9028]]
production, recreation, and other environmental resources; (2) provide
mainstream U.S. users of Colorado River water, particularly those in
the Lower Division states, a greater degree of predictability with
respect to the amount of annual water deliveries in future years,
particularly under drought and low reservoir conditions; and, (3)
provide additional mechanisms for the storage and delivery of water
supplies in Lake Mead.
The Draft EIS presents four possible action alternatives for
implementation, plus a ``No Action Alternative.'' Reclamation has not
identified a preferred alternative in this Draft EIS. The preferred
alternative will be identified following public comments on the Draft
EIS and will be expressed in the Final EIS. The action alternatives
reflect input from Reclamation staff, the cooperating agencies,
stakeholders, and other interested parties. Reclamation received two
written proposals for alternatives that met the purpose and need of the
proposed federal action, one from the Basin States and another from a
consortium of environmental organizations. These proposals were used
and refined by Reclamation to formulate two of the alternatives
considered and analyzed in this Draft EIS: the Basin States Alternative
and the Conservation Before Shortage Alternative. A third alternative
(Water Supply Alternative) was developed by Reclamation and a fourth
alternative (Reservoir Storage Alternative) was developed in
coordination with the NPS and Western.
The Basin States Alternative proposes a coordinated operation of
Lake Powell and Lake Mead that would minimize shortages in the Lower
Basin and avoid the risk of curtailments of use in the Upper Basin.
This alternative also provides a mechanism, Intentionally Created
Surplus (ICS), for promoting water conservation in the Lower Basin.
The Conservation Before Shortage Alternative includes voluntary,
compensated reductions in water use to minimize involuntary shortages
in the Lower Basin and avoid risk of curtailments of use in the Upper
Basin. This alternative also provides a mechanism for promoting water
conservation in the Lower Basin by expanding the ICS mechanism.
The Water Supply Alternative is intended to maximize water
deliveries at the expense of retaining water in storage in the
reservoirs for future use. This alternative would implement shortages
only when insufficient water to meet entitlements is available in Lake
Mead.
The Reservoir Storage Alternative would keep more water in storage
in Lake Powell and Lake Mead by reducing water deliveries and
increasing shortages to benefit power and recreational interests; and
this alternative also provides a mechanism for promoting water
conservation in the Lower Basin.
Public Disclosure
It is our practice to make comments, including names, home
addresses, home telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of respondents,
available for public review. Individual respondents may request that we
withhold their names and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to
consider withholding this information you must state this prominently
at the beginning of your comments. In addition, you must present a
rationale for withholding this information. This rationale must
demonstrate that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted
invasion of privacy. Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden.
In the absence of exceptional, documentable circumstances, this
information will be released. We will always make submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
Dated: February 2, 2007.
Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. E7-3447 Filed 2-27-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P