News Release Archive

Reclamation to Hold Three Public Information Meetings for the Walker River Basin Acquisitions Program EIS

Media Contact: Pete Lucero, (916) 978-5101, 06/12/2008 17:13

For Release: June 12, 2008

The Bureau of Reclamation will hold three public information meetings to share alternatives developed for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Walker River Basin Acquisitions Program.  The alternatives represent various Acquisitions Program scenarios as well as a No Action (no Acquisition Program) alternative to be analyzed in the Draft EIS. 

The purpose of the Acquisition Program is to comply with the requirements of Public Law 107-171 (Desert Terminal Lakes Program), which appropriates funds to provide water to at-risk natural desert terminal lakes.  Follow-on legislation, Public Law 109-103, allocates funds to the University of Nevada to implement a program for environmental restoration to acquire from willing sellers land, water appurtenant to the land, and related interests in the Walker River Basin, Nevada.  The goal of the program is to acquire water rights to increase the long-term average annual inflow to Walker Lake. 

A Notice of Intent to prepare the EIS was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, September 25, 2007.  Four public scoping meetings were held in October 2007 to solicit public input on the proposed Acquisition Program.  Public comments and Cooperating Agency input were considered in the development of the EIS alternatives within the constraints of the legislative directives for the Federal action.

The public meetings format includes a presentation 15 minutes after the start time followed by a question and answer session. The same meeting will be held at all three locations:

Yerington
Hawthorne
Smith
 Tuesday, June 24, 6-8 p.m.,
Yerington Intermediate School Gymnasium
114 Pearl Street
Map
 Wednesday, June 25, 1-3 p.m.
Mineral County Public Library
First & "A" Street
Map
Wednesday, June 25, 6-8 p.m.
Smith Valley High School Gymnasium
20 Day Lane
Map

For questions regarding the meetings, please contact Mrs. Caryn Huntt DeCarlo, Bureau of Reclamation, EIS Project Lead, at 775-884-8352 or chunttdecarlo@mp.usbr.gov.

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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.