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Upper Truckee River Restoration and Golf Course Relocation Project, El Dorado County, CA
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: September 5, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 171)]
[Notices]
[Page 52342-52344]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05se06-43]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Upper Truckee River Restoration and Golf Course Relocation
Project, El Dorado County, CA
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement/
environmental impact statement/environmental impact report (EIS/EIS/
EIR) and notice of scoping meetings.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Compact
and Chapter 5 of the TRPA Code of Ordinances, and the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the TRPA, and the California
Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks) intend to prepare a
joint EIS/EIS/EIR. The EIS/EIS/EIR would evaluate a restoration project
along the reach of the Upper Truckee River that extends from its entry
point at the southern boundary of Washoe Meadows State Park (SP) to
that point just west of U.S. Highway 50 (U.S. 50) where the river exits
Lake Valley State Recreation Area (SRA).
Two public scoping meetings will be held to solicit comments from
interested parties to assist in determining the scope of the
environmental analysis, including the alternatives to be addressed, and
to identify the significant environmental issues related to the
proposed action.
DATES: The public scoping meeting dates are:
? Tuesday, September 26, 2006, 12 to 2 p.m., U.S. Forest
Service (USFS) Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Offices in South Lake
Tahoe, California.
? Tuesday, September 26, 2006, 6 to 8 p.m., USFS Lake Tahoe Basin
[[Page 52343]]
Management Unit Offices in South Lake Tahoe, California.
In addition, the proposed project will be an agenda item at the
following TRPA meetings:
? Wednesday, September 13, 2006, TRPA Advisory Planning
Commission Meeting, TRPA's Governing Board Room in Stateline, Nevada
(See agenda at http://www.trpa.org/default.aspx?tabid=259). 
? Wednesday, September 27, 2006, TRPA Governing Board
Meeting, North Tahoe Conference Center in Kings Beach, California. (See
agenda at http://www.trpa.org/default.aspx?tabid=258).
All comments must be received by October 6, 2006.
ADDRESSES: The scoping meetings will be held at:
? USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Offices, 35 College
Drive, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
? Governing Board Room, 128 Market Street, Stateline, NV 89449
? North Tahoe Conference Center, 8318 North Lake Tahoe
Boulevard, Kings Beach, CA 96143
Written comments on the scope of the environmental document,
alternatives, and impacts to be considered should be mailed to Mr. Paul
Nielsen, Project Manager, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, P.O. Box
5310, Stateline, NV 89449. If you would like to be included on the EIS/
EIS/EIR mailing list, please contact Ms. Cyndie Walck by e-mail at
utproject@parks.ca.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Myrnie Mayville, Environmental
Specialist, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region, 2800 Cottage
Way, Room E-2606, Sacramento, CA, 95825-1898, (916) 978-5037; Mr. Paul
Nielsen at the above address or (775) 588-4547 ext. 249,
utproject@trpa.org; or Ms. Cyndie Walck, State of California Department
of Parks and Recreation, Sierra District, P.O. Box 16, Tahoe City, CA,
96145, (530) 581-0925, utproject@parks.ca.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Upper Truckee River has been substantially altered by land
practices since European settlement in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Comstock
Era timber harvest activities increased erosion and flooding, and the
transport of logs on the river required straightening of the channel.
Farming and ranching practices further altered the channel and
surrounding floodplain. In many locations, particularly in the lower
portion of the reach downstream of Meyers, the channel was straightened
and enlarged to protect or improve farming operations. The floodplain
adjacent to the river was also recontoured during the construction of
the Lake Tahoe Golf Course. The channel has incised and is experiencing
high rates of bed and bank erosion. These historic modifications have
degraded the ecologic and geomorphic processes and functions of the
Upper Truckee River, contributing nutrient and suspended sediment
discharge to Lake Tahoe and thus decreasing its clarity.
State Parks owns most of the land adjacent to the river reach
downstream of the U.S. 50 bridge crossing at Meyers (near Chilcothe
Street) to the point just upstream of the Elks Club near the
intersection of Sawmill Road and U.S. 50. The State Parks property
includes Washoe Meadows SP (State Park) and Lake Valley SRA (State
Recreation Area), which includes Lake Tahoe Golf Course. While several
other restoration projects are currently being planned for other
reaches of the Upper Truckee River, the golf course reach was
identified as the greatest opportunity for rehabilitation in the
``Upper Truckee River Upper Reach Environmental Assessment Report''
prepared for Reclamation and the Tahoe Resource Conservation District
(TRCD), because it presents an opportunity for full restoration and
there are less constraints on project planning and implementation due
to public ownership by State Parks. The Environmental Assessment Report
recommended four river treatment options including: (1) No action, (2)
hard engineering or engineered stabilization, (3) creation of an inset
floodplain and, (4) full geomorphic restoration. Three of the four
alternatives to be analyzed in this EIS/EIS/EIR were derived from these
original alternatives.
