Notice2023-22077
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the December 2016 Record of Decision Entitled Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan
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Published
October 4, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentReclamation Bureau
Abstract
On June 6, 2023, the Secretary of the Interior's Acting Designee to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG), a Federal advisory committee, directed the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). The supplement is to the December 2016 Record of Decision for the Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan (LTEMP) Final Environmental Impact Statement and will analyze flow options to prevent smallmouth bass and other warmwater invasive nonnative fish from establishing below Glen Canyon Dam (by preventing additional spawning) and will analyze new information regarding the sediment accounting window associated with the LTEMP High-Flow Experiment (HFE) protocol.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68667-68669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22077]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
[RR040U2000, 23XR0680GB, RXN5570007.3200000]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement for the December 2016 Record of Decision Entitled Glen Canyon
Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: On June 6, 2023, the Secretary of the Interior's Acting
Designee to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG),
a Federal advisory committee, directed the Bureau of Reclamation
(Reclamation) to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
(SEIS). The supplement is to the December 2016 Record of Decision for
the Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan (LTEMP)
Final Environmental Impact Statement and will analyze flow options to
prevent smallmouth bass and other warmwater invasive nonnative fish
from establishing below Glen Canyon Dam (by preventing additional
spawning) and will analyze new information regarding the sediment
accounting window associated with the LTEMP High-Flow Experiment (HFE)
protocol.
DATES: This Federal Register notice initiates the public scoping
process for the SEIS. Reclamation requests that the public submit
comments concerning the scope of specific operational guidelines,
strategies, and any other issues that should be considered on or before
November 3, 2023.
Reclamation will host two public webinars to provide summary
information and receive oral comments. For specific information
concerning the dates, times, and links to the webinars, click on the
link provided in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
ADDRESSES: Please send written comments pursuant to this notice to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#206c74656d707365697360555342520e474f56"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="115d45545c414254584251646273633f767e67">[email protected]</span></a> or by mail to Bureau of Reclamation, Attn: LTEMP
SEIS Project Manager, 125 South State Street, Suite 800, Salt Lake
City, UT 84138. For information on the upcoming webinars, go to <a href="https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/amp/index.html">https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/amp/index.html</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen Callister, Adaptive
Management and Water Quality Division Manager, Bureau of Reclamation,
at (801) 524-3867, or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7e322a3b332e2d3b372d3e0b0d1c0c50191108"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="15594150584546505c4655606677673b727a63">[email protected]</span></a>. Please also visit
the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management website at <a href="https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/amp/index.html">https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/amp/index.html</a> for updates. Individuals in the
United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that
Reclamation intends to prepare an SEIS and a modified Record of
Decision for the 2016 LTEMP. Reclamation is issuing this Federal
Register notice pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; the Council on
Environmental Quality's regulations for implementing NEPA, 43 CFR parts
1500 through 1508; and the Department of the Interior NEPA regulations,
43 CFR part 46.
Background
The Colorado River Basin has been in a prolonged period of drought
and low-runoff conditions, and despite current projections of 2023
runoff being above average, the period from 2000 through 2023 is
currently estimated as the second driest period in more than a century
and one of the driest periods in the last 1,200 years.
As the water elevation at Lake Powell has declined, the epilimnion
(upper layer of water) where most fish reside has become closer to the
dam's intakes, which move water from the reservoir, into the dam
through the turbines for hydropower production, and downstream into the
Colorado River. The decrease in water elevation means that nonnative
fish in Lake Powell are now more likely than in prior years to become
entrained, passing through the dam and downstream into the Colorado
River. While some level of fish mortality occurs during passage through
the turbines, some fish survive. As Lake Powell elevations decline,
warmer water from the epilimnion is discharged, resulting in releases
of water with warmer temperatures. Warm water temperatures below the
dam create conditions that are suitable for warmwater nonnative fish to
reproduce and eventually establish populations. This is a concern
because smallmouth bass and other predatory invasive fish pose a threat
to federally listed fish species and other native fish downstream of
Glen Canyon Dam. Although invasive fish, including smallmouth bass,
have been detected
[[Page 68668]]
below the dam previously, the thermal conditions in the river (that is,
warmer waters) are now conducive for smallmouth bass reproduction and
establishment.
To respond to the changing conditions, the Secretary of the
Interior's Acting Designee to the AMWG directed Reclamation in August
2022, through the AMWG, to identify and analyze operational
alternatives at Glen Canyon Dam that may serve to disrupt spawning of
smallmouth bass and other warmwater invasive fish that pass through the
dam.
Reclamation undertook an environmental assessment (EA) in August
2022. The draft EA entitled Glen Canyon Dam/Smallmouth Bass (SMB) Flow
Options was released for public comment on February 24, 2023. Based on
the EA analysis and nearly 7,000 comments received, Reclamation
concluded that additional analysis was warranted.
Additionally, the increased temperatures of water releases,
entrainment of warmwater nonnative fish, and lower Lake Powell
elevations have resulted in the Department deciding to not implement
fall HFEs in 2015, 2021, and 2022, despite reaching input triggers for
sediment HFEs. The absence of spring HFEs during the first 10 years of
the HFE protocol, coupled with analyses documenting reduced transport
of fine sediments in years with low release volumes and low Lake Powell
elevations, have prompted the researchers to reassess aspects of the
scientific information supporting the HFE protocol. Assessment of the
protocol from its use over the past 11 years indicates a need to
evaluate the potential for longer sediment accounting periods and
implementations windows as described in the LTEMP Record of Decision.
