- Reclamation
- News & Multimedia
- News Releases
- News Release Archive
- Draft Environmental Documents Available for Review for Water Purchase from Santa Clara Valley Water District
News Release Archive
Draft Environmental Documents Available for Review for Water Purchase from Santa Clara Valley Water District
Media Contact:
Margaret Gidding, 916-978-5104, 06/26/2006 15:37
For Release: June 26, 2006
The Bureau of Reclamation has made available for public review and comment the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the proposed 2-year agreement for the acquisition of water from Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) in support of the Environmental Water Account (EWA) under the California Bay-Delta Authority. The acquisition of water from SCVWD would encompass water purchases in an amount up to 50,000 acre-feet by Reclamation for the EWA in 2006 and 2007. SCVWD's available water supplies would come from their yearly Central Valley Project (CVP) allocations and/or previously stored State Water Project (SWP) allocations in the Semitropic Groundwater Bank.
The Draft EA and FONSI were prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and are available for a 15-day public review and comment period. The Final EA will address any substantive comments received during the comment period. The draft documents are available online at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_project_details.php?Project_ID=2266. If you encounter problems accessing documents online, please contact Mr. Louis Moore at 916-978-5106 or e-mail wmoore@mp.usbr.gov.
The EWA was established to provide water for the protection and recovery of fish beyond water available through existing regulatory actions related to the CVP and SWP operations. The EWA is a cooperative management program whose purpose is to provide protection to the fish of the Bay-Delta estuary through environmentally beneficial changes in CVP/SWP operations. This approach to fish protection requires the acquisition of alternative sources of Project water supply that will be used to augment stream flows and Delta outflows, modify exports to provide fishery benefits, and repay the CVP/SWP contractors whose supplies have been interrupted by actions taken to benefit fish.
Written comments on the draft documents must be received by close of business Wednesday, July 12, 2006, and should be sent to Ms. Tamara LaFramboise, Bureau of Reclamation, MP-420, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825. Comments may also be e-mailed to tlaframboise@mp.usbr.gov. For additional information or to request a copy of the documents, please contact Ms. LaFramboise at 916-978-5269, TDD 916-978-5608.
# # #
The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.
Relevant Link:
