[Federal Register: December 17, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 242)]
[Notices]
[Page 75560-75561]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17de04-91]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement
for the Buckman Water Diversion Project, Santa Fe County, New Mexico
AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. Forest Service,
Agriculture.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management, Taos Field Office, and
Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest, announce the availability of
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Buckman Water
Diversion Project.
DATES: The Buckman Water Diversion Project DEIS will be available for
review for 60 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal
Register. The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service can best
utilize your comments and resource information submissions within the
60 day review period provided above. Any meetings or public involvement
activities associated with distribution of the DEIS will be announced
at least 15 days in advance through the local media, at Web site http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nm.blm.gov
, and/or mailings.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the DEIS have been sent to affected Federal,
State, and local government agencies and to interested parties, and
will be available via the Internet at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nm.blm.gov.
Copies of the DEIS will also be available at the following
locations:
Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office, 1474
Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505.
Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest, 1474 Rodeo Road,
Santa Fe, NM 87505.
Tetra Tech, Santa Fe Office, 502 West Cordova Road, Santa
Fe,NM 87505.
City of Santa Fe, Sangre de Cristo Water Division, 801
West San Mateo, Santa Fe, NM 87504.
Santa Fe County, Utilities Department, 205 Montezuma Ave.,
Santa Fe, NM 87501.
USDI Bureau of Reclamation, 555 Broadway Ave.,
Albuquerque, NM 87102.
Comments must be sent to Mr. Sandy Hurlocker (Buckman Diversion
Comments), Espanola Ranger District, PO Box 3307, Espanola, New Mexico
87533. E-mail comments may be directed to the following e-mail address:
comments-southwestern-santafe-espanola@fs.fed.us
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTRACT: The Bureau of Land Management contact
is Ms. Sher Churchill, Planning and Environmental Coordinator, Taos,
Field Office, 226 Cruz Alta Rd., Taos, New Mexico 87571, telephone
(505) 751-4725. The Forest Service contact is Mr. Sandy Hurlocker, NEPA
Coordinator, Espanola Ranger District, P.O. Box 3307, Espanola, New
Mexico 87533, telephone (505) 753-7331.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project area is located northwest of
Santa Fe, New Mexico. The DEIS describes and analyzes the impacts of
alternatives for approximately 9 miles of upgrades to an existing
access road and for construction and operation of a water diversion
intake on the Rio Grande; sediment settling ponds; pumps and water
pipelines to move the withdrawn water approximately 15 miles to the
vicinity of its use; two water treatment plants; and and two power
lines a 115 Kv and a 12.47 Kv plus one substation.
If authorized, the project will be predominantly located on public
lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest
Service; and a relatively small portion of the project facilities will
be located on private lands and Bureau of Land Management lands leased
to the City of Santa Fe.
The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are co-lead
agencies for this project; the Department of Interior Bureau of
Reclamation (contributing funds), City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County
are cooperating agencies. The City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County and Las
Companas Limited Partnership are the project applicants.
The project applicants (City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, and Las
Companas Limited Partnership) have proposed the Buckman Water Diversion
Project to meet the immediate need for a sustainable means of accessing
water supplies that make more direct use of the Applicants' water
rights by diverting San Juan-Chama Project water and native Rio Grande
water while reducing impacts to the aquifer. The Applicants propose to
construct and operate a surface water diversion facility at the Rio
Grande near the western terminus of Buckman Road located within the
Santa Fe National Forest, near the existing Buckman Well Field. The
water will be pumped to the Santa Fe vicinity where it will serve
municipal and community water supply customers.
The Buckman Water Diversion is proposed to be constructed with the
capacity necessary to meet the near-term need for water, based on
physical, technical, and environmental limitations. The proposed
project has an independent utility from the long-term water management
strategy being undertaken by the City and the County.
The scoping process has included public meetings, field reviews,
and interactions with various State and
[[Page 75561]]
Federal agencies. Issues identified during scoping led to the
development of alternatives to a number of components in the proposed
action. Also, on-going discussions and evaluations conducted by the
lead agencies and Applicants have resulted in the identification of
additional action items (such as power infrastructure and road
upgrades) that have been incorporated into the proposed action and
other action alternatives. The DEIS describes and analyzes the direct,
indirect and cumulative effects of a range of action alternatives and
the No Action alternative in detail. The alternatives, including the
Agencies' Preferred Alternative, conform to existing laws and
regulations, and provide for resource protection.
Sam DesGeorges,
BLM Taos Field Manager.
Gilbert Zepeda,
Santa Fe Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 04-26871 Filed 12-16-04; 8:45 am]