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Long-Term Miscellaneous Purposes Contract, Eddy County, NM
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: January 12, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 8)]
[Notices]
[Page 2064-2065]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12ja06-92]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
[DES-05-59]
Long-Term Miscellaneous Purposes Contract, Eddy County, NM
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability and Notice of Public Meeting for the
Long-Term Miscellaneous Purposes Contract Draft Environmental Impact
Statement, Eddy County, New Mexico.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969, as amended, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the New
Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC), as joint lead agencies,
have prepared a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the
execution of a long-term contract based upon the 1920 Sale of Water for
Miscellaneous Purposes Act (long-term miscellaneous purposes contract)
with the Carlsbad Irrigation District (CID), New Mexico, and the
subsequent conversion and delivery of the full amount of irrigation
water addressed in the contract and any related contracts. Reclamation
is the lead federal agency and the NMISC is a joint lead agency for
NEPA compliance on the proposed federal action.
DATES: A 60-day public review period commences with the publication of
this notice. Written comments on the DEIS should be submitted no later
than Monday, March 13, 2006, to Ms. Marsha Carra, Bureau of
Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office, 555 Broadway NE., Suite 100,
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
Reclamation will conduct a public meeting to obtain input on the
DEIS. The meeting will be held at the following time and location:
? Wednesday, February 8, 2006--7 to 9 p.m., Best Western Stevens Inn,
Room Nos. 2 and 3, 1829 South Canal Street, Carlsbad, New Mexico.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the DEIS are available for public inspection and
review at the following locations:
? Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office, 125
South State Street, Room 7220, Salt Lake City, Utah 84138-1102.
? Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office, Attention:
Marsha Carra, 555 Broadway NE., Suite 100, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
? New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, Attention: Elisa
Sims, 230 West Manhattan Avenue, 2nd Floor, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501.
? Carlsbad Public Library, 101 South Halagueno Street,
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88221.
? Carlsbad Irrigation District, 201 South Canal Street,
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220.
The DEIS is also available on the Internet at the following Web
address: http://www.usbr.gov/uc/albuq/envdocs/index.html. 
In addition, interested parties may contact Ms. Aleta Powers, ERO Resources
Corporation, 1842 Clarkson Street, Denver, Colorado 80218; telephone
(303) 830-1188; e-mail: apowers@eroresources.com.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Marsha Carra, Bureau of
Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office, 555 Broadway NE., Suite 100,
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102; telephone (505) 462-
[[Page 2065]]
3602; facsimile (505) 462-3797; e-mail: mcarra@uc.usbr.gov or Elisa
Sims, New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, P.O. Box 25102, Santa
Fe, New Mexico 87504-5102; telephone (505) 827-3918; e-mail:
elisa.sims@state.nm.us.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of Reclamation's proposed
federal action is to allow the NMISC to use Carlsbad Project water
(Project water) for purposes other than irrigation, specifically for
delivery to Texas. As a member of CID, the NMISC needs to use Project
water for purposes other than irrigation to maintain long-term
compliance with the Pecos River Compact and the United States Supreme
Court Amended Decree in Texas v. New Mexico. Project water is available
for lease to the NMISC under a Contingent Water Contract where: (1)
Willing lessors temporarily forego irrigation of their lands in an
irrigation season (fallowed land water) or (2) allotted water is not
delivered to farms by October 31 of a given year (undelivered allotment
water). The long-term miscellaneous purposes contract would replace a
1999 short-term contract that Reclamation currently has with the CID
that allows the NMISC to use Project water for miscellaneous purposes.
Between 1987 and the present, New Mexico has satisfied its water
delivery obligations to Texas under the Pecos River Compact (Compact)
and Amended Decree. In some years, New Mexico has over-delivered water
to the state line and in other years it has under-delivered. New Mexico
has been able to satisfy its Compact obligations in large part because
of its leasing program and the fallowing of irrigated land within CID.
The leasing program within CID has operated under an existing short-
term miscellaneous purposes contract since 1992, which allows
irrigation water to be delivered to the state line on behalf of the NMISC.
The State of New Mexico ex rel. the State Engineer, NMISC,
Reclamation, CID, and the Pecos Valley Artesian Conservancy District
entered into a Settlement Agreement on March 25, 2003, that resolves
litigation, implements a plan to ensure delivery of water to the CID
and New Mexico-Texas state line, and settles many water management
issues on the Pecos River. An ad hoc committee comprised of water users
in the Pecos River Basin was formed to develop a solution for long-term
compliance with the Pecos River Compact and Amended Decree, resulting
in the Settlement Agreement. In addition, the implementation of the
Settlement Agreement is contingent upon fulfilling certain
requirements, including the execution of a long-term miscellaneous
purposes contract.
On February 28, 2003, Reclamation published a notice in the Federal
Register stating plans to execute a contract with the CID that would
allow the NMISC to use water allotted for up to 6,000 acres, or other
available Project water, for purposes other than irrigation. These
6,000 acres, plus 164 acres that the NMISC currently owns within the
boundaries of the CID, would be fallowed under this contract. Execution
of this contract would not preclude future use of the water for
irrigation purposes on lands owned by the NMISC. The Commissioner of
Reclamation has granted approval to negotiate and execute a long-term
miscellaneous purposes contract, pursuant to authority provided by the
Sale of Water for Miscellaneous Purposes Act of February 25, 1920,
whereby the NMISC would be limited to using or leasing a maximum of
50,000 acre-feet of Project water per year.
The two alternatives analyzed in the draft EIS are the Proposed
Action Alternative which is the execution of a long-term miscellaneous
purposes contract and approval of any related third-party contracts,
and the No Action Alternative. The draft EIS assesses the potential
effects that the two alternatives may have on biological, hydrologic,
and cultural resources; social and economic settings; and Indian trust
assets as well as any potential disproportionate effects on minority or
low-income communities (environmental justice). The draft EIS also
evaluates the effects of the alternatives on the State of New Mexico's
ability to meet annual state line delivery obligations associated with
the Pecos River Compact and Amended Decree.
After the 60-day waiting period, Reclamation will complete a final
environmental impact statement (FEIS). Responses to comments received
from organizations and individuals on the DEIS will be addressed in the
FEIS.
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. There
also may be circumstances in which we would withhold a respondent's
identity from public disclosure, as 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.
Dated: November 7, 2005.
Darryl Beckmann,
Deputy Regional Director--UC Region, Bureau of Reclamation.
[FR Doc. 06-187 Filed 1-11-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P