Notice2023-23127
Colorado River Reservoir Operations: Development of Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead
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Published
October 20, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentReclamation Bureau
Abstract
The Department of the Interior (Department) has issued a Scoping Summary Report on the Development of Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The Scoping Summary Report provides a summary of the comments received during the public scoping process and describes the Department's current, preliminary assessment of the proposed federal action, purpose and need, and scope of the environmental analysis to be included in the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS). The Department anticipates the DEIS will be published in December 2024 for public review.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 202 (Friday, October 20, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 202 (Friday, October 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72535-72536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23127]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
[RR03040000, 23XR0680A1, RX187860005004001]
Colorado River Reservoir Operations: Development of Post-2026
Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Department of the Interior (Department) has issued a
Scoping Summary Report on the Development of Post-2026 Operational
Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The Scoping
Summary Report provides a summary of the comments received during the
public scoping process and describes the Department's current,
preliminary assessment of the proposed federal action, purpose and
need, and scope of the environmental analysis to be included in the
draft environmental impact statement (DEIS). The Department anticipates
the DEIS will be published in December 2024 for public review.
ADDRESSES: The Scoping Summary Report is available on the Bureau of
Reclamation's website at <a href="https://www.usbr.gov/ColoradoRiverBasin/post2026/scoping/index.html">https://www.usbr.gov/ColoradoRiverBasin/post2026/scoping/index.html</a>. Printed copies of the report are available
upon request from the point of contact listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amanda Erath, Colorado River Post-2026
Program Coordinator, Bureau of Reclamation, at (303) 445-2766, or by
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f4978696849b8780c6c4c6c2b481879686da939b82"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8ae9f8e8fae5f9feb8bab8bccafff9e8f8a4ede5fc">[email protected]</span></a>. Please also visit the project website at
<a href="https://www.usbr.gov/ColoradoRiverBasin/post2026/index.html">https://www.usbr.gov/ColoradoRiverBasin/post2026/index.html</a>.
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: Pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and the Council on Environmental
Quality's Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of
NEPA, the Department is publishing the Scoping Summary Report as a
voluntary effort to assist in public understanding of this important
NEPA process. Based on the information summarized in the report, the
Department is preparing a DEIS starting with the development of a
reasonable range of alternatives that are technically and economically
feasible and meet the purpose and need for the proposed federal action
(40 CFR part 1508). Considering public input received to date, the
Department's current, preliminary assessment of the proposed federal
action, purpose and need, and scope of the environmental analysis to be
included in the DEIS are described below and in the Scoping Summary
Report.
Proposed Federal Action
The Bureau of Reclamation, acting on behalf of the Secretary of the
Interior (Secretary), proposes to take action to adopt specific
guidelines and coordinated reservoir management strategies to address
operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead through their full operating
range. This action would provide improved predictability to all water
users and managers in the Colorado River Basin by developing and
adopting objective guidelines for the operation of Glen Canyon Dam and
Hoover Dam to take effect when the current operating guidelines (the
2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and
Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead [2007 Interim
Guidelines]) expire in 2026. In addition, this action is designed to
provide for the sustainable management of the Colorado River system and
its resources under a wide range of potential future system conditions
due to a changing climate.
Based on public input, the Department anticipates the guidelines
would include the following elements:
(1) Identification of circumstances under which the Secretary would
allocate, reduce, or increase the annual amount of water available for
consumptive use from Lake Mead to the Lower Division states (Arizona,
California, and Nevada) at, below, or above 7.5 million acre-feet,
pursuant to the Supreme Court Decree in Arizona v. California.\1\
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\1\ The Department intends to meet any consultation requirements
identified in Article II(B)(3) of the Supreme Court Decree in
Arizona v. California through the ongoing NEPA process initiated by
the Federal Register Notice of June 16, 2023 (88 FR 39455-39458) and
the annual implementation of guidelines developed through this
process.
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(2) Coordinated operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead,
particularly under low reservoir conditions.
(3) Storage and delivery of conserved water in Lake Mead and/or
Lake Powell to increase the flexibility to meet water use needs from
both reservoirs, including the storage and delivery of non-system
water; exchanges; and water conserved through extraordinary measures by
or for tribal, agricultural, or municipal entities.
The proposed federal action allows for development of robust
operating guidelines for Lake Powell and Lake Mead without precluding
upstream or downstream actions needed to protect critical reservoir
elevations at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, such as the following:
<bullet> Approaches that consider total system storage in all major
Colorado River reservoirs and/or actual inflows to determine
coordinated operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
<bullet> Approaches that include opportunities for conservation,
augmentation, demand management, or other water management strategies.
<bullet> Approaches that include opportunities for conservation,
augmentation, demand management, or other water management strategies.
<bullet> Temporary emergency response operations at upstream
Colorado River reservoirs to protect critical infrastructure at Glen
Canyon Dam, so long as the project-specific operations of those
reservoirs remain within their respective Records of Decision.
The Department intends that the guidelines be interim in nature and
extend for at least the same duration as the 2007 Interim Guidelines
(approximately 20 years), subject to further consideration during the
NEPA process. Adoption of new guidelines for an interim (or limited)
period provides the opportunity to gain additional experience for
operating the reservoirs, thereby informing future operational and
water management decisions.
Recognizing additional authorities may be developed, it is the
intent of the Department to adopt and implement the guidelines in a
manner consistent with the Law of the River.\2\ It is also the
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intent of the Department that the guidelines be used to implement the
Criteria for Coordinated Long-Range Operation of Colorado River
Reservoirs Pursuant to the Colorado River Basin Project Act of
September 30, 1968 (LROC).
