Bureau of Reclamation November 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources are revising our proposal to prepare a joint EIS/EIR on the effects of the proposed Reach 4B, Eastside Bypass, and Mariposa Bypass Channel and Structural Improvements Project under the San Joaquin River Restoration Program. The original notice of intent was published in the Federal Register on September 9, 2009 (74 FR 46453). This revised proposal would include measures for the conveyance of Interim and Restoration flows and incorporation of fish habitat through Reach 4B and/or the bypasses. When evaluating comments on this proposal, we will also consider comments that we received on the previous proposal.

The ``Criteria for Developing Refuge Water Management Plans'' (Refuge Criteria) are now available for public comment. The Refuge Criteria provide a common methodology, or standard, for efficient use of water by Federal Wildlife Refuges, State Wildlife Management Areas and Resource Conservation Districts that receive water under provisions of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA). They document the process and format by which Refuge Water Management Plans (Plans) should be prepared and submitted to Reclamation as part of the Refuge/ District Water Supply Contracts and Memoranda of Agreement. The Refuge Criteria refer to Refuges, Wildlife Areas, and Resource Conservation Districts as Refuges. Those Refuges that entered into water supply contracts with Reclamation as a result of the CVPIA and subsequent Department of the Interior administrative review processes are required to prepare Plans using the Refuge Criteria.