Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Notice of Public Meetings for the Kachess Drought Relief Pumping Plant and Keechelus Reservoir-to-Kachess Reservoir Conveyance, Kittitas and Yakima Counties, Washington, 1431-1432 [2015-00153]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Reclamation

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1431-1432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00153]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR01113000, XXXR0680R1, RR.R0336A1R.7WRMP0032]


Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
and Notice of Public Meetings for the Kachess Drought Relief Pumping 
Plant and Keechelus Reservoir-to-Kachess Reservoir Conveyance, Kittitas 
and Yakima Counties, Washington

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation and Washington State Department of 
Ecology have made available for public review and comment the Kachess 
Drought Relief Pumping Plant and Keechelus Reservoir-to-Kachess 
Reservoir Conveyance Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The 
Draft EIS describes the potential environmental effects of the No 
Action Alternative and five action alternatives. The action 
alternatives examine constructing and operating a pumping plant to 
access up to 200,000 acre-feet of water in Kachess Reservoir during 
drought years and conveying it to the Kachess River for irrigation use 
within the Yakima Project, and constructing and operating a gravity 
flow tunnel from Keechelus Reservoir to Kachess Reservoir that could 
convey up to 400 cubic feet of water per second to Kachess Reservoir. 
The action alternatives include activities to enhance the resiliency of 
bull trout populations in the Kachess and Keechelus watersheds as well 
as elsewhere in the Yakima River basin.

DATES: Send written comments on the Draft EIS on or before March 10, 
2015.
    Two public meetings will be held on the following dates:
    1. Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Ellensburg, 
WA.
    2. Thursday, February 5, 2015, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Cle Elum, 
WA.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments or requests for copies to Ms. Candace 
McKinley, Bureau of Reclamation, 1917 Marsh Road, Yakima, WA 98901; or 
via email to kkbt@usbr.gov. The Draft EIS is also accessible on the 
following Web sites: https://www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/eis/kdrpp/ and https://www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/eis/kkc/.
    The public meeting locations are:
    1. Ellensburg--Hal Holmes Community Center, 209 N. Ruby Street, 
Ellensburg, Washington 98926;
    2. Cle Elum--U.S. Forest Service, Cle Elum Ranger District, Tom 
Craven Conference Room, 803 W. 2nd Street, Cle Elum, Washington 98922.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Candace McKinley, 509-575-5848, 
ext. 603; or by email at kkbt@usbr.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This EIS was previously identified in the 
Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement as 
``Keechelus Reservoir-to-Kachess Reservoir Conveyance and Kachess 
Inactive Storage.'' The name was changed to better reflect the proposed 
action evaluated in the EIS.
    The Draft EIS documents the potential direct, indirect, and 
cumulative physical, biological, and socioeconomic environmental 
effects that may result from the new pumping plant at Kachess 
Reservoir, water conveyance from Keechelus Reservoir to Kachess

[[Page 1432]]

Reservoir, and bull trout enhancements within the Yakima River basin.
    The Draft EIS evaluates construction and operation of two 
alternative designs and locations for the Kachess Drought Relief 
Pumping Plant, including reservoir intakes and tunnels, pumping plants 
and pump units, pipelines, surge tanks, outlet works, fish screens and 
barriers, power supply substations, and electric transmission lines. 
The Draft EIS also evaluates construction and operation of two 
alternative designs and alignments for the Keechelus-to-Kachess 
Conveyance, including the Yakima River diversion and intake, the Yakima 
River-to-Keechelus portal conveyance, fish screens, bored tunnels, 
discharge structures, spillways and stilling basins, and mechanical 
buildings. The fifth action alternative evaluates implementation of 
both the Kachess Drought Relief Pumping Plant and the Keechelus-to-
Kachess Conveyance. All action alternatives include several proposals 
to improve streamflow and habitat functions, eliminate passage 
barriers, increase abundance, and improve overall resiliency of bull 
trout populations in the Kachess and Keechelus watersheds.
    The objectives of the proposals are to address conditions in the 
Yakima River basin including: (1) Fish impacts caused by high flows in 
the upper Yakima River; (2) insufficient capacity of Keechelus 
Reservoir to fully capture runoff in the Keechelus watershed; (3) 
currently inaccessible storage in Kachess Reservoir; (4) difficulty in 
refilling Kachess Reservoir during drought years; and (5) low 
resiliency of bull trout, an Endangered Species Act-listed species.
    The primary study area generally encompasses Kachess Reservoir and 
its tributaries, Keechelus Reservoir and its tributaries, the Kachess 
River, the Yakima River between Keechelus Dam and the Easton Diversion 
Dam near Lake Easton, the South Fork Tieton River, and the electric 
transmission line route from near Easton to the Kachess Reservoir 
pumping plant. The extended study area generally includes the Yakima 
Project vicinity.
    Reclamation is conducting feasibility studies for both the Kachess 
Drought Relief Pumping Plant and the Keechelus-to-Kachess Conveyance. 
After release of the DEIS for public review and comment, the Final EIS 
will be prepared and processed with the Final Feasibility Report to 
support decision making for any related future recommendation, 
approvals, or authorizations that may result.

