Delta-Mendota Canal Recirculation Project, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kings, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne Counties, CA, 15161-15162 [E7-5889]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Reclamation
• Reclamation Bureau

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 61 (Friday, March 30, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15161-15162]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5889]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Delta-Mendota Canal Recirculation Project, Calaveras, Contra 
Costa, Fresno, Kings, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, 
Stanislaus, and Tuolumne Counties, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement/
Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) and notice of public scoping 
meetings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of 
Reclamation (Reclamation) and the California Department of Water 
Resources (DWR) intend to prepare an EIS/EIR for the Delta-Mendota 
Canal (DMC) Recirculation Project. Reclamation is the Federal lead 
agency for NEPA and DWR is the State lead agency for CEQA.
    The purpose of the project is to prepare a feasibility study of the 
DMC Recirculation Project that will evaluate the costs, benefits, 
feasibility, and impacts of possibly recirculating water from the DMC 
Canal for release to the San Joaquin River. Recirculation may provide 
additional flows for fishery objectives and may help to meet San 
Joaquin River water quality objectives, while reducing the reliance on 
the New Melones Reservoir for water releases. As part of the 
feasibility study process, a Draft EIS/EIR is expected to be available 
in 2008.

DATES: Public scoping meetings will be held to solicit public input on 
the alternatives, concerns, and issues to be addressed in the EIS/EIR. 
The meetings dates and times are as follows:
     Monday, April 16, 2007, 10 a.m.-12 p.m, Sacramento, CA.
     Monday, April 16, 2007, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Los Banos, CA.
     Tuesday, April 17, 2007, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Modesto, CA.
    Written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR should be mailed to 
the Bureau of Reclamation at the address below by May 9, 2007.

ADDRESSES: The public scoping meeting locations are:
     Sacramento at the Federal Building, 2800 Cottage Way, 
Cafeteria Conference Rooms C-1001 and C-1002.
     Los Banos at the Miller and Lux Senior Center Building, 
830 6th Street.
     Modesto at the Modesto Centre Plaza, 1000 L Street, 
Pistache Room.
    Written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR should be sent to: Ms. 
Sammie Cervantes, Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, 
CA 95825, via e-mail scervantes@mp.usbr.gov, or faxed to 916-978-5094.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Maury Kruth, Reclamation Project 
Manager, at the above address, at 916-978-5078, TDD 916-978-5608, via 
fax at 916-978-5094, or e-mail at mkruth@mp.usbr.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DMC is located on the western side of 
Central California's San Joaquin Valley and runs for approximately 120 
miles, beginning near the City of Tracy at the southern edge of the 
Sacramento River and San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 
Estuary (Delta) and terminating at the Mendota Pool of the San Joaquin 
River. The project study area can be defined as the lower main stem of 
the San Joaquin River below its confluence with the Merced River, the 
areas served by the Merced, Tuolumne, and Stanislaus Rivers on the 
western side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the areas served by 
the DMC, including approximately 30 water agencies. Immediately 
downstream from the confluence with the Stanislaus River, the San 
Joaquin River becomes part of the Delta, which serves as a source of 
water supply for agricultural, environmental, municipal, and urban 
uses. The south Delta will be considered part of the project study 
area.
    The SWRCB has established Delta water quality and flow objectives 
that are to be met as a condition of the operation of the C.W. ``Bill'' 
Jones Pumping Plant (formerly the Tracy Pumping Plant) and the State 
Water Project Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant. The current objectives for 
operation of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project 
facilities in the Delta are the SWRCB's 1995 Water Quality Control Plan 
for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary, and the 
SWRCB's Water Rights D-1641, as amended.
    In D-1641, SWRCB required Reclamation to prepare a Plan of Action 
(POA) to evaluate the potential impacts of recirculating water from DMC 
through the Newman Wasteway, in consultation with National Marine 
Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California 
Department of Fish and Game, DWR, and the South Delta Water Agency. The 
POA has been completed and is being implemented by this feasibility 
study.
    Federal authorization comes from Public Law 108-361, Section 
103(d)(2)(D)(ii) of the CALFED Bay-Delta Authorization Act, which 
states in part that ``* * * the Secretary [of the Interior] shall 
include, to the maximum extent feasible, the measures described in 
clauses (iii) through (vii).'' Section 103(d)(2)(D)(iii) states ``the 
Secretary shall incorporate into the program a recirculation program to 
provide flow, reduce salinity concentrations in the San Joaquin River, 
and reduce the reliance on the New Melones Reservoir for meeting water 
quality and fishery flow objectives through the use of excess capacity 
in export pumping and conveyance facilities.'' Section 103(f)(1)(G) 
states ``* * * funds may be used to conduct feasibility studies, 
evaluate, and if feasible, implement the recirculation of export water 
to reduce salinity and improve dissolved oxygen in the San Joaquin 
River.''
    Previous recirculation studies have consisted of modeling and 
physically discharging water from the DMC to the San-Joaquin River via 
one of the wasteways that connect the DMC to the river. Ongoing studies 
that might affect the DMC Recirculation Project include Vernalis 
Adaptive Management Plan, CALFED Conveyance Program--South Delta 
Improvements Program, the New Melones Revised Plan of Operations, and 
the West Side Regional Drainage Plan. A recent litigation settlement 
regarding the San Joaquin River from Friant Dam to the Merced River may 
also affect the DMC Recirculation Project.
    If special assistance is required at the scoping meetings, please 
contact Ms. Sammie Cervantes at 916-978-5189, TDD 916-978-5608, or via 
e-mail at scervantes@mp.usbr.gov. Please notify Ms. Cervantes as far in 
advance of the meetings as possible to enable Reclamation to secure the 
needed services. If a request cannot be honored, the requestor will be 
notified. A telephone device for the hearing impaired (TDD) is 
available at 916-978-5608.
    Comments received in response to this notice will become part of 
the administrative record and are subject to public inspection. Our 
practice is to make comments, including names, home addresses, home 
phone 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

[[Page 15162]]

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 23, 2007.
Kenneth Lentz,
Acting Regional Environmental Officer, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. E7-5889 Filed 3-29-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P