Goals and Objectives
The following goals and objectives were developed for the proposed
action:
? Restore, to the extent feasible, natural geomorphic
processes that sustain channel and floodplain morphology.
? Restore, to the extent feasible, ecosystem function in
terms of ecological processes and aquatic and riparian habitat quality.
? Reduce erosion and improve water quality including
reduction of the reach's contribution of suspended sediment and
nutrient loading in the Upper Truckee River and Lake Tahoe.
? Minimize and mitigate short-term water quality and other
environmental impacts during construction.
? Improve the golf course layout, infrastructure, and
management to reduce the environmental impact of the golf course on the
river's water quality and riparian habitat by integrating
environmentally-sensitive design concepts.
? Maintain golf recreation opportunity and quality of play
at a championship level.
? In the stream environment zone, reduce the area occupied
by the golf course and improve the quality and increase the extent of
riparian and meadow habitat.
? Maintain revenue level of the golf course.
? Avoid any increase in flood hazard to private property.
? Avoid any increase in safety hazards to golf course and
other recreation users.
? Provide opportunities for informal, non-vehicular recreation.
Proposed Action and Alternatives
The proposed restoration project would require relocation of a
portion of the Lake Tahoe Golf Course to allow for restoration of the
river, reduce the area of stream environment zone occupied by the golf
course, and allow for establishment of a buffer area between the golf
course and the river. The proposed action also includes realigning the
boundaries of Washoe Meadows SP and Lake Valley SRA, so restored
habitat areas are within the state park and the relocated golf course
holes are located entirely within the state recreation area.
The following alternatives will be considered at an equal level of
detail in the EIS/EIS/EIR: Alternative 1, No Project/No Action;
Alternative 2, Geomorphic Restoration with 18-hole Golf Course
(Proposed Action); Alternative 3, Geomorphic Restoration with 9-hole
Golf Course; and Alternative 4, Engineered Stabilization (In Place).
With Alternative 1, existing conditions on the project site would be
projected into the future. Alternative 2 would include restoring the
channel to a natural balanced condition that improves geomorphic
function and habitat, relocating a portion of the Lake Tahoe Golf
Course holes to the west side of the river, reconfiguring and upgrading
the remaining golf course holes on the east side of the river,
restoring the riparian/floodplain area where the golf course holes
would be removed from the river corridor, removing the golf course
bridges that cross the Upper Truckee River and replacing them with a
single bridge crossing near the existing Hole 6 Bridge, and revising
park unit boundaries and ``trading'' land between Washoe Meadows SP and
Lake Valley SRA by realigning their boundaries. Alternative
[[Page 52344]]
3 would include the same river treatment as with Alternative 2,
reconfiguring and upgrading a 9-hole golf course on the east side of
the river, and eliminating all golf course bridges. Alternative 4 would
install bank protection (rip rap) and grade controls (rock weirs) that
``lock'' the river in its current alignment and elevation, incorporate
bioengineering with native riparian vegetation, include selection of
treatment areas to stabilize the river and minimize erosion, and leave
the existing 18-hole golf course unchanged.
Potential Federal involvement may include the approval of the
proposed action and partial funding of the river restoration component
of the proposed action.
Additional Information
The environmental review will be conducted pursuant to NEPA, CEQA,
TRPA's Compact and Chapter 5 of the TRPA Code of Ordinances, the
Federal and state Endangered Species Acts, and other applicable laws,
to analyze the potential environmental impacts of implementing a range
of feasible alternatives. Public input on the range of alternatives
proposed for detailed consideration will be sought through the public
scoping process.
The EIS/EIS/EIR will assess potential impacts to any Indian Trust
Assets (ITAs). Input about concerns or issues related to ITAs is
requested from potentially affected Federally-recognized Indian Tribes
and individual Indians.
Our practice is to make comments, including names, home addresses,
home phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of respondents, available for
public review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold
their names and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to consider
withholding this information you must state this prominently at the
beginning of your comments. In addition, you must present a rationale
for withholding this information. This rationale must demonstrate that
disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy.
Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. In the absence of
exceptional, documentable circumstances, this information will be
released. We will always make submissions from organizations or
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available
for public inspection in their entirety.
Dated: August 29, 2006.
Michael Nepstad,
Acting Regional Environmental Officer, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. E6-14625 Filed 9-1-06; 8:45 am]
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