News Release Archive

Delta-Mendota Canal and California Aqueduct Intertie Environmental Assessment/Initial Study Available

Media Contact: Jeffrey McCracken, 916-978-5100, JMCCRACKEN@mp.usbr.gov

For Release: November 29, 2004

The Bureau of Reclamation and the San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Authority have released the Draft Environmental Assessment/Initial Study (EA/IS) for the Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC) and California Aqueduct (CA) Intertie for public review and comment.

The Intertie consists of a pipeline connection between the DMC and CA with a pumping plant at the DMC. The Intertie would be located at milepost 7.2 of the DMC, connecting with milepost 9.1 of the CA where the DMC and CA are approximately 500 feet apart. The Intertie site is in an unincorporated area of the San Joaquin Valley in Alameda County, west of the city of Tracy. The site is in a rural area zoned for general agriculture and is under Federal and State ownership. The Intertie would provide operational flexibility in using the conveyance capacities of the DMC and the CA and would not result in any changes to the authorized level of pumping or the capacity of the Federal Tracy Pumping Plan or the State Banks Pumping Plant. The Intertie would include a 450 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) pumping plant at the DMC that would allow water to be pumped from the DMC to the CA via an underground pipeline. Because the CA is approximately 50 feet higher in elevation than the DMC, up to 900 cfs flow could be conveyed from the CA to the DMC using gravity flow. The Intertie would be used under three different scenarios:

1. Up to 400 cfs would be pumped from the DMC to the CA to help meet water supply demands of Central Valley Project contractors. This would allow the Tracy Pumping Plant to pump to its authorized capacity of 4,600 cfs, subject to all applicable export pumping restrictions for water quality and fishery protections.

2. Up to 400 cfs would be pumped from the DMC to the CA to minimize impacts on water deliveries attributable to required reductions in water levels in the DMC south of the Intertie, or the CA north of the Intertie, for system maintenance or due to an emergency shutdown.

3. Up to 900 cfs would be conveyed from the CA to the DMC using gravity flow to minimize impacts on water deliveries attributable to required reductions in water level in the CA south of the Intertie, or the DMC north of the Intertie, for system maintenance or due to an emergency shutdown of the DMC, Tracy Pumping Plant, or Tracy Fish Facility.

Written comments must be received by close of business on Thursday, December 30, 2004, and should be sent to: Ms. Patricia Roberson, Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, MP-720, Sacramento, CA 95825. Comments may also be faxed to Ms. Roberson at 916-978-5094 or e-mailed to proberson@mp.usbr.gov. For additional information or to request a CD or hard copy (2 volumes) of the Draft EA/IS, please contact Ms. Roberson at 916-978-5074, TDD 916-978-5608, or by e-mail. The Draft EA/IS is also available online at www.usbr.gov/mp, scroll to In The News and click on DMC/CA Intertie Draft EA/IS. If you need help accessing documents online, please contact Ms. Lynnette Wirth at 916-978-5102 or e-mail lwirth@mp.usbr.gov.

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Relevant Link:

DMC/CA Intertie Draft EA/IS