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Banks Lake Drawdown, Columbia Basin Project, Washington
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: January 9, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 6)]
[Notices]
[Page 1196-1197]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09ja03-45]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
[INT-DES-02-51]
Banks Lake Drawdown, Columbia Basin Project, Washington
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability and notice of public hearings for the
Banks Lake Drawdown, Washington, draft Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Department of the Interior, Bureau
of Reclamation (Reclamation), has prepared a draft Environmental Impact
Statement (Draft EIS) to examine the impacts of alternatives to lower
the minimum surface elevation for Banks Lake in August from 1,565 feet
to 1,560 feet.
The action alternative describes the resource conditions that would
occur between Banks Lake surface elevations of 1,570 feet and 1,560
feet, while the no action alternative describes the conditions that
would occur without the proposed action, between surface elevation
1,570 feet and 1,565 feet. Both the no action and action alternatives
include four potential operational scenarios that could occur within
their respective ranges.
The action alternative includes a refill of the reservoir to
elevation 1,565 feet, beginning September 1 and ending no later than
September 10.
DATES: Written comments on the draft EIS must be received no later than
March 10, 2003, at the address listed under the ADDRESSES section
below.
Public hearings will be held to accept oral comments on the draft
EIS at:
[sbull]
Coulee City, Washington, on February 11, 2003, from 7 to 9
p.m. and,
[sbull]
Moses Lake, Washington, on February 12, 2003, from 1:30 to
3:30 p.m.
The public hearing facilities are physically accessible. Please
contact Mr. Blanchard at the telephone, fax or TTY relay numbers listed
under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice for
accessibility accommodations, including sign language interpreters or
other auxiliary aids. Requests should be made by January 31, 2003, to
allow sufficient time to arrange for accommodation.
ADDRESSES: The public hearings will be held at:
[sbull]
Coulee City Elementary School, 410 W. Locust, Coulee City,
Washington, and,
[sbull]
District 5 Fire Station Training Facility, 12801 Nelson
Road, Moses Lake, Washington.
Written comments on the draft EIS should be submitted to Mr. Jim
Blanchard, Special Projects Officer, Bureau of Reclamation, 32 C
Street, P.O. Box 815, Ephrata, WA 98823-0815; or by fax 509-754-0239,
or by e-mail at: jblanchard@pn.usbr.gov.
See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for locations where
copies of the DEIS are available for public review and inspection.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jim Blanchard, Special Projects
Officer, at 509-754-0226 (relay users may dial 711). Those wishing to
obtain a copy of the draft EIS in the form of a printed document or on
compact disk (CD-ROM with reader included) or a summary of the draft
EIS may contact Mr. Blanchard.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Disclosure
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. 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 from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations
or businesses, available for public disclosure in their entirety.
Hearing Process Information
Requests to make oral comments at the public hearings may be made
at each hearing. Comments will be recorded by a court reporter.
Speakers will be called in the order of their requests. In the interest
of available time, each speaker will be asked to limit oral comments to
five minutes. Longer comments should be summarized at the public
hearing and submitted in writing either at the public hearing or
identified as hearing comments and mailed to be received by Mr.
Blanchard no later than March 10, 2003.
Background
Since its creation in the early 1950s, Banks Lake has been operated
and maintained for the storage and delivery of irrigation water drawn
from the Columbia River to Columbia Basin Project (CBP) lands. At Dry
Falls Dam, the Main Canal flows south from the Banks Lake outlet works
to the northern portion of the CBP's irrigable area. Reclamation
operates the reservoir within established constraints on water surface
elevation to met contractual obligations, ensure public safety, and
protect property. Reclamation considers other resource needs as
feasible within existing operational constraints.
In December of 2000, the National Marine Fisheries Service issued a
Biological Opinion (BIOP) to the Bureau
[[Page 1197]]
of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Bonneville Power
Administration for the operation of the Federal Columbia River Power
System. The BIOP included a Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA),
of which action 31 advised Reclamation to ``assess the likely
environmental effects of operation of Banks Lake up to 10 feet down
from full pool during August.''
Reclamation proposes to complete RPA action 31 by preparing the
Banks Lake Drawdown draft Environmental Impact Statement to describe
and analyze the environmental effects of lowering the August surface
elevation of Banks Lake to elevation 1560 feet, which is 10 feet below
full pool.
Review and Inspection of the DEIS
Copies of the DEIS are available for public review and inspection
at the following locations:
[sbull]
Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior,
Room 7455, 18th and C Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20240.
[sbull]
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office Library, Denver
Federal Center, Building 67, Room 167, Denver, Colorado 80225.
[sbull]
Bureau of Reclamation, Pacific Northwest Regional Office,
1150 North Curtis Road, Suite 100, Boise, Idaho 83706-1234.
[sbull]
Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Columbia Area Office, 1917
Marsh Road, Yakima, Washington 98901.
[sbull]
Bureau of Reclamation, Ephrata Field Office, 32 C Street,
Ephrata, Washington 98823.
Libraries
[sbull]
Bridgeport Community Library, Douglas County, 1206 Columbia
St., Bridgeport, WA 509-686-7281.
[sbull]
Coulee City Community Library, 405 W. Main St., Coulee
City, WA 509-674-2313.
[sbull]
Des Moines Library, 21620 11th Ave S, Des Moines, WA 206-
824-6066.
[sbull]
East Wenatchee Community Library, Douglas County, 271 9th
St NE, East Wenatchee, WA 509-886-7404.
[sbull]
Ephrata Public Library, 45 Alder NW, Ephrata, WA 509-754-
3971.
[sbull]
Grand Coulee Community Library, 225 Federal, Grand Coulee,
WA 509-633-0972.
[sbull]
Moses Lake Public Library, 418 E. 5th Ave, Moses Lake, WA
509-765-3489.
[sbull]
Quincy Community Library, 108 B St SW., Quincy, WA 509-787-
2359.
[sbull]
Royal City Community Library, 356 Camelia, Royal City, WA
509-346-9281.
[sbull]
Seattle Public Library, 800 Pike St, Seattle, WA 206-386-
4636.
[sbull]
Soap Lake Community Library, 32 E. Main, Soap Lake, WA 509-
246-1313.
[sbull]
Warden Community Library, 305 S. Main, Warden, WA 509-349-
2226.
[sbull]
Wenatchee Public Library, Chelan County, 310 Douglas St,
Wenatchee, WA 509-662-5021.
Internet
The DEIS is also available on the Internet at http://www.pn.usbr.gov 
.
Dated: December 20, 2002.
J. William McDonald,
Regional Director, Pacific Northwest Region, Bureau of Reclamation.
[FR Doc. 03-387 Filed 1-8-03; 8:45 am]