Lower Colorado Region

Southern California Area Office - Programs and Activities

Environmental Documents and Assistance

All actions proposed by the Bureau of Reclamation's Southern California Area Office (SCAO) are reviewed for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and many other laws, regulations, executive orders, and policies intended to protect environmental values.

Some SCAO actions are financial assistance agreements with local water agencies. In accordance with Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations, we try to avoid duplication of State and local environmental requirements by adopting documents prepared by our local partners under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) whenever possible.

The Bureau must notify the public of the availability of environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and findings of no significant impact once they have been completed. Archives of these documents can be found on in our Archived Environmental Documents page.

Documents Now Available

Notice of Intent to Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact Report / Environmental Impact Statement, Pure Water San Diego Program, North City Project (PDF, 194 KB)
The Bureau of Reclamation and the City of San Diego will prepare a joint Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the North City Project. The project is the first phase of the Pure Water San Diego Program, a water and wastewater facilities plan to produce potable water from recycled water.

Record of Decision for the Environmental Impact Statement, Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin, Riverside-Corona Feeder Project (PDF, 347 KB)
The Lower Colorado Regional Director has approved the Record of Decision for the Riverside-Corona Feeder Project, an aquifer storage and recovery project proposed by the Western Municipal Water District within the Santa Ana River watershed in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, California. The project includes a 28-mile long water pipeline ranging up to 78 inches in diameter, up to 20 new and existing wells, and other facilities to deliver water from the Bunker Hill groundwater basin in San Bernardino County to Western’s service area in Riverside County. The first phase of the project will also provide access to the Chino groundwater basin in San Bernardino County.

Map (PDF, 521 KB)
U.S. EPA FEIS Comments (PDF, 1.45 MB)
CAA Conformity Memo (PDF, 237 KB)
RCF ESA La Sierra ESA (PDF, 97 KB)
La Sierra SHPO Concurrence (PDF, 89 KB)
Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (PDF, 1.01 MB)
Addendum No. 1 to the SEIR/EIS (PDF, 2.76 MB)

Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement, Clean Water Factory Project (PDF, 7 MBs)
The City of San Bernardino Municipal Water Department (SBMWD) is proposing the Clean Water Factory Project to reduce its dependence on imported water and to establish a reliable, sustainable source of clean water. The proposed Project will treat effluent from the San Bernardino Water Reclamation Plant to a quality approved for recharge as set by the California Department of Public Health and the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. The treated effluent will be conveyed to the Waterman Basins and the East Twin Creek Spreading Grounds. Recycled water spread at these facilities will artificially recharge the Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin and, more specifically, the Bunker Hill a Management Zone. The Project will also treat a side stream of SBWRP effluent to a quality approved for direct use and convey the tertiary treated recycled water to customers that can benefit from a non-potable water supply. See the Feb 6, 2015 Federal Register Notice for additional information.

Santa Margarita Conjunctive Use Project at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Draft Environmental Impact Statement / Environmental Impact Report (PDF, 62 MBs) 
(note: If this file is too large for downloading, the report and its separate appendices are available below.)

The U.S. Department of Defense's Marine Corps and the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation are joint lead agencies for this project that would enhance groundwater recharge and recovery capacity within the lower Santa Margarita River basin and develop a conjunctive use program that would increase the sustained basin yield of the lower basin for the benefit of Camp Pendleton and Fallbrook Public Utility District.

May 9, 2014 Federal Register Notice regarding availability of Draft EIS.
Draft EIS/EIR (without Appendices) (PDF, 8.3 MB)
Appendix A (PDF, 2.7 MB)
Appendix B (PDF, 4.5 MB)
Appendix C (PDF, 41.5 MB)
Appendix D (PDF, 200 KB)
Appendix E (PDF, 183 KB)

U.S. Department of the Interior regulations for implementing NEPA (43 CFR Part 46) were published in the Federal Register on October 15, 2008 (73 FR 61291).

Need More Information?

If you have any questions or need additional information, contact Doug McPherson, Environmental Protection Specialist, at dmcpherson@usbr.gov or by phone at: (951) 695-5310.