58414 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 189 / Thursday, September 30, 2004 / Notices 

Chatfield State Park. These alternatives 

may also differ in the need for, and type 

of, modifications to existing project 

structures. The Corps has not yet 

defined specific operational regimes for 

the pool-raise alternatives. Additional 

alternatives, which could include 

different storage volumes and varying 

operational regimes, could be developed 

during the scoping and evaluation 

process. 

The demand for water within a 

reallocated storage pool would depend 

on the holders of the water rights used 

to fill the storage space. Potential users 

fall into one of four groups: Municipal 

water suppliers, entities requiring 

augmentation water, entities concerned 

with maintaining minimum instream 

flows in the South Platte River, and 

water users for municipal, industrial, 

and conjunctive uses. How the water 

within the reallocated storage pool 

would be withdrawn would depend on 

the objective of the water users. A 

preliminary study of user patterns 

evaluated five demand scenarios that 

corresponded to different target release 

schedules as follows: 

a. Supplying municipal water, with 

release schedules based on historic data 

provided by Denver Water Department. 

b. Augmenting out-of-priority 

depletions, primarily for irrigation. 

c. Minimum in-stream flows 

throughout the year within the South 

Platte River. 

d. Municipal, industrial, and 

conjunctive use of storage within 

Chatfield Reservoir combined with a 

groundwater source. 

e. Mixed use, where the reallocated 

storage could be used for a combination 

of the above uses. 

4. Scoping/Public Involvement. The 

scoping process will provide 

information about the reallocation study 

to the public and serve as a mechanism 

to solicit agency and public input on 

alternatives and issues of concern. Two 

public scoping meetings are currently 

planned. The specific locations of the 

meetings will be provided in news 

releases issued at least 2 weeks prior to 

the meetings. These meetings will be 

conducted in an informal setting 

designed to present information about 

the reallocation study and to answer 

questions and accept comments from 

the public. The Corps invites other 

Federal agencies, Native American 

Tribes, State and local agencies and 

officials, private organizations, and 

interested individuals to attend one of 

the scoping meetings and provide 

comments. Scoping comments will also 

be accepted by mail, phone, or e-mail 

during the preparation of the Draft 

Feasibility Report/Draft EIS. The Draft 

Feasibility Report/Draft EIS will be 

circulated for public review and 

comments. It is estimated that a Draft 

Feasibility Report/Draft EIS will be 

completed in 2006.

Candace M. Gorton, 

Chief, Environmental, Economics, and 

Cultural Resources Section, Planning Branch.

[FR Doc. 04–21993 Filed 9–29–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3710–62–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Proposed San Clemente Dam 

Seismic Hazard Remediation Project—

Carmel Valley, Monterey County, CA

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

DoD.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI).

SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers (USACE) has received an 

application for Department of the Army 

authorization from California-American 

Water Company (CAW) to deposit 

approximately 3,200 cubic yards of fill 

material into wetlands and other waters 

of the U.S. in association with 

remediating the safety hazards of an 

existing Dam on the Carmel River. This 

application is being processed pursuant 

to the provisions of Section 404 of the 

Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) and in 

accordance with the National 

Environment Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 

(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). In accordance 

with NEPA, USACE has determined that 

the proposed action may have a 

significant impact on the quality of the 

human environment and, therefore, 

requires the preparation of an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

A combined Environmental Impact 

Report (EIR)/EIS will be prepared with 

the USACE as Federal lead agency and 

the California Department of Water 

Resources, San Joaquin District (DWR) 

as the State lead agency under the 

California Environment Quality Act 

(CEQA). The basic purpose of the 

proposed actions is to provide Dam 

safety. The overall project purpose is to 

have San Clemente Dam meet current 

standards for withstanding a Maximum 

Credible Earthquake (MCE) and the 

Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) while 

providing fish passage at the Dam; 

maintaining a point of diversion to 

support existing water supply facilities, 

water rights and services; and 

minimizing impacts on CAW rate 

payers.

DATES: A public scoping meeting for this 

project will be held on November 4, 

2004, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the 

Rancho Canada Golf Club, 4860 Carmel 

Valley Road, Carmel Valley, California. 

