Bureau of Reclamation February 22, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) intend to prepare an EIS/EIR for implementing the Long-Term Environmental Water Account (EWA). Reclamation and the FWS are the joint lead Federal agencies and NOAA Fisheries is a cooperating agency. DWR is the lead State agency and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is the responsible agency and trustee agency. A Draft EIS/EIR is expected to be available December 2005. The EWA has been established to provide water for the protection and recovery of fish beyond water available through existing regulatory actions related to the Central Valley Project/State Water Project (Project) operations. The EWA is a cooperative management program whose purpose is to provide protection to the fish of the Bay-Delta estuary through environmentally beneficial changes in project operations. This approach to fish protection requires the acquisition of alternative sources of Project water supply, called ``assets,'' which will be used to augment streamflows and Delta outflows, modify exports to provide fishery benefits, and repay the Project contractors whose supplies have been interrupted by actions taken to benefit fish. The period of analysis for the purposes of the EIS/EIR is through 2030.