Southern Delivery System Project, Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, Colorado
[Federal Register: September 8, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 173)]
[Notices]
[Page 52953-52955]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08se03-91]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Southern Delivery System Project, Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, Colorado
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Regional Water Infrastructure Authority (RWIA) is
proposing to construct a pipeline and related facilities known as the
Southern Delivery System (SDS) that will deliver Fryingpan-Arkansas
Project (Fry-Ark) water and non-Fry-Ark water from the Arkansas River
near the City of Pueblo to an area east of Colorado Springs. On
February 19, 2003, RWIA and its individual participants, the cities of
Colorado Springs and Fountain, along with the Security Water District,
requested a long-term water conveyance contract from the Bureau of
Reclamation (Reclamation). On July 14, 2003, Colorado Springs Utilities
(Springs Utilities) made a request for a long-term storage contract for
Pueblo Reservoir in association with this project. Because the RWIA
proposal involves long-term storage and conveyance contracts from
Reclamation, it has been determined that Reclamation should be the lead
Federal agency for compliance with National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA).
DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for the dates and times of
the scoping meetings.
ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for the locations of
the scoping meetings.
Please send comments on potentially significant issues or the
proposed alternatives to the attention of Pat Mangan, Southern Delivery
System EIS, Bureau of Reclamation, Eastern Colorado Area Office, 11056
W. County Road 18E, Loveland, CO 80537; or FAX to (303) 445-6328 or
(303) 445-2236; or e-mail to pmangan@do.usbr.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anyone interested in more information
about the EIS or the project may contact Pat Mangan by telephone at
(303) 445-2236 or by e-mail at pmangan@do.usbr.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of NEPA,
Reclamation will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to
identify and disclose the environmental effects of the proposed
project. Cooperating agencies may be identified at a later date.
[[Page 52954]]
Reclamation will use the NEPA compliance process to ensure that the
public has opportunities to review and comment on the direct and
indirect effects of Reclamation's long-term storage and conveyance
contract(s), the pipeline and related facilities, and changes to Fry-
Ark operations for the SDS project. Reclamation and RWIA will hold five
public scoping meetings in which Federal, State, and local government
agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the public are invited to
participate in an open exchange of information to identify potentially
significant issues and to submit comments on the proposed scope of the
EIS. Written comments concerning issues and alternatives to be
evaluated in the EIS will be accepted and considered during preparation
of the EIS. To be most effective, comments should be postmarked or e-
mailed no later than 30 days following the final public scoping
meeting.
In 2000, Reclamation evaluated a request from the Pueblo Board of
Water Works (PBWW) to connect a pipeline to the Pueblo Reservoir
Municipal Outlet Works (South Outlet Works), construct a pipeline
across Reclamation land, and execute related storage and conveyance
contracts. As this request was being considered, Springs Utilities and
PBWW agreed to enlarge the upper portion of the pipeline (referred to
below as the ``Joint Use Manifold and Pipeline'') to accommodate
potential future use by Springs Utilities. As a part of the
environmental compliance process for PBWW's request, Reclamation
prepared an environmental assessment (EA) to evaluate the impacts of
construction and operation of the Joint Use Manifold and Pipeline. The
EA acknowledged additional environmental compliance would be needed
when Springs Utilities requested approval to convey their non-Fry-Ark
water through the South Outlet Works to the Joint Use Manifold and
Pipeline. Springs Utilities has now made that request through the RWIA
request for Reclamation's approval of water-related contracts
associated with the SDS project.
The proposed SDS Project would be located in the Arkansas River
basin extending northward from the Arkansas River at or downstream of
Pueblo Reservoir to the City of Colorado Springs. As proposed, the
project includes construction and operation of the following
components:
? An approximately 43-mile long, 66-inch diameter raw water
pipeline and pump stations;
? A water treatment plant to provide potable water for
municipal and industrial use;
? Distribution pipelines to convey potable water;
? A terminal raw water storage reservoir; and
? A water exchange reservoir.
The proposed system would be sized to meet water demands from Pueblo
Reservoir in the year 2040 that are projected to be 78 million gallons
per day (mgd).
The use of Pueblo Reservoir to store water is an important
component of the proposed SDS project. Pueblo Reservoir is part of
Reclamation's Fry-Ark Project and is a State Water Court-approved
exchange reservoir for Colorado Springs' Arkansas River water rights.
Reclamation will prepare an EIS prior to making decisions on the
proposed Federal actions involved in the SDS project including storing
non-Fry-Ark water in Pueblo Reservoir and conveying Fry-Ark and non-
Fry-Ark water through Pueblo Reservoir to Colorado Springs. The EIS may
also be used by other Federal agencies involved in permitting or
approving specific aspects of the proposed project.