A public agency scoping meeting for 

this project will be held on November 

9, 2004, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the same 

location. You may mail comments to: 

Phelicia Thompson, U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, Regulatory Branch, 333 

Market Street, 8th Floor, San Francisco, 

California 94105–2197.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Phelicia Thompson, 415–977–8452, or 

electronic mail: Phelicia.M.Thompson

@spd02.usace.army.mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background: Approximately 2.4 

million cubic yards of sediment have 

accumulated behind San Clemente Dam 

since it was constructed in the early 

1920s. Engineering studies of San 

Clemente Dam were conducted in the 

1990s to evaluate seismic safety at the 

request of the California Department of 

Water Resources Division of Safety of 

Dams (DSOD). These studies concluded 

that at the maximum water surface 

elevation of 537 feet (the height of the 

Dam’s crest), the Dam might not be 

stable under the MCE. The Dam could 

suffer severe structural damage leading 

to the potential loss of the reservoir 

during a MCE. In addition, under the 

PMF the Dam could overtop and the 

downstream abutment area would be 

susceptible to excessive erosion, leading 

to a risk of Dam failure. Based on these 

findings, DSOD has required that the 

San Clemente Dam be brought into 

safety compliance to withstand seismic 

loading from a MCE on nearby faults 

and safely pass the PMF. 

2. Description of the Proposed Action:

Dam Strengthening. CAW has proposed 

to meet seismic safety needs for the Dam 

and protect against the effects of a PMF 

by thickening the downstream face of 

the Dam with concrete. A concrete batch 

plant would be installed on-site to 

manufacture the concrete needed. 

Sediment accumulated behind the Dam 

would be left in place. However, minor 

sediment removal may occur to ensure 

proper functioning of the existing water 

supply intake serving the upper Carmel 

Valley Village area. Water in the 

reservoir may need to be lowered to 

reduce loading behind the Dam 

(depending on sediment levels). 

Inflowing streams would be diverted 

around the work area and the plunge 

pool at the base of the Dam would be 

dewatered during the Dam thickening. 

This proposed action also includes 

replacing the existing ladder with a new 

fish ladder compliant with existing 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 189 / Thursday, September 30, 2004 / Notices 58415

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) and California Department of 

Fish and Game (CDFG) criteria to 

provide fish passage. A tower crane 

would be staged at the base of the Dam 

to move construction materials from the 

batch plant to the Dam face and fish 

ladder. Access to the Dam would be 

improved by building a new road along 

the east side of the Carmel River, 

between the Old Carmel River Dam and 

the base of San Clemente Dam. The Dam 

thickening project would take an 

estimated four years to complete.

3. Reasonable Alternatives: In 

accordance with the requirements of 

Section 15124 of the State CEQA 

Guidelines and 40 CFR 1502.14, 

reasonable alternatives to the proposed 

action will be evaluated in the Draft 

EIR/EIS as listed below: 

a. Dam Notching Alternative. This 

alternative would meet the need to 

reduce seismic safety risks by notching 

the Dam. The action would reduce the 

mass sufficiently to avoid catastrophic 

failure of the Dam during a MCE event. 

Notching would also be of sufficient 

size to prevent overtopping of the Dam 

during the PMF. The gates, piers and 

walkway at the top of the Dam would 

be removed and the Dam would be 

notched to an elevation of about 505 feet 

in the area of the present spillway bays. 

Sediment in the reservoir would to be 

removed down to the level of the notch. 

A new intake structure would be 

constructed to allow the Dam to 

continue serving the upper Carmel 

Valley Village area. A new access road 

would be constructed to connect Carmel 

Valley Road to the Carmel Valley Filter 

Plant, to bypass the Sleepy Hollow 

community and to improve safety for 

large construction equipment. In 

addition, road access from the filter 

plant to the Dam would be improved. 

The existing primitive road from the 

Old Carmel River Dam to the base of 

San Clemente Dam would be rebuilt to 

an elevation above winter flood levels. 

Both the Carmel River and San 

Clemente Creek would be diverted 

around the reservoir and Dam site and 

the reservoir would be dewatered each 

year during construction. Accumulated 

sediment would be removed from 

behind the Dam over two seasons by 

excavation with heavy equipment and 

transported from the reservoir by truck 

or via a conveyor belt system to a 

disposal area near the Carmel Valley 

Filter Plant. The existing fish ladder 

would be rebuilt compliant with 

existing NMFS and CDFG criteria to 

accommodate the lowered Dam 

elevation. The Carmel River channel in 

the inundation zone would be restored. 

