[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 51 (Monday, March 17, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 12622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6576]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Supplement to the Final Environmental 
Statement (DSFES) for the Operation and Maintenance Program Wister 
Lake, Poteau River, OK

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of the DSFES is to address raising the top of 
conservation pool since filing of the Final Environmental Statement on 
13 October 1973.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David L. Combs, Chief, 
Environmental Analysis and Support Branch, Tulsa District, U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 61, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74121-0061 or 
telephone 918-669-7660.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Wister Lake was authorized by the Flood 
Control Act of 1938 and is operated for flood control, water supply, 
low flow augmentation, water conservation, and sedimentation. 
Construction was initiated 10 April 1946 and the project was placed in 
operation in October 1949.
    Wister Lake is located in the northern foothills of the Kiamichi 
Mountains adjacent to the Ouachita National Forest in LeFlore and 
Latimer Counties of Oklahoma. The damsite is on the Poteau River 
approximately 2 miles south of the town of Wister, Oklahoma. As 
originally authorized at conservation pool elevation 471.6 feet 
National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD), the lake contained 27,000 
acre-feet of water storage with a surface area of 4,000 acres.
    In 1974, an operational plan was implemented at Wister Lake to 
seasonally raise the conservation pool from elevation 471.6 to 478.0 
feet NGVD between June and December. This seasonal increase in 
elevation continued each year thereafter on a temporary basis until it 
was made permanent in 1978. In 1983, Public Law 98-63 directed the 
Chief of Engineers to raise the permanent conservation pool level from 
elevation 471.6 to 474.6 feet NGVD and to raise the conservation pool 
seasonally between 1 June and 1 December to 478.0 feet NGVD. The Water 
Resources Development Act of 1996 further modified the project and 
permanently raised the top of conservation pool to elevation 478.0 feet 
NGVD.

Reasonable Alternatives To Be Considered Include

    a. No action
    b. Continued operation of the project with environmental compliance

Significant Issues To Be Addressed In the (DSFES) Include

    The potential impact of raising the top of conservation pool on 
other project purposes, fish and wildlife resources, water quality, 
recreation, cultural resources, Federally listed threatened and/or 
endangered species, and mitigation requirements.

List of Affected Parties

    A mailing list has been developed for various notices concerning 
preparation of this supplement. This list includes local, state, and 
Federal officials having jurisdiction, expertise, or other interests in 
the action: environmental interest groups, native American tribal 
governments, and local news media.

Scoping

    Comments received as a result of this Notice of Intent will be used 
to assist the Tulsa District in identifying potential impacts to the 
quality of human and natural environments. Individuals or organizations 
may participate in the scoping process by written comment or by 
attending a scoping meeting. The time and location of the scoping 
meeting will be announced in local newspapers and by public notice sent 
to parties indicated in the previous paragraph. Written comments may be 
forwarded to the above noted address. To be considered in the DSFES, 
comments and suggestions should be received no later than 15 days 
following the public scoping meeting.

Timothy L. Sanford,
Colonel, EN, Commanding.
[FR Doc. 97-6576 Filed 3-14-97; 8:45 am]
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