Proposed Long-Term Water Service Contract Renewal; Frenchman- Cambridge and Bostwick Divisions; Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program; Nebraska and Kansas

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

Proposed Long-Term Water Service Contract Renewal; Frenchman-

Cambridge and Bostwick Divisions; Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program;

Nebraska and Kansas

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a draft environmental impact

statement.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Sec. 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Reclamation

(Reclamation) will prepare a draft environmental impact statement (EIS)

on the proposed renewal of long-term water service contracts for the

following irrigation districts in the Republican River basin (Basin) in

Nebraska and Kansas: Frenchman-Cambridge, Frenchman Valley, Bostwick

Irrigation District in Nebraska, and Kansas Bostwick No.2. Existing

water service contracts begin to expire in December of 1996.

The purpose of this action is to provide for the continued

beneficial use of Federally developed water within the Basin.

Reclamation is proposing to renew long-term water service contracts for

the four irrigation districts in accordance with current law and policy

while examining all reasonable alternatives to balance contemporary

surface water needs within the Basin.

Reclamation has scheduled a series of public information/scoping

meetings in connection with the development of the draft EIS. These

meetings have been scheduled to inform the public of the status of

contract renewal, to allow for public comment on the preliminary

management scenarios being evaluated in the draft Resource Management

Assessment (RMA) process, to inform the public of significant issues

identified to date, to identify additional significant issues that

should be analyzed in the draft EIS, and to identify issues related to

Indian trust assets. A draft EIS is expected to be completed and

available for review and comment early in 1997.

DATES: The schedule for the scoping meetings is:

March 18, 7:00 p.m., Belleville, KS, Armory Building

March 19, 2:00 p.m., Manhattan, KS, Pottorf Hall in Cico Park

March 20, 2:00 p.m., Lincoln, NE, Quality Inn at the Airport

March 21, 7:00 p.m., Superior, NE, Superior High School

March 27, 7:00 p.m., McCook, NE, Fairgrounds Community Building

March 28, 7:00 p.m., Alma, NE, Alma Public School

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Jill Manring, Natural Resource

Specialist, Bureau of Reclamation, Nebraska-Kansas Area Office, Post

Office Box 1607, Grand Island, Nebraska 68802-1607; Telephone: (308)

389-4557.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Reclamation constructed Bonny, Lovewell, and

Enders reservoirs and Hugh Butler, Harry Strunk, and

[[Page 7804]]

Swanson lakes in the Basin in the 1940's and 1950's pursuant to the

Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program of the Flood Control Act of 1944.

During this same period, the Corps of Engineers constructed Harlan

County Lake and Milford Reservoir on the Republican River pursuant to

the same authority. Only Milford Reservoir near the confluence of the

Republican and Kansas rivers has no storage allocated to irrigation.

Prior to initiating construction on the individual projects,

Reclamation negotiated and entered into long-term water service

contracts with the irrigation districts. The initial long-term water

service contracts were issued for 40-year terms, became effective upon

completion of the respective projects, and began to expire in December

of 1996.

The location of the reservoirs and irrigation districts within a

common watershed and similar expiration dates for the water service

contracts provided Reclamation an opportunity to evaluate the direct,

indirect, and cumulative effects of long-term water service contract

renewal from a watershed perspective. Reclamation initiated its

watershed analysis by preparing the RMA to identify water-related

resources within the Basin, document their historic and existing

conditions, identify resource trends and/or predict future conditions,

propose goals and objectives for resource management, and provide a

framework for development of the range of alternatives necessary for

the comprehensive EIS. Much of the information gathered for, and

incorporated into, the RMA will be used to prepare the draft EIS.

Prior to beginning the RMA, Reclamation held seven public

information meetings in Nebraska and Kansas in March of 1995 to

disseminate information about the environmental compliance and contract

renewal processes and to identify existing sources of information, data

gaps, and issues. Information obtained at these meetings helped

identify concerns about resource management in the Basin, Indian trust

assets, and data gaps which must be addressed during the NEPA

compliance process.

An extensive range of management scenarios will be formulated for

the RMA that are unconstrained by existing law or regulation. The

initial range of management scenarios includes over 40 options and

varies from no change from current management to optimizing deliveries

of water for irrigation at the expense of other beneficial uses to

optimizing reservoir management for fisheries and recreation at the

expense of irrigation to restoring the natural hydrograph to the degree

possible under constraint of reduced base flows. All of the preliminary

management scenarios will be evaluated in the RMA process through

hydrologic modeling and other techniques to identify those scenarios

which are considered feasible. It should be recognized that some of the

management scenarios ultimately identified in the RMA may include

actions beyond Reclamation's authority to implement. The RMA process

will conclude with the identification of resource management goals and

objectives and a broad range of feasible management scenarios. Further

screening and evaluation during the environmental compliance process

will produce an ultimate range of reasonable alternatives that will be

considered and evaluated in detail in the EIS. Both the RMA and EIS

will assess potential impacts to Indian trust assets.

A special edition of the Republican River Roundup, a public

information newsletter, is available from Ms. Judy O'Sullivan at the

above address. The special edition of the newsletter includes an

abstract of the draft RMA, information concerning management scenarios

under consideration, and sample graphs and tables found in the RMA. The

draft RMA is expected to be completed and available for review and

comment at the scoping meetings or from Ms. O'Sullivan in late March. A

draft EIS is expected to be completed and available for review and

comment early in 1997.

Anyone interested in additional information concerning the

environmental compliance or water service contract renewal processes,

having suggestions regarding significant environmental issues, or

having input about concerns or issues related to Indian trust assets

should contact Ms. Manring at the above address.

Dated: February 23, 1996.

Neil Stessman,

Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 96-4670 Filed 2-28-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-94-P