57322 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 189 / Friday, September 30, 2005 / Notices 

or faxed comments should be submitted 

by October 17, 2005. 

John W. Roberts, 

Acting Chief, National Register/National 

Historic Landmarks Program. 

ARKANSAS 

Faulkner County 

Lee, Carl and Esther, House, (Mixed Masonry 

Buildings of Silas Owens, Sr. MPS) 17493 

US 65S, Damascus, 05001170 

Tyler—Southerland House, (Mixed Masonry 

Buildings of Silas Owens, Sr. MPS) 36 

Southerland, Conway, 05001168 

Ward, Earl and Mildred, House, (Mixed 

Masonry Buildings of Silas Owens, Sr. 

MPS) 1157 Mitchell St., Conway, 05001169 

Webb, Joe and Nina, House, (Mixed Masonry 

Buildings of Silas Owens, Sr. MPS) 2945 

Prince, Conway, 05001171 

Washington County 

Prairie Grove Battlefield (Boundary Increase 

II), N of US 62, E of Prairie Grove, Prairie 

Grove, 05001167 

COLORADO 

Montrose County 

North Rim Road, Black Canyon of the 

Gunnison National Park, Black Canyon of 

the Gunnison National Park, Crawford, 

05001181 

GEORGIA 

Bartow County 

ATCO–Goodyear Mill and Mill Village 

Historic District, Roughly bounded by 

Sugar Valley Rd., Cassville rd. and Pettit 

Creek, Wingfoot Trail and Litchfield St., 

Cartersville, 05001172 

MAINE 

Androscoggin County 

Keystone Mineral Springs, Keystone Rd., 

Poland, 05001175 

Cumberland County 

Battery Steele, Florida Ave., Peaks Island, 

Portland, 05001176 

Lakeside Grange #63, Main St., jct. of Main 

St. and Lincoln St., Harrison, 05001173 

Hancock County 

Garland Farm, 1029 ME 3, Bar Harbor, 

05001174 

MINNESOTA 

Cook County 

Grand Portage National Monument, Off US 

61 within the area of the Grand Portage 

Indian Reservation, Grand Portage, 

05001180 

MISSOURI 

Madison County 

St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern 

Railroad Depot, Allen St., 150 ft. No of Jct. 

of Allen and Kelly Sts., Fredericktown, 

05001178 

MONTANA 

Park County 

Hepburn, John, Place, 626 E. River Rd., 

Emigrant, 05001177 

New Mexico 

Santa Fe County 

Kelly, Daniel T., House, (Buildings Designed 

by John Gaw Meem MPS) 531 E. Palace 

Ave., Santa Fe, 05001182 

OREGON 

Multnomah County 

Harrison Court Apartments, 1834 SW. 5th 

Ave., Portland, 05001179 

[FR Doc. 05–19526 Filed 9–29–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–51–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Reclamation 

Colorado River Reservoir Operations: 

Development of Lower Basin Shortage 

Guidelines and Coordinated 

Management Strategies for Lake 

Powell and Lake Mead Under Low 

Reservoir Conditions 

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

and notice to solicit comments and hold 

public scoping meetings on the 

development of Lower Basin shortage 

guidelines and coordinated management 

strategies for the operation of Lake 

Powell and Lake Mead under low 

reservoir conditions. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 

Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) 

proposes to conduct public scoping 

meetings and prepare an EIS for the 

development of Lower Colorado River 

Basin Shortage Guidelines and 

Coordinated Management Strategies for 

Operation of Lake Powell and Lake 

Mead Under Low Reservoir Conditions. 

The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) 

has directed Reclamation to develop 

additional Colorado River management 

strategies to address operations of Lake 

Powell and Lake Mead under low 

reservoir conditions. 

The proposed action is to develop 

these guidelines and strategies. Through 

the NEPA process initiated by this 

Federal Register notice, Reclamation is 

considering development of: (1) Specific 

guidelines that will identify those 

circumstances under which the 

Department of the Interior (Department) 

would reduce annual water deliveries 

from Lake Mead to the Lower Basin 

States below the 7.5 million acre-feet 

(maf) Lower Basin apportionment and 

the manner in which those deliveries 

would be reduced, and (2) coordinated 

management strategies for the operation 

of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. 

Alternatives to be analyzed in the EIS 

have not been developed at this time 

and will be developed through the 

NEPA process, including through the 

upcoming EIS scoping meetings. 

