1626 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 9 / Friday, January 12, 2018 / Notices 

of the meeting will be posted on the 

website after the meeting. 

Registration To Attend the Meeting 

Attendees can register online before 

the start of the meeting, or on site at the 

registration desk. Registration details 

will be announced on the task force 

website at www.coralreef.gov. 

Public Comments 

Comments may address the meeting, 

the role of the U.S. Coral Reef Task 

Force, or general coral reef conservation 

issues. Advance public comments 

should be submitted by January 29, 

2018. Copies of comments given at the 

meeting can be submitted afterwards in 

writing to Liza Johnson by email, fax, or 

mail (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT) by March 30, 2018. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Shawn Buckner, 

Acting Director, Office of Policy Analysis, U.S. 

Department of the Interior. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00398 Filed 1–11–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4334–63–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

[RR04310000, XXXR0680G1, 

RA202240000019200] 

Notice of Availability for the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water 

System, Santa Fe County, New Mexico 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary—Water and Science, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Secretary of the Interior, 

acting through the Bureau of 

Reclamation, announces the availability 

of the Final Environmental Impact 

Statement (FEIS) for the proposed 

Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System, 

as authorized by the Aamodt Litigation 

Settlement Act. The FEIS responds to 

comments received on the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement during 

the comment period that ended on 

February 27, 2017, and identifies 

Alternative E as the preferred alternative 

for the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water 

System. 

DATES: The Department of the Interior 

will complete a Record of Decision 

identifying the actions that will be 

implemented no sooner than 30 days 

after publication of the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency’s 

Notice of Availability in the Federal 

Register. 

ADDRESSES: The FEIS is available for 

viewing on the following websites: 

http://www.usbr.gov/uc/envdocs/ 

eis.html or www.pojoaquebasineis.com. 

Compact disc copies may be obtained by 

contacting Ms. Sarah Branum, Bureau of 

Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office, 

555 Broadway NE, Suite 100, 

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102; or via 

email to pojoaquebasineis@usbr.gov. 

Please see the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for additional 

locations where the FEIS is available. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Sarah Branum, Environmental Project 

Manager, Bureau of Reclamation, 

sbranum@usbr.gov, (505) 462–3591. 

Persons who use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1– 

800–877–8339 to contact the above 

individual during normal business 

hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a 

day, 7 days a week, to leave a message 

or question with the above-named 

individual. You will receive a reply 

during normal business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) 

prepared the FEIS in cooperation with 

the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. 

Indian Health Service, U.S. Army Corps 

of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Pueblo de San Ildefonso, 

Pueblo of Nambe ́, Pueblo of Pojoaque, 

Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico 

Department of Transportation, Santa Fe 

County, and the City of Santa Fe. The 

FEIS has been updated according to 

public comments received during the 

45-day Draft Environmental Impact 

Statement (DEIS) public review period 

(January 13–February 27, 2017) and 

other project updates. A summary of 

changes between the DEIS and FEIS is 

included in Chapter 1 of the FEIS. 

Background: The Pojoaque Basin 

Regional Water System (RWS) is 

described in and authorized by the 

Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act (Title 

VI of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010; 

Public Law 111–291, Title VI; 124 Stat. 

3065) (‘‘Settlement Act’’). The 

Settlement Act authorizes and ratifies 

the Aamodt Litigation Settlement 

Agreement (Settlement Agreement), 

dated January 19, 2006, as conformed to 

the Settlement Act and amendments. 

The settlement parties are the United 

States; the State of New Mexico; Santa 

Fe County; City of Santa Fe; Pueblo de 

San Ildefonso, Pueblo of Nambe ́, Pueblo 

of Pojoaque, Pueblo of Tesuque 

(Settlement Pueblos); and other 

individuals. The Settlement Agreement 

resolves the water rights claims of the 

Settlement Pueblos. 

Among other provisions, the RWS and 

2,220 acre-feet per year of new water 

supply to the basin are included in the 

Settlement Agreement in exchange for 

the Pueblos agreeing to reduce their 

claims to water within the basin and to 

limit their priority calls against existing 

non-Pueblo water users. The Settlement 

Agreement also addresses funding for 

other water-related projects on the 

Settlement Pueblos. 