The Dam notching project would take 

an estimated six years to complete, 

depending on the effects of annual 

precipitation upon the construction 

schedule. 

b. Dam Removal Alternative. This 

alternative would eliminate seismic 

safety and flooding risks through the 

removal of the Dam and the 

accumulated sediment behind the Dam. 

A new access road would be 

constructed to connect Carmel Valley 

Road to the Carmel Valley Filter Plant, 

to bypass the Sleepy Hollow community 

and to improve safety for large 

construction equipment. In addition, 

road access from the filter plant to the 

Dam would be improved. The existing 

primitive road from the Old Carmel 

River Dam to the base of San Clemente 

Dam would be rebuilt to an elevation 

above winter flood levels. Both the 

Carmel River and San Clemente Creek 

would be diverted around the reservoir 

and Dam site and the reservoir would be 

dewatered each year during 

construction. Accumulated sediment 

would be removed from behind the Dam 

over three seasons by excavation with 

heavy equipment and transport from the 

reservoir by truck or via a conveyor belt 

system to a disposal area near the 

Carmel Valley Filter Plant. The existing 

Dam and fish ladder would be 

demolished and removed from the site. 

A new intake structure would be 

constructed to allow CAW to continue 

serving the upper Carmel Valley Village 

area. The river channel would be 

restored through the historic inundation 

zone. If the Dam and sediment were 

removed in stages, a trap and truck 

facility would need to be built and 

operated at the Old Carmel River Dam 

for at least three years. The Dam 

removal project would take an estimated 

seven years to complete, depending on 

the effects of annual precipitation upon 

the construction schedule.

c. No Action Alternative. Under this 

alternative, no changes to the existing 

Dam would be made. The Dam would 

be left in place with all its existing 

facilities, although the fish ladder 

would be replaced with a new ladder 

compliant with existing NMFS and 

CDFG criteria to provide fish passage. 

Most of the sediment would be left in 

place behind the Dam. The reservoir 

would continue to accumulate sediment 

at an average rate of about 15 acre-feet 

per year. Minor sediment removal may 

occur to maintain the existing water 

supply intake serving the upper Carmel 

Valley Village acre. The existing draw 

down ports in the Dam and the existing 

fish bypass facility would both likely 

remain operational until the reservoir 

fills with sediment. The existing road 

between the Carmel Valley Filter Plant 

and the Dam would be improved to 

provide access to the Dam site for fish 

ladder construction equipment and 

supplies. 

4. Scoping Process: Pursuant to 

NEPA, the USACE must include a 

scoping process for the Draft EIS/EIR. 

Scoping preliminarily involves 

determining the scope of the issues to be 

addresses in the Draft EIR/EIS and 

identifying the anticipated significant 

issues for in-depth analysis. The 

scoping process includes public 

participation to integrate public needs 

and concerns regarding the proposed 

action. 

a. Public Involvement Program:

Venues for public comment on the 

proposed action will include: Scoping 

meetings to be held on November 4, 

2004 in Carmel Valley; preparation of a 

Draft EIR/EIS; and receipt of public 

comment in response to the Draft EIR/

EIS. 

b. Significant Issues to be Analyzed in 

Depth in the Draft EIR/EIS include:

Impacts to the aquatic environments; 

impacts to endangered species, 

including but not limited to the 

California red-legged frog and the 

California Central Coast steelhead; water 

quality; cultural resources; traffic, fish 

and wildlife resources; public safety, 

including downstream flooding; and 

other issues identified through the 

public involvement process and 

interagency coordination. 

c. Environmental Review/

Consultation Requirements: NEPA; 

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act; 

Section 401 of the Clean Water Act; 

Endangered Species Act; MagnusunStevens Act Provision—Essential Fish 

Habitat; Clean Air Act; National Historic 

Preservation Act. 

d. Scoping Meeting/Availability of 

Draft EIR/EIS: The USACE will hold a 

public scoping meeting to provide 

information on the project and receive 

oral or written comments on the scope 

of the document. This scoping meeting 

for the project will be held at 6:30 p.m. 

to Thursday, November 4, 2004, at the 

Rancho Canada Gold Club, 4860 Carmel 

Valley Road, Carmel Valley, California. 

The Draft EIR/EIS is expected to be 

available for public review in winter of 

2006.

Dated: September 21, 2004. 

Calvin C. Fong, 

Regulatory Branch Chief.

[FR Doc. 04–21994 Filed 9–29–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3710–19–M