DATES AND ADDRESSES: Four public 

meetings will be held to solicit 

comments on the scope of specific 

shortage guidelines and other 

coordinated management strategies and 

the issues and alternatives that should 

be analyzed. Oral and written comments 

will be accepted at the public meetings 

to be held at the following locations: 

• Tuesday, November 1, 2005—6 p.m. 

to 8 p.m., Hilton Salt Lake City Center, 

Topaz Room, 255 South West Temple, 

Salt Lake City, Utah. 

• Wednesday, November 2, 2005—6 

p.m. to 8 p.m., Adam’s Mark Hotel, 

Tower Court D, 1550 Court Place, 

Denver, Colorado. 

• Thursday, November 3, 2005—6 

p.m. to 8 p.m., Arizona Department of 

Water Resources, Third Floor, 

Conference Rooms A&B, 500 North 

Third Street, Phoenix, Arizona. 

• Tuesday, November 8, 2005—6 p.m. 

to 8 p.m., Henderson Convention 

Center, Grand Ballroom, 200 South 

Water Street, Henderson, Nevada. 

Written comments on the proposed 

development of these strategies may be 

sent by close of business on Wednesday, 

November 30, 2005, to: Regional 

Director, Bureau of Reclamation, Lower 

Colorado Region, Attention: BCOO–

1000, PO Box 61470, Boulder City, 

Nevada 89006–1470, faxogram at (702) 

293–8156, or e-mail at 

strategies@lc.usbr.gov; and/or Regional 

Director, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper 

Colorado Region, Attention: UC–402, 

125 South State Street, Salt Lake City, 

Utah 84318–1147, faxogram at (801) 

524–3858, or e-mail at 

strategies@uc.usbr.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Terrance J. Fulp, PhD., at (702) 293–

8500 or e-mail at strategies@lc.usbr.gov; 

and/or Randall Peterson at (801) 524–

3633 or e-mail at strategies@uc.usbr.gov. 

If special assistance is required 

regarding accommodations for 

attendance at any of the public 

meetings, please call Nan Yoder at (702) 

293–8495, faxogram at (702) 293–8156, 

or e-mail at nyoder@lc.usbr.gov no less 

than 5 working days prior to the 

applicable meeting(s). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recent 

years the Colorado River Basin 

experienced the worst five-year drought 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 189 / Friday, September 30, 2005 / Notices 57323 

in recorded history. Drought in the 

Basin has impacted system storage, 

while demands for Colorado River water 

supplies have continued to increase. In 

the future, low reservoir conditions may 

not be limited to drought periods as 

additional development of Colorado 

River water occurs. The Colorado River 

is of strategic importance in the 

southwestern United States for water 

supply, hydropower production, 

recreation, fish and wildlife habitat, and 

other benefits. In addition, the Republic 

of Mexico has an allocation to the 

waters of the Colorado River pursuant to 

a 1944 treaty with the United States. 

In 2001, the Department adopted 

Interim Surplus Guidelines (66 FR 7772) 

that are used by the Secretary in making 

annual determinations regarding 

‘‘Normal’’ and ‘‘Surplus’’ conditions for 

the operation of Lake Mead. Since 

adoption, these Guidelines have, among 

other operational and management 

benefits, allowed the Department and 

entities in Arizona, California, and 

Nevada that rely on the Colorado River 

greater predictability in identifying 

when Colorado River water in excess of 

7.5 maf will be available for use within 

these three States. In contrast, at this 

time the Department does not have 

detailed guidelines in place for annual 

determinations of releases from Lake 

Mead of less than 7.5 maf to water users 

in the three Lower Division States of 

Arizona, California, and Nevada (often 

referred to as a ‘‘shortage’’ condition on 

the lower Colorado River). Therefore, 

water users who rely on the Colorado 

River in these States are not currently 

able to identify particular reservoir 

conditions under which the Secretary 

would release less than 7.5 maf for use 

on an annual basis. Nor are these water 

users able to identify the amount of any 

potential future annual reductions in 

water deliveries. 

Over the past year, the seven Colorado 

River Basin States have been proactively 

discussing strategies to address the 

recent period of system-wide drought in 

the Colorado River Basin. In addition, 

Reclamation has conducted detailed 

briefings for stakeholders in the 

Colorado River Basin and other 

interested entities regarding future 

scenarios for Colorado River operations. 

Currently, each year, the Secretary 

establishes an Annual Operating Plan 

(AOP) for the Colorado River Reservoirs. 