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\2\ The treaties, compacts, decrees, statutes, regulations,
contracts, and other legal documents and agreements applicable to
the allocation, appropriation, development, exportation, and
management of the waters of the Colorado River Basin are often
referred to as the ``Law of the River.'' There is no single,
universally-agreed upon definition of the ``Law of the River,'' but
it is useful as a shorthand reference to describe this longstanding
and complex body of legal agreements governing the Colorado River.
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Purpose and Need for the Proposed Federal Action
In accordance with NEPA implementing regulations, a statement of
purpose and need is required in an EIS to explain why the agency is
proposing the action. The ``need'' for the action may be described as
the underlying problem or opportunity to which the agency is responding
with the action; the ``purpose'' may refer to the goal or objective
that the agency is trying to achieve (43 CFR 46.420).
The proposed federal action is needed for the following reasons:
<bullet> The Secretary is legally required to coordinate operations
of Colorado River reservoirs: The Colorado River Basin Project Act of
1968 directs the Secretary to propose criteria for the coordinated
long-range operation of Colorado River reservoirs. In compliance with
this obligation, the LROC were developed and adopted by the Secretary
in 1970. The LROC provide general narrative guidance regarding Lake
Powell and Lake Mead operations but does not contain specific,
objective criteria to guide annual operations. To address this
inadequacy, the 2007 Interim Guidelines were developed to provide
objective criteria used by the Department to implement the LROC. These
guidelines have provided predictability needed by the entities that
receive Colorado River water to better plan for and manage available
water supplies from the Colorado River and other sources.
<bullet> 2007 Interim Guidelines are expiring: Current operational
guidelines expire during the 2026 operating year. The Department has
determined that specific, objective operational guidelines are
important to provide improved predictability and should be established
for another interim period beyond 2026.
<bullet> 2007 Interim Guidelines have not sufficiently reduced
risk: Based on operational experience since 2007, the current
guidelines are not robust enough to manage in a way that is
sufficiently protective of the resources dependent on the Colorado
River. Despite near-continuous drought-response actions in recent
years, low-reservoir conditions have persisted and new infrastructure
risks at Glen Canyon Dam have arisen. More robust and adaptive
guidelines are needed for the efficient and sustainable management of
the major mainstream Colorado River reservoirs and system resources.
<bullet> Imbalance between water supply and demand will be
exacerbated by increasingly likely low-runoff conditions: Climate
science indicates the Colorado River Basin is experiencing climate-
change induced aridification and that long-term and sustained drought
and low-runoff conditions should be expected in the future. These
conditions will exacerbate the now widely recognized imbalance between
water supply and demand in the Colorado River Basin. Robust and
flexible guidelines are needed to manage the Colorado River system and
its resources under a broad range of potential future hydrologic
conditions.
<bullet> Expanded and innovative use of conservation is needed:
Recognizing the anticipated future low-runoff conditions in the
Colorado River Basin, the Department has also determined a need for
guidelines that provide Colorado River water users, including Basin
Tribes, expanded opportunities to conserve, store, and take subsequent
delivery of water in and from Lake Mead and/or Lake Powell. The
guidelines should also support and integrate future efficiency
improvements and opportunities for augmentation.
<bullet> Addressing tribal concerns regarding Colorado River Basin
management is needed: Basin Tribes have expressed concern that the
current approach to Colorado River water management is insufficient to
address the range of interests, needs, and fundamental rights of the
Basin Tribes. The Department has determined a need for guidelines that
provide flexibility and predictability for Basin Tribes to remain able
to benefit from their water rights and have an opportunity to
participate in voluntary conservation programs.
The purpose for the proposed federal action is to:
<bullet> update and expand management guidelines for Colorado River
reservoirs, particularly for Lake Powell and Lake Mead;
<bullet> provide Colorado River water users, a greater degree of
predictability with respect to the amount of annual water available in
future years under anticipated increasing variability, low runoff and
low reservoir conditions;
<bullet> provide additional mechanisms for the conservation,
storage and delivery of water supplies in Colorado River reservoirs;
<bullet> provide new or enhanced opportunities for Basin Tribes to
benefit from their water rights; and
<bullet> provide flexibility to build resilience and accommodate
future needs and growth that are supported by Colorado River water
supplies, including the integration of unquantified tribal water rights
once they are resolved.
DEIS Approach
The DEIS will consider the best scientific information currently
available; actual operating experience since 2007; updated information
on infrastructure considerations at Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam;
trade-offs between the frequency and magnitude of reductions in water
deliveries; mechanisms to encourage water conservation, efficiency
improvements, and augmentation; and the effect of water storage in Lake
Powell and Lake Mead on water supply, power production, recreation,
environmental resources, cultural resources, and other relevant
resources and factors.
The geographic scope of the environmental analysis in the DEIS is
dependent upon the range of alternatives developed in the DEIS and
therefore will be determined later in the NEPA process.
Next Steps
With this Notice, the Department is transitioning to the next phase
of the NEPA process, which is to develop alternatives for analysis in
the DEIS. Reclamation has developed state-of-the-art web-based tools to
encourage and facilitate stakeholder collaboration during this phase
and intends to deploy these tools in the early stages of this phase in
the fall. It is the Department's intent that these tools support the
exploration and development of a broad range of reasonable alternatives
and foster collaborative consensus-based approaches to alternative
development.
Maria Camille Touton,
Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation.
[FR Doc. 2023-23127 Filed 10-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4332-90-P
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