Purpose and Need
The purpose of the proposed SDS is to deliver up to 78 mgd of water
from the Arkansas River at or downstream of Pueblo Reservoir to the
service areas of the City of Colorado Springs, the City of Fountain,
and the Security Water District (Project Participants) to meet their
projected municipal and industrial water needs through 2040. The
Project Participants have existing Arkansas River water rights that can
be used to meet their projected water needs. However, their existing
infrastructure lacks sufficient capacity to deliver the water and to
fully utilize the Project Participants' decreed water rights. The
purpose of the proposed SDS project is to meet that need for additional
delivery capacity. Delivering this water is necessary to meet projected
growth demands within the Project Participant's service areas and to
fully utilize their existing Arkansas River water rights. The proposed
SDS is also needed to provide redundancy for the Project Participant's
existing Arkansas River basin water delivery systems to improve
operational reliability, drought resiliency, and to maximize the use of
existing water rights.
The Project Participants are currently using water conservation and
related programs to reduce consumption. However, the Project
Participants have determined that even with these programs, water needs
in their service areas will increase in the future beyond their
existing infrastructure's ability to supply water.
Proposed Alternatives
Technical, environmental, and economic screening criteria were used
to identify potential alternatives capable of meeting the proposed
project's purpose and need. The raw water pipeline would draw from one
of four possible sources:
1. Directly from Pueblo Reservoir, using a new tap northwest of
Pueblo Dam;
2. The Joint Use Manifold east of the South Outlet Works of Pueblo
Reservoir, west of the City of Pueblo;
3. The Joint Use Pipeline, east of the Joint Use Manifold; or
4. The Arkansas River, just upstream of its confluence with
Fountain Creek.
The pipeline would run north to a site east of Colorado Springs
where it is anticipated to terminate at a water treatment plant located
near Jimmy Camp Creek. There are several pipeline alignments associated
with each possible source water location.
As required by Council on Environmental Quality implementing
regulations (40 CFR 1502.2(e)), a full range of reasonable alternatives
that meet the purpose and need and a no action alternative will be
evaluated in the EIS. The EIS will evaluate potential environmental
impacts of each alternative along with engineering and socioeconomic
considerations. A preferred alternative has not been identified at this
time.
Preliminary Identification of Environmental Issues
The following issues have been tentatively identified for analysis
in the EIS. This list is preliminary and is intended to facilitate
public comment on the scope of this EIS.
? What are the impacts of constructing the pipeline,
including:
? Maintenance access roads,
? Substations,
? Construction lay down, staging, and borrow areas?
? Are there growth-inducing impacts?
? Are there environmental justice issues?
? What are the impacts to aquatic resources?
? What would be the impact to streams and wetlands?
? How would wildlife habitat be affected?
? Would new reservoirs provide recreational opportunities?
? Would significant cultural resources be affected?
? How would water quality in the Arkansas River and Fountain
Creek be affected?
? How would the proposed project affect operation of the Fry-
Ark project
[[Page 52955]]
and the existing storage and conveyance contracts?
? How would streamflow in the Arkansas River be affected?
? Would this project affect water levels in Pueblo Reservoir?
? Will this project and other reasonably-foreseeable projects
result in significant cumulative effects?
Timing
Reclamation plans to issue the draft EIS in the fall of 2004.
Availability of the draft EIS will be publicized. Federal, State, and
local government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the
general public will have an opportunity to review and comment on the
draft EIS.
Scoping Meetings
Scoping meeting will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on the following
dates:
? Wednesday, September 24 , 2003, Buena Vista, Colorado
? Thursday, September 25, 2003, Fountain, Colorado
? Tuesday, October 7, 2003, La Junta, Colorado
? Thursday, October 9, 2003, Pueblo, Colorado
? Wednesday, October 15, 2003, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Meetings will be held at the following locations:
? Buena Vista Community Center, Pinon Room, 715 E. Main,
Buena Vista, Colorado
? Fountain-Fort Carson High School Cafeteria, 900 Jimmy Camp
Creek Road, Fountain, Colorado
? Koshare Indian Museum, Kiva Room, 115 West 18th, La Junta,
Colorado
? Colorado State University--Pueblo, Occhiato Center--West
Colorado Ball Room, 2200 Bonforte Blvd., Pueblo, Colorado
? Colorado Springs City Auditorium, 221 E. Kiowa, Colorado
Springs, Colorado
Issues raised at the scoping meetings will be documented and
summarized in a report that will be distributed to public libraries
near the meeting locations, posted on Reclamation's Web site, and
mailed upon request. This report will identify those issues that will
be evaluated in the EIS.
Public Disclosure Statement
Comments received in response to this notice will become part of
the administrative record for this project and are subject to public
inspection. Comments, including names and home addresses of
respondents, will be available for public review. Individual
respondents may request that Reclamation withhold their home address
from public disclosure, which will be honored to the extent allowable
by law. There also may be circumstances in which Reclamation would
withhold a respondent's identity 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. Reclamation
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.
Dated: August 29, 2003.
Gerald W. Kelso,
Acting Regional Director, Great Plains Region.
[FR Doc. 03-22710 Filed 9-5-03; 8:45 am]
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