The successful implementation of a spring HFE in April 2023 gives
preliminary credence to altering sediment accounting windows.
The LTEMP SEIS will also consider modifying the LTEMP HFE protocol
to incorporate the latest scientific information available. Over the
past 25 years, scientific information on the use and timing of HFEs has
improved understanding of how best to manage tributary-derived sediment
supplies below the dam. Refined evaluation of opportunities and
impediments for HFEs over the past decade under lower Lake Powell
reservoir levels warrants review of the HFE implementation protocols.
The LTEMP SEIS will re-evaluate the HFE sediment accounting period and
implementation window to more fully achieve the LTEMP goals as they
relate to using HFEs.
Purpose and Need
The purpose of the LTEMP SEIS is for Reclamation to analyze
additional flow options at Glen Canyon Dam in response to invasive
smallmouth bass and other warmwater nonnatives recently detected
directly below the dam. The need is to prevent the establishment of
smallmouth bass below the Glen Canyon Dam (by preventing additional
spawning), which could threaten core populations of threatened humpback
chub in and around the Little Colorado River and its confluence with
the Colorado River mainstem.
The LTEMP SEIS will also consider the HFE protocol by including the
latest scientific information to improve Reclamation's ability to
implement HFEs as originally intended in the LTEMP EIS. Specifically,
Reclamation is considering adjusting sediment accounting periods and
HFE implementation windows.
Preliminary Proposed Action
Reductions in water temperature combined with changes in flow
velocity may be vital tools that can be used to disrupt smallmouth bass
from successfully spawning and establishing a population. As such,
Reclamation has determined that an SEIS is necessary to pursue
implementation of additional flow options at Glen Canyon Dam. A range
of reservoir releases with temperature and flow velocity combinations
will be analyzed to determine efficacy of their ability to disrupt and
prevent smallmouth bass spawning behavior. Reclamation will also
analyze the sediment accounting periods and implementation windows
associated with the HFE protocol analyzed in LTEMP.
Alternatives To Be Considered
During the EA process, nearly 7,000 public comments were received.
Many of the substantial comments focused on the effects to hydropower
generation and revenues as well as the effects on Tribal resources.
Upon direction from the Secretary of the Interior's Acting Designee,
Reclamation is transitioning to an SEIS analysis.
For the LTEMP SEIS scoping process, Reclamation anticipates the
following preliminary alternatives will be considered:
<bullet> No Action.
<bullet> Four actions initially analyzed in the Glen Canyon Dam/
Smallmouth Bass Flow Options Draft Environmental Assessment (February
2023). The Draft EA can be accessed at this web address: <a href="https://www.usbr.gov/uc/DocLibrary/EnvironmentalAssessments/20230200-GCDSmallmouthBassFlowOps_Draft%20EA_508.pdf">https://www.usbr.gov/uc/DocLibrary/EnvironmentalAssessments/20230200-GCDSmallmouthBassFlowOps_Draft%20EA_508.pdf</a>.
<bullet> Hydropower flow option that does not include the use of
bypass to reduce water temperatures.
<bullet> Included in all but the No Action alternative will be a
revised annual sediment accounting period and implementation window
associated with the HFE protocol.
Summary of Expected Impacts
The LTEMP SEIS will analyze reasonably foreseeable impacts from the
alternatives considered. An initial analysis of impacts was done as
part of the Glen Canyon Dam/Smallmouth Bass Flow Options Draft
Environmental Assessment (February 2023). This initial analysis and
alternatives considered will be further informed by comments received
during the public EA comment process, the current SEIS scoping process
and analysis of the current hydrology. These analyses will build upon
and utilize information described in the 2016 LTEMP Final EIS and
relevant analyses. The analyses in the SEIS will consider potential
effects on the resources below Glen Canyon Dam, including natural and
cultural resources, endangered species, recreation, water resources,
hydropower resources, and other resources and uses. Reclamation will
use an interdisciplinary approach incorporating expertise in the
relevant resource fields.
Schedule
Reclamation is planning to provide opportunities for public
participation consistent with the NEPA process, including a 30-day
scoping period and a 45-day public comment period on the draft LTEMP
SEIS. The draft LTEMP SEIS is anticipated to be made available for
public review in the winter of 2023-2024 and the final LTEMP SEIS with
a Record of Decision, as appropriate, is anticipated to be available
during the early summer 2024. The proposed duration of the flow options
would potentially run through 2027. Any decisions regarding revisions
to the HFE protocol are anticipated to run through duration of the
LTEMP Record of Decision.
Cooperating Agencies
Reclamation will be inviting the cooperating and co-lead agencies
that participated in the LTEMP EIS to be cooperating agencies on the
current LTEMP SEIS. Federal agencies with jurisdiction by law or with
specialized expertise include the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service,
[[Page 68669]]
Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Western Area Power Administration.
Public Disclosure of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Wayne Pullan,
Regional Director, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Basin Region.
[FR Doc. 2023-22077 Filed 10-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4332-90-P
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