Authority

    The Kachess and Keechelus reservoirs were authorized on December 
12, 1905, by the Secretary of the Interior in connection with the 
Tieton and Sunnyside Divisions of the Yakima Project. The Secretary was 
acting under authority of the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902. The 
Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project was authorized on December 
28, 1979 (93 Stat. 1241, Pub. L. 96-162, Feasibility Study--Yakima 
River Basin Water Enhancement Project). Title XII of the Yavapai-
Prescott Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 1994 (108 Stat. 
4526, Pub. L. 103-434) authorized fish, wildlife, and recreation as 
additional purposes of the Yakima Project.

Public Review of Draft EIS

    Copies of the Draft EIS are available for public review at the 
following locations:
    1. Bureau of Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office, 1917 Marsh 
Road, Yakima, Washington 98901.
    2. Washington State Department of Ecology, 15 W. Yakima Avenue, 
Suite 200, Yakima, Washington 98902.

Libraries

    1. Carpenter Memorial Library, 302 N Pennsylvania Ave., Cle Elum, 
WA 98922.
    2. Ellensburg Public Library, 209 N. Ruby St., Ellensburg, WA 
98926.
    3. Roslyn Public Library, 201 S. First St., Roslyn, WA 98941.
    4. Benton City Library, 810 Horne Dr., Benton City, WA 99320.
    5. Kennewick Library, 1620 S. Union St., Kennewick, WA 99338.
    6. Kittitas Public Library, 200 N. Pierce St., Kittitas, WA 98934.
    7. Mid-Columbia Library, 405 S. Dayton St., Kennewick, WA 99336.
    8. Pasco Library, 1320 W. Hopkins St., Pasco, WA 99301.
    9. Prosser Library, 902 7th St., Prosser, WA 99350.
    10. Richland Public Library, 955 Northgate Dr., Richland, WA 99352.
    11. Sunnyside Public Library, 621 Grant Ave., Sunnyside, WA 98944.
    12. Toppenish Library, 1 S. Elm St., Toppenish, WA 98948.
    13. Wapato Library, 119 E. 3rd St., Wapato, WA 98951.
    14. Washington State Library, Point Plaza East, 6880 Capitol Blvd. 
SE., Tumwater, WA 98504.
    15. West Richland Library, 3803 W. Van Giesen St., Richland, WA 
99353.
    16. Yakama Nation Library, 100 Spiel-Yi Loop, Toppenish, WA 98948.
    17. Yakima Valley Regional Library, 102 N. 3rd St., Yakima, WA 
98901.

Special Assistance for Public Meetings

    If special assistance is required at the public meetings, please 
contact Ms. Candace McKinley, at kkbt@usbr.gov or 509-575-5848, ext. 
603. Please notify Ms. McKinley as far in advance of the meeting as 
possible to enable Reclamation to secure the needed services. If a 
request cannot be honored, the requestor will be notified. TTY users 
may dial 711 to obtain a toll-free TTY relay.

Public Disclosure

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Dated: January 5, 2015.
Lorri J. Lee,
Regional Director, Pacific Northwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-00153 Filed 1-8-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4332-90-P