Proposed Federal Action: The 

Secretary of the Interior, through 

Reclamation, proposes to plan, design, 

and construct a regional water system in 

accordance with the Settlement 

Agreement, consisting of water 

diversion from the Rio Grande and 

water treatment facilities on the Pueblo 

de San Ildefonso, along with storage 

tanks and transmission and distribution 

pipelines that are necessary to supply 

up to 4,000 acre-feet of water annually 

to customers in the Pojoaque Basin. 

Purpose of and Need for the Proposed 

Federal Action: The purpose of the 

proposed action is to reliably provide a 

firm, safe supply of treated drinking 

water for distribution in the Pojoaque 

Basin, in compliance with the 

Settlement Act. The need for action is 

to reduce reliance on groundwater in 

the Pojoaque Basin and to allow the 

Settlement Pueblos to receive a portion 

of the water provided under the 

Settlement Act. The proposed action 

would also enable the Settlement 

Pueblos to use funding made available 

in the Settlement Act for certain waterrelated infrastructure improvements, if 

requested. This funding can be 

requested prior to substantial 

completion of the RWS and, if approved 

by the Secretary, used for water-related 

improvements that would be more cost 

effective when implemented in 

conjunction with RWS construction 

(Settlement Act, Section 

615[d][7][A][ii]). 

The FEIS Analyzes Five Alternatives: 

The FEIS assesses the potential 

environmental effects of five 

alternatives for the RWS. These include 

the No Action Alternative (Alternative 

A), and four action alternatives 

(Alternatives B, C, D, and E) that vary 

in six main components or project 

elements: 

1. Firm, reliable water supply. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 9 / Friday, January 12, 2018 / Notices 1627 

2. Primary source water collection. 

3. Water treatment. 

4. Short-term storage. 

5. Water transmission and 

distribution system, including 

pipelines, pumping plants, forebay 

tanks, and other associated facilities. 

6. Electrical power service. 

Alternative A: The No Action 

Alternative: The No Action Alternative 

is the ‘‘no build’’ alternative. Under this 

alternative, the RWS would not be 

constructed, the Settlement Agreement 

would be nullified, and Aamodt 

litigation over water rights claims would 

likely resume. A firm, reliable water 

supply would not be provided to 

residents of the Pojoaque Basin. Under 

the No Action Alternative, the benefits 

of the proposed RWS would not be 

realized. Use of domestic wells would 

continue to reduce groundwater and 

surface water supplies in the Pojoaque 

Basin. The Pueblos would continue to 

rely on their existing separate water 

systems, rather than integrating their 

systems into one regional system. 

Alternative B: Alternative B 

incorporates the RWS facilities and 

components described in a 2008 

Engineering Report prepared by HKM 

Engineering, Inc., as updated through 

surveys and public input. The HKM 

Engineering Report served as the 

preliminary RWS concept for the 

Settlement Act. Under this alternative, 

the RWS would consist of these 

components: 

1. The firm, reliable water supply 

would be provided by diverting surface 

flows from the Rio Grande, 

supplemented by operational planning 

and scheduling of San Juan-Chama 

Project water supplies, as well as one of 

the following three backup aquifer 

storage and recovery water supply 

options: 

• Three deep injection and recovery 

wells for injecting raw or treated surface 

water into an aquifer and recovering it 

for use in the RWS; or 

• Three shallow injection and 

recovery wells for injecting raw or 

treated surface water into an aquifer and 

recovering it for use in the RWS; or 

• Three shallow passive infiltration 

reaches and recovery wells for 

infiltrating raw surface water into an 

aquifer and recovering it for use in the 

RWS. 

2. A side-channel surface diversion 

structure and pumping plant with a 

sediment removal and return system on 

the east bank of the Rio Grande on 

Pueblo de San Ildefonso lands, just 

north of the Otowi Bridge. 

3. A water treatment plant and 

pumping plant on the Pueblo de San 

Ildefonso on the south side of State 

Highway 502, approximately 0.75 mile 

east of the Otowi Bridge. 

4. Eleven new short-term storage 

tanks in addition to 13 existing storage 

tanks. 

5. A water transmission and 

distribution system including 

approximately 194 miles of pipelines, 

seven pumping plants, and pressurereducing and flow-control valves. 

6. Approximately 15 miles of new 

electrical distribution lines. 

Alternative C: Under this alternative, 

the RWS would consist of the following 

major components: 

1. The firm, reliable water supply 

would be provided by collecting flows 

from beneath and adjacent to the Rio 

Grande (the hyporheic zone), 

supplemented by operational planning 

and scheduling of San Juan-Chama 

Project water supplies. 

