[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 218 (Thursday, November 9, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67400-67401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-28769]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Central Valley Project Improvement Act, Criteria for Evaluating 
Water Management Plans

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: To meet the requirements of the Central Valley Project 
Improvement Act (CVPIA) of 1992 and the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, 
Reclamation developed and published the Criteria for Evaluating Water 
Conservation Plans, dated April 30, 1993. In September 1996, 
Reclamation revised the document and renamed it to Criteria for 
Evaluating Water Management Plans (Criteria). The Criteria were revised 
again in 1999.
    The Cities of Avenal, Coalinga, and Huron, along with Broadview 
Water District and West Stanislaus Irrigation District, all have 
developed Water Management Plans (Plan) which Reclamation has evaluated 
and preliminarily determined to meet the requirements of the Criteria.
    The 1999 Criteria were developed based on information provided 
during public scoping and review sessions held throughout Reclamation's 
Mid-Pacific (MP) Region. Reclamation uses these Criteria to evaluate 
the adequacy of all Plans developed by Central Valley Project 
contractors. The Criteria were developed and the Plans have been 
evaluated for the purpose of promoting the most efficient water use 
reasonably achievable by all MP Region contractors. Reclamation made a 
commitment (stated within the Criteria) to publish a notice of its 
draft determination of the adequacy of each contractor's Plan in the 
Federal Register to allow the public a minimum of 30 days to comment on 
its preliminary determinations.

DATES: All public comments must be received by December 11, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual 
respondents may request that we withhold their home address from public 
disclosure, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There 
also may be circumstances in which we would withhold a respondent's 
identity from public disclosure, as allowable by law. If you wish us to 
withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at 
the beginning of your comment. We will make all submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and

[[Page 67401]]

from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials 
of organizations or businesses, available for public disclosure in 
their entirety.
    Please mail comments to Lucille Billingsley, Bureau of Reclamation, 
2800 Cottage Way, MP-410, Sacramento CA 95825.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To be placed on a mailing list for any 
subsequent information, please contact Lucille Billingsley at the 
address above, or by telephone at (916) 978-5215 (TDD, 978-5608).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under provision of Section 3405(e) of the 
CVPIA (Title 34 Pub. L. 102-575), ``The Secretary [of the Interior] 
shall establish and administer an office on Central Valley Project 
water conservation best management practices that shall * * * develop 
criteria for evaluating the adequacy of all water conservation plans 
developed by project contractors, including those plans required by 
section 210 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982.'' Also, according to 
Section 3405(e)(1), these criteria will be developed ``* * * with the 
purpose of promoting the highest level of water use efficiency 
reasonably achievable by project contractors using best available cost-
effective technology and best management practices.''
    The Criteria states that all parties (Contractors) that contract 
with Reclamation for water supplies (municipal and industrial contracts 
over 2,000 irrigable acre-feet and agricultural contracts over 2,000 
irrigable acres) will prepare Plans which will be evaluated by 
Reclamation based on the following required information detailed in the 
sections listed below to develop, implement, monitor, and update their 
Plans. The sections are:
    1. Description of the District.
    2. Inventory of Water Resources.
    3. Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Agricultural Contractors.
    4. BMP's for Urban Contractors.
    5. Plan Implementation.
    6. Exemption Process.
    7. Regional Criteria.
    8. Five Year Revisions.
    Public comment on Reclamation's preliminary (i.e., draft) 
determination of the Cities of Avenal, Coalinga, and Huron, along with 
Broadview Water District and West Stanislaus Irrigation District, are 
invited at this time. A copy of these Plans will be available for 
review at Reclamation's MP Regional Office located in Sacramento, 
California, and MP's South-Central California Area Office located in 
Fresno, California.

    Dated: November 1, 2000.
Charles B. Johnson,
Acting Regional Resources Manager, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 00-28769 Filed 11-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P