Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Proposed Buckhorn Reservoir Expansion Project in Wilson County, NC

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Corps of Engineers

Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)

for the Proposed Buckhorn Reservoir Expansion Project in Wilson County,

NC

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, DOD.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The city of Wilson, North Carolina, has made application for a

Clean Water Act, Department of the Army Section 404 permit, to

discharge fill material for the construction of a dam to impound water

on Contentnea Creek, Wilson County, North Carolina. The proposed dam

would be located immediately downstream of the existing Buckhorn

Reservoir dam and would inundate the existing reservoir site. The

existing reservoir is no longer adequate to meet the water supply needs

of the city of Wilson. The proposed reservoir would meet the projected

water supply needs of the city for the next 50 years.

addresses: Wilmington District, Corps of Engineers, Environmental

Resources Branch, P.O. Box 1890, Wilmington, North Carolina 28402-1890.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. William F. Adams, Environmental

Resources Branch, (910) 251-4748 or Mr. David Franklin, Regulatory

Branch, (910) 251-4952.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Construction of the proposed dam and

reservoir requires a Clean Water Act, Department of the Army Section

404 permit, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

1. The proposed dam and reservoir would expand the existing

municipal water supply reservoir. The proposed reservoir would inundate

a total of 2,303 acres, including the existing 740-acre Buckhorn Water

Supply Reservoir, with a normal pool at elevation 148 feet mean sea

level, and provide a 29.0-million gallons per day safe yield of raw

water for the city water supply.

2. The DEIS is being prepared in accordance with the requirements

of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and will

address the project's relationship to all other applicable Federal and

State laws and Executive Orders. The DEIS will contain no designation

of an alternative preferred by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The

decision on the Department of the Army section 404 permit application

will be made with full consideration of the public interest after the

comment period on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and

the Section 404 public notice has concluded.

3. The scoping process has consisted of an interagency scoping

meeting on November 6, 1990, to allow opportunity for agencies to

identify issues, studies needed, and alternatives to be addressed. In

addition, a Draft Environmental Assessment was sent to Federal and

State agencies for review and comment on August 8, 1991.

4. The significant issues that will be addressed in the DEIS are

the impacts of the proposed project on wetlands, fish and wildlife

habitat, endangered species, and the social and economic

considerations.

5. Fourteen alternatives to the proposed action are being evaluated

including the no action alternative.

6. The DEIS is currently scheduled for distribution to the public

in November 1994 and the FEIS is scheduled for distribution in June

1995.

Kenneth L. Denton,

Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 94-23399 Filed 9-21-94; 8:45am]

BILLING CODE 3710-GN-M