Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement To Evaluate Aquifer Appropriations at the Burr Well Field and To Fund the Design and Construction of the Northeast Phase of the Lincoln-Pipestone Rural Water System

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), USDA announces its intent

to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant to the

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.)

in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality regulations for

implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508) and

Agency regulations 7 CFR 1940-G. The primary scope of the EIS is to

evaluate water appropriations from a hydrological subunit of the

Prairie Coteau Aquifer at the Burr Well Field for the Lincoln-Pipestone

Rural Water System (LPRWS) in southwestern Minnesota and its potential

affects on surface water bodies and wetlands in the area and to

evaluate the environmental impacts of an expansion phase of LPRWS--the

Northeast Phase. With this notice, RUS invites any affected Federal,

State, and local Agencies and other interested persons to comment on

the scope and the significant issues to be analyzed in depth in the

EIS.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS will be accepted 30

days after the public scoping meetings are held.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Mark S. Plank, USDA, Rural

Economic and Community Development Services, Rural Utilities Service,

Program Support Staff, AG Box 0761, Washington, DC 20250, telephone

(202) 720-1640 or Fax (202) 690-4335.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John J. Melbo, USDA, Rural Economic and Community Development Services,

410 AgriBank Building, 375 Jackson Street, St. Paul, MN 55101-1853,

telephone (612) 290-3842 or Mark S. Plank, USDA, Rural Economic and

Community Development Services, Rural Utilities Service, Program

Support Staff, AG Box 0761, Room 6309, Washington, DC 20250-0761,

telephone (202) 720-1640.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: From a historic perspective, water in

adequate quantity and quality has been difficult to obtain in southwest

Minnesota. Periodic drought conditions often deplete already marginal

supplies. Shallow farm wells in the area have been affected by drought

and pollution from agricultural run-off that has resulted in nitrate

and pesticide contamination. Deeper wells in the area are costly to

construct and usually yield highly mineralized water with high levels

of iron, manganese, and sulfates. In an attempt to resolve water supply

difficulties, the LPRWS, headquartered in Lake Benton, Minnesota, was

organized as a Minnesota municipality for the sole purpose of

delivering and supplying high quality water supplies to rural users and

various municipalities. LPRWS is governed by a board of commissioners

who are appointed by the District Court. Water supply costs are borne

by LPRWS customers and through various federal grants.

LPRWS currently provides water service to 1,700 rural customers and

seventeen cities in southwest Minnesota. LPRWS has constructed its

water system in various phases and has utilized several well fields to

provide water for the different phases. The current phase, in which

concerns have been raised, is the Existing System North/Lyon County

Expansion project. The well field designed to supply water for this

phase and future service areas in the Burr Well Field. The Burr Well

Field is utilizing a subunit of the Prairie Coteau aquifer. The Prarie

Coteau aquifer is collectively defined as numerous lenticular bodies of

glacial outwash buried beneath a surficial layer of glacial till and

within a thick layer of glacial drift.

RUS, and its predecessor agencies, has provided a series of loans

and grants to fund infrastructure development for the LPRWS. As

required by NEPA, RUS has prepared a series of Environmental

Assessments (EA) for the various phases. The previous EA conducted for

the Existing North/Lyon County Expansion phase was completed in 1992

with an issuance of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on

February 17, 1992. During the construction phase of the water treatment

plant at the Burr Well Field concerns were raised by local citizens and

state regulatory bodies concerning potential impacts to surface water

bodies and wetland areas from groundwater appropriations at the Burr

Well Field. To respond to these concerns RUS decided to amend the

earlier EA and re-examine the issues raised by concerned parties. Upon

completion of the EA amendment, RUS concluded that an Environmental

Impact Statement was necessary to fully evaluate the technical issues

raised by the concerned parties.

The primary unresolved concern includes, but is not limited to, the

appropriation of water from the Prairie Coteau aquifer at the Burr Well

Field site. As mentioned above, the Burr Well Field is utilizing a

subunit of the Prairie Coteau aquifer. This subunit appears to be one

of the aforementioned lenticular bodies of outwash within a larger

deposit of glacial drift and is under artesian conditions within its

areal extent and at the well head site. The artesian nature of the

outwash body is the source of the concern. It is hypothesized that due

to localized artesian conditions, numerous surface water bodies and

wetland areas receive, through a hydraulic connection, an undetermined

quantity of water as recharge and that the recharge sustains water

levels in these areas. Since the Burr Well Field is utilizing this

aquifer, it is alleged that sustained appropriation of water at the

well head may adversely reduce recharge to area wetlands and lakes,

thus altering water budgets for these resources. The EIS will attempt

to evaluate these concerns, as well as, evaluate environmental impacts

from the construction of the Northeast Phase.

Two public meetings will be held in the project area to receive

oral and written comments. One meeting will be held in Minnesota and

the other one in South Dakota. Detail about these meetings will be

announced later in area newspapers. Oral comments received at

[[Page 30266]] this meeting will be accorded the same weight as written

comments. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will participate in

the EIS process as a cooperating agency.

After the scoping process and the initial environmental analysis

are completed RUS will issue a Draft EIS. A Notice of Availability of

the Drift EIS will be published in the Federal Register and area

newspapers, and public comments will again be solicited. Those persons

who choose not to comment on the scope of the document at this time but

desire a copy of the Draft EIS should sent their names and addresses to

Mark S. Plank at the address listed above. RUS anticipates releasing a

final EIS in about 16-18 months.

Dated: June 1, 1995.

Adam M. Golodner,

Acting Administrator, Rural Utilities Service.

[FR Doc. 95-14003 Filed 6-7-95; 8:45 am]

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