[Federal Register: February 22, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 36)]
[Notices]
[Page 9780-9781]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22fe08-44]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers
Intent To Prepare Draft Environmental Impact Statement for
Updated Water Control Manuals for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint
River Basin
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Mobile District,
intends to prepare an update and revision of the water control manuals
for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin. Concurrent
with that revision, a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will
be prepared, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA). The Draft EIS will address updated operating criteria and
guidelines for managing the water storage and release actions of agency
water managers and associated environmental impacts.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the manual update or
NEPA process can be answered by: Mr. Brian Zettle, Inland Environment
Team, Environment and Resources Branch, Planning and Environmental
Division, U.S. Army Engineer District-Mobile, Post Office Box 2288,
Mobile, AL 36628-0001; Telephone (251) 690-2115; or delivered by
electronic facsimile at (251) 694-3815; or E-mail:
brian.a.zettle@usace.army.mil. You may also request to be included on
the mailing list for public distribution of notices, meeting
announcements and documents associated with the preparation and review
of the Draft EIS.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background. Water control manuals are guidance documents that
assist Federal water managers in the operation of individual and
multiple interdependent Federal reservoirs on the same river system.
They provide technical, historical, hydrological, geographic,
demographic, policy and other information that guide the proper
management of reservoirs during times of high water, low water, and
normal conditions. The manuals contain water control plans for each of
the reservoirs within the basin system and specify how the various
reservoir projects will be operated as a balanced system. The manuals
also contain drought plans and zones to assist Federal water managers
in knowing when to reduce or increase reservoir releases and conserve
storage in the Federal reservoirs, and how to ensure the safety of dams
during extreme conditions such as floods. The authority and guidance
for the Corps to prepare and update these manuals may be found in
Section 7 of the 1944 Flood Control Act, and the following Corps of
Engineer Regulations: ER 1110-2-240, ER 1110-2-241, ER 1110-2-1941 and
ER 1110-2-8156.
The ACF Basin provides water resources for multiple purposes from
northwestern GA down, along the Alabama-Georgia border and then into
Florida and the Gulf Coast at Apalachicola Bay, extending a distance of
approximately 540 miles along the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Rivers
and an additional 350 miles on the Flint River, and encompassing an
area of approximately 19,600 square miles. The master operating manual
for the ACF River Basin dates to 1958, prior to the completion of most
of the reservoir projects in the basin, and the individual reservoir
project water control manuals were last updated at various dates as far
back as the 1970s and 1980s, with primarily administrative updates
approved in the 1990s. There are 16 major dams and reservoirs (five
Federal and 11 non-Federal) located in the basin. The Federal projects
owned and operated by the Corps include Buford Dam and Lake Lanier,
West Point Dam and Lake, Walter F. George Dam and Lake, George W.
Andrews Dam and Lake located on the Chattahoochee River; and Jim
Woodruff Dam and Lake Seminole located on the Apalachicola River at the
confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint River. The authorized project
purposes at the Corps lakes include flood control, hydropower,
navigation, water supply, water quality, fish and wildlife
conservation, and recreation.
Other non-Federal reservoirs located on the Chattahoochee River and
Flint River include power projects owned and operated by the Georgia
Power Company and Crisp County, Georgia. The non-Federal power lakes
are primarily run-of-river projects that do not impact Federal project
operations significantly, but operations between the Georgia Power
projects and the Federal projects are coordinated as necessary to meet
downstream water quality and water supply demands.
In 1989, a draft master manual for the ACF basin was proposed which
described operations current at that time. This draft manual was never
finalized due to the initiation of litigation by the State of Alabama,
which is still ongoing. However, since that time, Corps operations have
continued to conform with the operations described in the 1989 draft
manual and other more recently updated water control manuals for the
various Federal projects. The new manuals will eventually replace any
current ones and will address the basin-wide management of those water
resources.
Public participation throughout the water control manual revision
process is essential. The Corps invites full public participation at
all stages to promote open communication and better decision making.
All persons, stakeholders, and organizations that have an interest in
water-related resources in the ACF basin, including minority, low-
income, disadvantaged and Native American groups, are urged to
participate in this NEPA environmental analysis process. Assistance
will be provided upon request to anyone having difficulty understanding
how to participate. Dates and locations for public scoping meetings
will be announced by future publication in the Federal Register and in
the local news media. Tentative dates for publication of the draft
water control manuals and EIS and other opportunities for public
involvement will also be announced at that time. Public comments are
welcomed anytime throughout the NEPA process.
[[Page 9781]]
Cooperating Agencies. The lead responsibility for this action rests
with the Corps. The Corps intends to coordinate and/or consult with an
interagency team of Federal and State agencies during scoping and
preparation of the draft EIS. A decision will be made during the
scoping process whether other agencies will serve in an official role
as cooperating agencies.
Scoping. The Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa Rivers (ACT)/Apalachicola-
Chattahoochee-Flint Rivers (ACF) Comprehensive Study from 1990 to 1997
and ACF Compact negotiations from 1997 to 2004 involved the States
(Alabama, Florida and Georgia), stakeholders and the public in
identifying areas of concern; collecting and developing water resource,
environmental, and socioeconomic data; and developing tools to assist
in decisions affecting water resources within the two basins.
Development of the updated water control manuals and scoping for this
EIS will continue to build upon the knowledge and information developed
during the Comprehensive Study and subsequent Compact negotiations.
Scoping meetings were also held in the fall of 2006 associated with
initiation of a draft EIS for the Lake Lanier Interim Storage Contracts
associated with the Southeastern Federal Power Customers, Inc. vs. the
Secretary of the Army settlement agreement, and information gathered
during this scoping process will also contribute to the information
base for the ACF water control manual EIS. Additional scoping meetings
or workshops with agencies and stakeholder groups will be scheduled to
identify significant issues and data gaps, focus on the alternatives to
be evaluated, and to identify appropriate tools to assist in the
evaluation of alternatives and analysis of impacts.
Dated: February 13, 2008.
R. Daren Payne,
Lieutenant Colonel, Corps of Engineers, Acting District Commander.
[FR Doc. E8-3315 Filed 2-21-08; 8:45 am]
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