[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 107 (Thursday, June 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 30512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14799]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Proposed Water Service Contract, El Dorado County Water Agency, 
El Dorado County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Supplemental notice of intent to prepare a draft environmental 
impact statement/environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) and notice of 
scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (as amended) and Section 21061 of the 
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of Reclamation 
(Reclamation) and El Dorado County Water Agency (Agency) intend to 
prepare a joint EIS/EIR for a water service contract from the Central 
Valley Project, California.
    The proposed project consists of a water supply contract for the 
Agency under which Reclamation would provide up to 15,000 acre-feet/
year from Folsom Reservoir. The Agency's provisional plans, subject to 
review and potential revision during the EIS/EIR process, are to divide 
this water equally between El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) and 
Georgetown Divide Public Utility District (GDPUD). EID proposes to take 
its supply from Folsom Reservoir. GDPUD proposes to take its supply 
either from Folsom Reservoir or upstream by way of a water exchange 
with Placer County Water Agency (PCWA). The GDPUD diversion facility is 
proposed to either be co-located with a PCWA site or located adjacent 
to the Auburn Dam diversion tunnel, at the mouth of Knickerbocker 
Canyon, or about 3,000 feet upstream of the Auburn Dam diversion tunnel 
near Tamaroo Bar.

DATES: Two public scoping meetings for this project will be held. The 
meetings will be at 6:30 p.m. on August 6, 1998, and at 1:30 p.m. on 
August 7, 1998, to help identify alternatives and significant issues to 
be addressed in the draft EIS/EIR. Arrangements for special services at 
the meeting must be requested no later than July 31, 1998 (see 
Supplementary Information section for more details).
    Written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR may be sent to the 
Agency at the address below by August 21, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The scoping meetings will be held at the El Dorado County 
Board of Supervisors Chambers, 330 Fair Lane, Building A, in 
Placerville, California.
    Please send written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR to Merv de 
Haas, General Manager, El Dorado County Water Agency, 330 Fair Lane, 
Placerville, California 95667, telephone: (530) 621-5392.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Rod Hall, Environmental 
Specialist, Bureau of Reclamation, 7794 Folsom Dam Road, Folsom, 
California 95630, telephone: (916) 989-7279, or Mr. Merv de Haas at the 
above address and telephone number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The contract to be negotiated has been 
authorized and directed by the United States Congress as part of Public 
Law 101-514. This contract has been excluded from the prohibition on 
new contract funding found in Public Law 102-575.
    Public Law 101-514 directs the Secretary of the Interior 
(Secretary) to enter into long-term municipal and industrial water 
supply contracts to meet the immediate water needs of El Dorado County. 
The law directs the Secretary to enter into a contract for up to 15,000 
acre-feet/year with the Agency.
    The EIS/EIR will include evaluation of the ``no project'' 
alternative, alternative diversion points, and alternative treatment 
and delivery facilities. Alternative diversion points include a point 
near the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers and several 
upstream locations on the Middle Fork of the American River. 
Alternative EID treatment facilities include the existing El Dorado 
Hills treatment plant and a new treatment plant at Bass Lake. GDPUD 
proposes to treat the water at a new facility located near the town of 
Cool, the specific location depending on which diversion point is 
selected. The EIS/EIR will also address impacts to the physical 
environment from diversion, distribution, and use of the contract 
water. The documentation will include analysis of the potential impacts 
to the natural environment, particularly aquatic, wetland, and riparian 
communities, including any effect on special-status species, recreation 
resource values, and related socio-economic values. Secondary growth 
impacts associated with the water delivery and secondary impacts 
associated with construction of water delivery facilities used to 
divert, treat, and distribute Folsom Reservoir water will be 
investigated.
    The proposed project has been the subject of previous scoping 
meetings that were published in the Federal Register (58 FR 28034, May 
12, 1993). However, because of changes in proposed alternatives 
resulting from those meetings and related correspondence, additional 
scoping activities are being initiated at this time.

Special Services

    A headphone device for the hearing impaired will be available at 
the meetings. Persons requiring other special services should contact 
Debby Holcomb of the Agency at (530) 621-5392. Please notify this 
office as far in advance of the meetings as possible, but no later than 
July 31, 1998, to enable the Agency to secure the needed services. If a 
request cannot be honored, the requester will be notified.

    Dated: May 28, 1998.
Kirk C. Rodgers,
Deputy Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 98-14799 Filed 6-3-98; 8:45 am]
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