Bureau of Reclamation – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is publishing this notice to announce that a Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG) will take place.

The Bureau of Reclamation is announcing the interest rate to be used by Federal agencies in the formulation and evaluation of plans for water and related land resources is 2.750 percent for fiscal year 2018.

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) intends to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) for analyzing potential modifications to the continued long-term operation of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP), for its authorized purposes, in a coordinated manner with the State Water Project (SWP), for its authorized purposes. Reclamation proposes to evaluate alternatives that maximize water deliveries and optimize marketable power generation consistent with applicable laws, contractual obligations, and agreements; and to augment operational flexibility by addressing the status of listed species. Reclamation is seeking suggestions and information on the alternatives and topics to be addressed and any other important issues related to the proposed action.

The Bureau of Reclamation and the City of San Diego have completed a draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) to evaluate the effects of the North City Project, the first phase of the Pure Water San Diego Program (Pure Water Program). The Pure Water Program is a water and wastewater facilities plan to produce potable water from recycled water.

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is publishing this notice to announce that a Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Yakima River Basin Conservation Advisory Group (CAG) will take place.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), are proposing to renew an information collection.

Following consultation with the General Services Administration, notice is hereby given that the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) is renewing the charter for the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group. The purpose of the Adaptive Management Work Group is to provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary concerning the operation of Glen Canyon Dam and the exercise of other authorities pursuant to applicable Federal law.

The Bureau of Reclamation is publishing this notice to announce that a Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Council (Council) will take place.

To meet the requirements of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act of 1992 (CVPIA) and subsequent Department of the Interior administrative review process, the Bureau of Reclamation developed and published the Criteria for Developing Refuge Water Management Plans (Refuge Criteria). The 13 entities listed below each developed a Refuge Water Management Plan, which Reclamation evaluated and has preliminarily determined meets the requirements of the Refuge Criteria. Reclamation is publishing this notice to enable the public to review each plan and to comment on the preliminary determination. Public comment is invited at this time.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is publishing this notice to announce that a Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG) will take place.

Notice is hereby given of contractual actions that have been proposed to the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and are new, discontinued, or completed since the last publication of this notice. This notice is one of a variety of means used to inform the public about proposed contractual actions for capital recovery and management of project resources and facilities consistent with section 9(f) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, as amended and supplemented. Additional announcements of individual contract actions may be published in the Federal Register and in newspapers of general circulation in the areas determined by Reclamation to be affected by the proposed action.

The Bureau of Reclamation intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Shasta Dam Fish Passage Evaluation. The document will evaluate the program that will be used to implement the near-term actions identified under Action V in the National Marine Fisheries Service's 2009 Biological Opinion and Conference Opinion on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project Reasonable and Prudent Alternative. This EIS will evaluate the near-term actions of reintroducing Federally-listed endangered winter- run Chinook salmon and potentially spring-run Chinook salmon to historical habitats.

The Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG) makes recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior concerning Glen Canyon Dam operations and other management actions to protect resources downstream of Glen Canyon Dam, consistent with the Grand Canyon Protection Act. The AMWG meets two to three times a year.

The Bureau of Reclamation has made available for public review and comment the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System. The DEIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts of five alternatives in planning, designing, and constructing the regional water system and alternatives for the connected actions in the Pojoaque Basin in north-central New Mexico, as authorized by the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act (Title VI of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010; Pub. L. 111-291, Title VI; 124 Stat. 3065).

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), in coordination with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Report/Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIR/EIS) for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan/California WaterFix pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The DWR proposes to implement a strategy to help restore ecological functions of the Delta and improve water supply reliability in the state of California. The Final EIR/EIS describes and analyzes potential environmental impacts of alternatives and identifies mitigation measures to help avoid or minimize impacts. The initial approach focused on a Habitat Conservation Plan, referred to as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), which included modifications to the State Water Project (SWP) and associated Conservation Measures. A new alternative strategy emerged after public input on the Draft EIR/EIS and was further refined in a Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS (RDEIR/SDEIS). This new strategy, the California Waterfix, focuses on a new water conveyance facility, habitat restoration measures necessary to minimize or avoid project effects, and a revised set of Conservation Measures. Endangered Species Act compliance would be achieved through Section 7 consultation.

We, the Bureau of Reclamation, intend to submit a request for renewal of an existing approved information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) titled, Certification Summary Form, Reporting Summary Form for Acreage Limitation,.

The Bureau of Reclamation is announcing the following prize competition, Sub-Seasonal Climate Forecast Rodeo. This Challenge seeks to improve on existing sub-seasonal forecasts and asks Solvers (i.e., competitors in the Challenge) to develop systems that perform demonstratively better than existing baseline forecasts for temperature and precipitation over a 15-42-day time frame. Solvers will have approximately 3 months to develop their system, at which point they are asked to provide forecasts every 2 weeks over a 13-month period, with the first month being a ``pre-season'' to become familiar with the submission and evaluation processes.

This Challenge seeks to identify new or improved sensors, devices, or test kits to test for arsenic in water within natural and engineered systems. Solutions must improve on the current arsenic measurement methods. Areas of needed improvement include: performance, ease of use, reduction in hazardous waste production, data interpretation, and cost. This is Stage 1 of a planned two-stage Challenge, with the second stage consisting of a prototype demonstration and a larger prize purse. The Bureau of Reclamation is the Seeker for this Challenge.

The Bureau of Reclamation is announcing the interest rate to be used by Federal agencies in the formulation and evaluation of plans for water and related land resources is 2.875 percent for fiscal year 2017.

The Bureau of Reclamation, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville Power Administration as joint lead agencies, are adding one public scoping meeting to invite the public to comment on the scope of the Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement.

The Bureau of Reclamation has made available for public review and comment the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Long-Term Plan to Protect Adult Salmon in the Lower Klamath River (LTP). The DEIS describes the potential environmental effects of the No-Action and Action Alternatives to augment flows in the Lower Klamath River to reduce the likelihood, and reduce the severity, of any Ich epizootic event that could lead to an associated fish die-off in future years.

The Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation and National Park Service, has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan (LTEMP) for the operation of Glen Canyon Dam and related non-flow actions. The LTEMP would provide a framework for adaptively managing Glen Canyon Dam operations over the next 20 years consistent with the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992 and other provisions of applicable Federal law.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) (Action Agencies) intend to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the system operation and maintenance of fourteen Federal multiple purpose dams and related facilities located throughout the Columbia River basin. The Action Agencies will use this EIS process to assess and update their approach for long-term system operations and configuration through the analysis of alternatives and evaluation of potential effects to the human and natural environments, including effects to socio-economics and species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Action Agencies will serve as joint lead agencies in developing the EIS.

The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Advisory Council (Council) was established by the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-320) (Act) to receive reports and advise Federal agencies on implementing the Act. In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Bureau of Reclamation announces that the Council will meet as detailed below. The meeting of the Council is open to the public.

The Bureau of Reclamation, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, State of Colorado Department of Natural Resources Dam Safety Branch, and various water irrigation districts that operate Federal canals, is seeking new ideas for cost-effective ways to prevent rodents from burrowing into the earthen embankments of dams, canals, and levees. These burrows cause seepage paths in the embankment system which can lead to structural failures that endanger water supplies, and cause property damage and loss of life. Many of the more traditional and ``intuitive'' methods have been tried with little success to date. We are hoping the Solver community can dig deeper than the rodents to find creative and effective solutions to this Challenge.