2. A parallel river interceptor drain in 

the alluvium to collect water from 

below the water table in the bosque on 

the east side of the Rio Grande north of 

the Otowi Bridge. 

3. A water treatment plant on the 

eastern portion of the Pueblo de San 

Ildefonso, on the east side of County 

Road 101D, near the El Rancho power 

substation. 

4. Eleven new short-term storage 

tanks in addition to 13 existing storage 

tanks. 

5. A water transmission and 

distribution system including 

approximately 189 miles of pipelines, 

one surge tank, six pumping plants, and 

pressure-reducing and flow-control 

valves. 

6. Approximately 7 miles of new 

electrical distribution lines 

supplemented by distributed solar 

generation. 

Alternative D: Under Alternative D, 

the RWS would consist of the following 

major components: 

1. The firm, reliable water supply 

would be provided by collecting flows 

from the hyporheic zone of the Rio 

Grande, supplemented by operational 

planning and scheduling of San JuanChama Project water supplies. 

2. An infiltration gallery (an estimated 

180 horizontal drains to collect water 

from below the water table) on the east 

bank of the Rio Grande. 

3. A water treatment plant on the 

eastern portion of the Pueblo de San 

Ildefonso, on the east side of County 

Road 101D, near the El Rancho power 

substation. 

4. Sixteen new short-term storage 

tanks in addition to 13 existing tanks. 

5. A water transmission and 

distribution system, including 

approximately 187 miles of pipelines, 

one surge tank, six pumping plants, and 

pressure-reducing and flow-control 

valves. 

6. Approximately 7 miles of new 

electrical distribution lines, with solarready facilities. 

Alternative E: Preferred Alternative: 

Under this alternative, the RWS would 

consist of the following major 

components: 

1. The firm, reliable water supply 

would be provided by collecting flows 

from the hyporheic zone of the Rio 

Grande and supplementing it with 

operational planning and scheduling of 

San Juan-Chama Project water supplies; 

emergency use wells would allow water 

to be withdrawn during emergencies 

lasting longer than two days that cannot 

be supplied by short-term storage tanks. 

2. Four horizontal radial well 

collectors to divert water from below the 

water table on the east bank of the Rio 

Grande. 

3. A water treatment plant located on 

the west side of County Road 101D, 

north of State Highway 502. 

4. Seven new short-term storage tanks, 

in addition to 14 existing storage tanks. 

5. A water transmission and 

distribution system, including 

approximately 151 miles of pipelines, 

one surge tank, 6 pumping plants, and 

pressure-reducing and flow-control 

valves. 

6. Approximately 7 miles of new 

overhead and buried electrical 

distribution lines, with solar-ready 

facilities. 

Connected Actions: The FEIS also 

includes analyses of three connected 

actions: (1) The Rio Pojoaque irrigation 

improvement project, (2) the Pueblo de 

San Ildefonso future projects which 

consist of wastewater system 

improvements and water distribution 

infrastructure, and (3) the Rio Tesuque 

channel modification project. Each of 

the connected actions have been 

analyzed in the FEIS to the extent that 

the details of the projects have been 

developed. 

Copies of the FEIS: The FEIS may be 

viewed at: 

• Natural Resources Library, U.S. 

Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street 

NW, Main Interior Building, 

Washington, DC 20240–0001. 

• Bureau of Reclamation, Upper 

Colorado Region, Public Affairs Office, 

125 South State Street, Room 8100, Salt 

Lake City, Utah 84138. 

• Bureau of Reclamation, 

Albuquerque Area Office, 555 Broadway 

NE, Suite 100, Albuquerque, New 

Mexico 87102. 

• Santa Fe County Pojoaque Satellite 

Office, 5 West Gutierrez, Suite 9, 

Pojoaque, New Mexico 87506 (in the 

Pojoaque Pueblo Plaza). 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
1628 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 9 / Friday, January 12, 2018 / Notices 

• Santa Fe Public Library, 145 

Washington Avenue, Santa Fe, New 

Mexico 87501. 

• New Mexico State Library, 1209 

Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe, New 

Mexico 87507. 

• Santa Fe Community College 

Library, 6401 Richards Avenue, Santa 

Fe, New Mexico 87508. 

Public Disclosure of Comments: 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in any 

correspondence, you should be aware 

that your entire correspondence— 

including your personal identifying 

information—may be made publicly 

available at any time. While you may 

ask us in your correspondence to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Dated: December 20, 2017. 