The AOP describes how Reclamation 

will manage the reservoirs over a 12- 

month period, consistent with the 

Criteria for Coordinated Long-Range 

Operation of Colorado River Reservoirs 

Pursuant to the Colorado River Basin 

Project Act of September 30, 1968 

(Long-Range Operating Criteria), the 

Decree entered by the U.S. Supreme 

Court in the Arizona v. California 

litigation, and other provisions of 

applicable Federal law. Reclamation 

consults annually with the Colorado 

River Basin States, Indian tribes, and 

other interested parties in the 

development of the AOP. Further, as 

part of the AOP process, the Secretary 

makes annual determinations under the 

Long-Range Operating Criteria regarding 

the availability of Colorado River water 

for deliveries to the Lower Division 

States. To meet the consultation 

requirements of Federal law, 

Reclamation also consults with the 

Colorado River Basin States, Indian 

tribes, and other interested parties 

during the five-year periodic reviews of 

the Long-Range Operating Criteria. 

During the mid-year review of the 

2005 AOP conducted this past spring, 

the Department received conflicting 

recommendations from the Colorado 

River Basin States regarding operations 

of Glen Canyon Dam for the remainder 

of the 2005 water year. In a May 2, 2005, 

letter to the Governors of the Colorado 

River Basin States, issued to complete 

the 2005 AOP mid-year review, the 

Secretary directed Reclamation to 

develop additional strategies to improve 

coordinated management of the 

reservoirs in the Colorado River system. 

Pursuant to that direction, Reclamation 

conducted a public consultation 

workshop on May 26, 2005, in 

Henderson, Nevada; issued a Federal 

Register notice soliciting public 

comments on June 15, 2005; and 

conducted public meetings on July 26 

and July 28, 2005, in Henderson, 

Nevada, and Salt Lake City, Utah, 

respectively. Reclamation received a 

broad range of public comments and 

suggestions from these discussions, not 

all of which can be addressed in this 

proposed process. In addition, some 

suggestions may be part of ongoing or 

future efforts. 

In order to assure the continued 

productive management and use of the 

Colorado River into the future, 

Reclamation is now soliciting public 

comments on the development of Lower 

Basin shortage guidelines and 

coordinated management strategies for 

the operation of Lake Powell and Lake 

Mead under low reservoir conditions. 

Reclamation will utilize a public 

process pursuant to NEPA. By this 

notice, Reclamation provides notice of 

its intent to prepare an EIS on this 

action, and provides notice of its 

upcoming EIS scoping meetings. 

Reclamation invites all interested 

members of the general public, 

including the seven Colorado River 

Basin States, Indian tribes, water and 

power contractors, environmental 

organizations, representatives of 

academic and scientific communities, 

representatives of the recreation 

industry, and other organizations and 

agencies to present oral and written 

comments concerning the format and 

scope of specific shortage guidelines 

and coordinated management strategies, 

and the issues and alternatives to be 

considered during the development of 

these proposed guidelines and 

strategies. Reclamation anticipates 

publishing a ‘‘scoping report’’ after 

completion of the public scoping 

meetings identified in this Federal 

Register notice. 

All comments received will be 

considered as Reclamation develops 

formal alternatives under NEPA. Similar 

to the surplus guidelines referenced 

above, it is likely that these shortage 

guidelines will be interim in nature. It 

is the Department’s intent that these 

guidelines and coordinated management 

strategies will provide guidance to the 

Secretary’s AOP decisions, and provide 

more predictability to water users and 

the public throughout the Colorado 

River Basin, particularly those in the 

Lower Division States. The Department 

does not intend to evaluate the 

decommissioning of Glen Canyon Dam. 

Public Disclosure 

Written comments, including names 

and home addresses of respondents, 

will be made available for public 

review. Individual respondents may 

request that their home address be 

withheld from public disclosure, which 

will be honored to the extent allowable 

by law. There may be circumstances in 

which respondents’ identity may also be 

withheld from public disclosure, as 

allowable by law. If you wish to have 

your name and/or address withheld, 

you must state this prominently at the 

beginning of your comment. All 

submissions from organizations, 

business, and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

made available for public disclosure in 

their entirety. 

Dated: September 22, 2005. 

Rick L. Gold, 

Regional Director—UC Region, Bureau of 

Reclamation. 

Dated: September 22, 2005. 

Jayne Harkins, 

Deputy Regional Director—LC Region, Bureau 

of Reclamation. 

[FR Doc. 05–19607 Filed 9–29–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MN–P