Andrea Travnicek, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and 

Science, Exercising the Authority of the 

Assistant Secretary for Water and Science. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00427 Filed 1–11–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4332–90–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[17X.LLID957000.L14400000.BJ0000.24

1A.4500117485] 

Filing of Plats of Survey: Idaho 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The plats of survey of the 

following described lands are scheduled 

to be officially filed in the Bureau of 

Land Management, Idaho State Office, 

Boise, Idaho, in 30 days from the date 

of this publication. 

Boise Meridian, Idaho 

T. 11 N., R. 17 E., Section 25, accepted 

December 14, 2017 

T. 13 N., R. 41 E., Sections 10, 11 and 12, 

accepted December 14, 2017 

T. 8 N., R. 22 E., Section 5, accepted 

December 14, 2017 

T. 20 N., R. 22 E., Section 6, accepted 

December 14, 2017 

T. 16 N., R. 43 E., Section 33, accepted 

December 14, 2017 

T. 7 N., R. 23 E., Section 3, accepted 

December 14, 2017 

T. 9 S., R. 40 E., Section 1, accepted 

December 14, 2017 

ADDRESSES: A copy of the plats may be 

obtained from the Public Room at the 

Bureau of Land Management, Idaho 

State Office, 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Boise, 

Idaho 83709, upon required payment. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Timothy A. Quincy, (208) 373–3981 

Branch of Cadastral Survey, Bureau of 

Land Management, 1387 South Vinnell 

Way, Boise, Idaho 83709–1657. Persons 

who use a telecommunications device 

for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Relay Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

to contact the above individual during 

normal business hours. The FRS is 

available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 

to leave a message or question with Mr. 

Quincy. You will receive a reply during 

normal business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A person 

or party who wishes to protest one or 

more plats of survey identified above 

must file a written notice with the Chief 

Cadastral Surveyor for Idaho, Bureau of 

Land Management. The protest must 

identify the plat(s) of survey that the 

person or party wishes to protest and 

contain all reasons and evidence in 

support of the protest. The protest must 

be filed before the scheduled date of 

official filing for the plat(s) of survey 

being protested. Any protest filed after 

the scheduled date of official filing will 

be untimely and will not be considered. 

A protest is considered filed on the date 

it is received by the Chief Cadastral 

Surveyor for Idaho during regular 

business hours; if received after regular 

business hours, a protest will be 

considered filed the next business day. 

If a protest against a plat of survey is 

received prior to the scheduled date of 

official filing, the official filing of the 

plat of survey identified in the protest 

will be stayed pending consideration of 

the protest. A plat of survey will not be 

officially filed until the next business 

day following dismissal or resolution of 

all protests of the plat. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in a 

protest, you should be aware that the 

documents you submit, including your 

personal identifying information, may 

be made publicly available in their 

entirety at any time. While you can ask 

us to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Timothy A. Quincy, 

Chief Cadastral Surveyor for Idaho. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00459 Filed 1–11–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–AK–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Reclamation 

[RR83570000, 189R5065C6, 

RX.59389832.1009676; OMB Control 

Number 1006–0028] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Recreation Visitor Use 

Survey 

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, 

the Bureau of Reclamation 

(Reclamation), are proposing to renew 

an information collection with 

revisions. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before March 

13, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on 

this information collection request (ICR) 

by mail to Jerome Jackson, Bureau of 

Reclamation, Office of Policy and 

Administration, 84–57000, P.O. Box 

25007, Denver, CO 80225–0007; or by 

email to jljackson@usbr.gov. Please 

reference OMB Control Number 1006– 

0028 in the subject line of your 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request additional information about 

this ICR, contact Jerome Jackson by 

email at jljackson@usbr.gov, or by 

telephone at (303) 445–2712. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, we provide the 

general public and other Federal 

agencies with an opportunity to 

comment on new, proposed, or 

continuing collections of information. 

This helps us assess the impact of our 

information collection requirements and 

minimize the public’s reporting burden. 

It also helps the public understand our 

information collection requirements and 

provide the requested data in the 

desired format. 

We are soliciting comments on the 

proposed ICR that is described below. 

We are especially interested in public 

comment addressing the following 

issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to 

the proper functions of Reclamation; (2) 

will this information be processed and 

used in a timely manner; (3) is the 

estimate of burden accurate; (4) how 

might Reclamation enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (5) how might 

Reclamation minimize the burden of 

this collection on the respondents, 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES