Notice2025-16833
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report and Hold Public Scoping Meetings for North-to-South Water Transfers
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Published
September 3, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentReclamation Bureau
Abstract
Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) will prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate a range of alternatives for potential one-year water transfer activities subject to proposal, review, and approval on an annual basis (the "Proposed Action"). Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (SLDMWA) will prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the same range of potential north-to-south water transfer activities (the "Project") concurrent with the EIS preparation. A joint EIS/EIR will be prepared to examine the effects of water transfers between willing buyers and sellers when circumstances allow. To afford an informational opportunity for comprehensive environmental review otherwise unavailable to the public, Reclamation's responsibilities are defined under Federal law and it is serving as the Lead Agency for the "Proposed Action" under NEPA and SLDMWA is the Lead Agency under CEQA for the "Project." Reclamation is requesting comments on alternatives and effects, as well as on relevant information, studies, or analyses with respect to the proposed action.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 168 (Wednesday, September 3, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 168 (Wednesday, September 3, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42609-42612]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16833]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
[RR02015200, 25XR0680A1, RX.02148941.332WT00]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement/Environmental Impact Report and Hold Public Scoping Meetings
for North-to-South Water Transfers
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) will
prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate a
range of alternatives for potential one-year water transfer activities
subject to proposal, review, and approval on an annual basis (the
``Proposed Action''). Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA), San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (SLDMWA) will
prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the same range of
potential north-to-south water transfer activities (the ``Project'')
concurrent with the EIS preparation. A joint EIS/EIR will be prepared
to examine the effects of water transfers between willing buyers and
sellers when circumstances allow. To afford an informational
opportunity for comprehensive environmental review otherwise
unavailable to the public, Reclamation's responsibilities are defined
under Federal law and it is serving as the Lead Agency for the
``Proposed Action'' under NEPA and SLDMWA is the Lead Agency under CEQA
for the ``Project.'' Reclamation is requesting comments on alternatives
and effects, as well as on relevant information, studies, or analyses
with respect to the proposed action.
DATES: Submit written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR on or before
October 3, 2025.
Three public scoping meetings will be held by Reclamation and
SLDMWA to inform interested parties about the proposed project
alternatives and to solicit comments on the scope and content of the
EIS/EIR. The meetings will be held both virtually and in-person. The
dates and locations of the meetings will be announced at least 15 days
in advance through the local media, newspapers, and the project website
listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments on the proposed content and scope of
the EIS/EIR to Nicole Johnson, Bureau of Reclamation, California-Great
Basin Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825; by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#66080c090e08150908261315041448010910"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="117f7b7e797f627e7f51646273633f767e67">[email protected]</span></a>; or at the public scoping meetings using the link
from the website listed below in this section. Oral comments received
during the scoping meetings will be recorded. If you do not wish to be
recorded, you may submit written comments by mail or email to the
addresses listed above. All comments received during the public comment
period will be considered and addressed in the EIS/EIR, as appropriate.
The dates and locations of the three public scoping meetings, along
with links to attend virtually, will be posted to the project website
at (<a href="https://www.usbr.gov/mp/north-to-south-water-transfers-program.html">https://www.usbr.gov/mp/north-to-south-water-transfers-program.html</a>).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Johnson, Bureau of Reclamation,
California-Great Basin Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825;
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#86e8ece9eee8f5e9e8c6f3f5e4f4a8e1e9f0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1a74707572746975745a6f697868347d756c">[email protected]</span></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:
Project Background
Hydrologic conditions, climatic variability, and regulatory
requirements that govern the operation of water projects commonly
affect water supply availability in California. This variability can
strain water availability in areas that are dependent on the delivery
of Central Valley Project (CVP) supplies to meet most, if not all, of
the water demand. Historically, water entities have implemented one-
year water transfers to supplement decreased water supplies and meet
existing demand. These transfers have become a common tool in water
resource planning. Reclamation and SLDMWA jointly conduct a
comprehensive environmental analysis of a range of
[[Page 42610]]
alternatives for potential one-year transfer activities over a period
of years, to facilitate responsible transfers when circumstances allow.
A water transfer involves an agreement between a willing seller and
a willing buyer, and available infrastructure capacity to convey water
between the two parties. To make water available for transfer, the
willing seller must take an action to reduce the consumptive use of
water (such as idling cropland or pumping groundwater in lieu of using
surface water) or releasing additional water from reservoir storage.
This water would be conveyed to the buyers' service area for beneficial
use. The EIS/EIR will evaluate potential environmental impacts of a
large number of transfers and will conservatively assume that the
entire range of transfer methods included in each alternative would
occur each year over a defined timeframe. Actual water transfers occur
far less frequently and in much smaller volumes. Water transfers would
only be used to help meet existing demands and would not serve any new
demands in the buyers' service areas. The range of alternatives for
potential one-year water transfer activities to be evaluated in the
EIS/EIR would not directly or indirectly affect growth beyond what is
already planned.
Each potential transfer must be proposed, reviewed, and approved on
an annual basis. In all instances, the potential transfer activities to
be studied in the EIS/EIR, if and when they are proposed, are subject
to individual review and approval on an annual basis based on real-time
assessment of hydrologic conditions, regulatory requirements, and other
operation limitations.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action
Reclamation's primary purpose in reviewing a range of alternatives
for potential one-year water transfer activities is to facilitate and
approve the voluntary one-year transfers of water from willing sellers,
located primarily upstream of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta),
to willing buyers, located primarily south of the Delta, and in the San
Francisco Bay Area, in accordance with law, policy, rules, regulations,
and contracts then in effect. The transferred water is needed by water
users that are at risk of experiencing water shortages and who require
these supplemental water supplies to meet anticipated demands.
Project Area (Area of Analysis)
The project area includes the potential Seller Service Area,
primarily upstream of the Delta and the east side of the San Joaquin
River, and the Buyer Service Area, primarily south of the Delta and in
the San Francisco Bay Area. Sellers include water rights holders on the
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers or their tributaries, including the
Feather, Yuba, American, Stanislaus, and Merced rivers. Most transfers
would need to move through the Delta to be delivered to buyers.
Potential buyers are located south and west of the Delta, and include
the Contra Costa Water District, the East Bay Municipal Utility
District, and eight member agencies of SLDMWA.
Alternative Development
NEPA and CEQA require an EIS and EIR, respectively, to identify a
reasonable range of alternatives and provide guidance on the
identification and screening of such alternatives. Reclamation, in
collaboration with SLDMWA, reviewed the purpose and need/project
objectives statement and previous studies in their initial effort to
develop conceptual alternatives. This process identified an initial
list of more than twenty-two measures that could, in part, contribute
to the purpose and need/project objectives. Reclamation and SLDMWA then
developed and applied a set of screening considerations to determine
which measures should move forward for further analysis and be
considered as action alternatives. These preliminary alternatives will
be reevaluated after the public scoping period to consider any
additional measures or alternatives recommended through the public
scoping process.
Preliminary Alternatives To Be Considered
The EIS/EIR will consider a range of reasonable alternatives,
consistent with 43 CFR 46.415(b) and 43 CFR 46.420(b) and (c),
including a No Action Alternative. The preliminary range of potential
project alternatives identified by Reclamation, in collaboration with
SLDMWA, for analysis in the EIS/EIR are described below.
Full Range of Transfers Alternative
This alternative combines all potential transfer methods that met
the purpose and need and were carried forward through the screening
process. Transfer methods included in the Full Range of Transfers
Alternative are:
<bullet> Conservation: Conservation transfers include actions to
reduce the diversion of surface water by the transferring entity by
reducing irrecoverable water losses. The amount of reduction in
irrecoverable losses determines the amount of transferrable water.
<bullet> Cropland idling: Cropland idling makes water available for
transfer that would have been consumptively used by the crop. Water
would be made available on the same pattern throughout the growing
season as it would have otherwise been consumed had a crop been
planted. The irrigation season generally lasts from April or May
through September for most crops in the Sacramento Valley.
<bullet> Groundwater substitution: Transfer of water made available
through groundwater substitution actions occur when sellers choose to
pump groundwater in lieu of diverting surface water supplies, thereby
making the surface water available for transfer. Water could be made
available for transfer by the agricultural users during the irrigation
season of April through September.
<bullet> Crop shifting: For crop shifting transfers, water is made
available when farmers shift from growing a higher water use crop to a
lower water use crop. The difference in the accepted evapotranspiration
of applied water values between the two crops would be the amount of
water that can be transferred.
<bullet> Reservoir release: Buyers could acquire water by
purchasing surface water stored in reservoirs owned by non-Project
entities (not part of the CVP or State Water Project [SWP]). To ensure
that purchasing this water would not affect downstream users,
transferred water would be limited to that which would not have
otherwise been released downstream absent the transfer.
Transfers would only be implemented through agreements between
willing sellers and buyers. The upper limit for transfers in any one
year would be consistent with the transfer volumes in the current
Biological Opinion for the Coordinated Long-term Operation of the
Central Valley Project and State Water Project. Through-Delta transfers
would be limited to the transfer window provided by Reclamation and
DWR, typically July 1 through November 30, unless pumping capacity is
restricted by Reclamation and DWR. This alternative proposes a variety
of methods that buyers and sellers can select from to implement in a
given transfer year. Some methods in this alternative may not be
implemented if there are no willing sellers or buyers interested in
that particular method. Reclamation's role would be to approve and
facilitate transfers that comply with Federal and State law and would
not include
[[Page 42611]]
negotiating among buyers and sellers. SLDMWA, on behalf of its member
agencies, and other interested buyers would negotiate one-year transfer
agreements with willing sellers, including agreeing upon methods of
making water available for transfer and quantities to be made
available.
No Cropland Idling/Shifting Transfers Alternative
This alternative would consider a subset of the methods that met
the purpose and need and were carried forward through the screening
process. Methods in the No Cropland Idling/Shifting Transfers
Alternative include conservation, groundwater substitution, and
reservoir release transfers.
No Groundwater Substitution Transfers Alternative
This alternative would consider a subset of the methods that met
the purpose and need and were carried forward through the screening
process. Methods in the No Groundwater Substitution Transfers
Alternative include conservation, cropland idling, crop shifting, and
reservoir release transfers.
Other Alternatives
Public and agency input during the scoping process for the EIS/EIR
may identify other alternatives for consideration. These will be
evaluated in comparison to the preliminary range of alternatives
identified above. In addition, in accordance with the requirements of
both NEPA and CEQA, the EIS/EIR will evaluate a No Action/No Project
Alternative. A No Action/No Project Alternative will be defined to
characterize current and reasonably foreseeable future environmental
conditions, given the continued operation of water resource projects or
facilities, such as the SWP and CVP, in combination with planned water
resource projects or facilities that are approved or are authorized but
not yet implemented.
Summary of Potential Impacts
The EIS/EIR will describe the reasonably foreseeable environmental
effects of the proposed action and the alternatives, and the
significance of those effects. The EIS/EIR will also evaluate the
cumulative impacts of the project when considered in conjunction with
other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future projects.
The EIS/EIR will include a detailed analysis and will focus on
potential environmental impacts, including:
<bullet> Surface Water Supply: Transfers could change flows in
surface water bodies and the annual supply of water available to
buyers.
<bullet> Water Quality: Transfers could impact the level of
sediment, organic carbon, and contaminants in water bodies. Changes in
Delta inflow and outflow, reservoir storage, and river flows from
transfers could impact water quality.
<bullet> Groundwater: Transfers could impact groundwater levels,
land subsidence, and groundwater quality from groundwater substitution
pumping.
<bullet> Geology and Soils: Transfers could increase soil loss and
erosion from land idling. Changes in streamflow from transfers could
also increase erosion.
<bullet> Air Quality: Transfers could impact fugitive dust emission
from agricultural land use changes and impact emissions of air
pollutants from groundwater substitution pumping.
<bullet> Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Transfers could impact
greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural land use changes and
groundwater substitution pumping.
<bullet> Fisheries: Transfers could alter flows, hydrologic
conditions, and water levels in rivers and creeks, the Delta, and
reservoirs supporting fisheries resources.
<bullet> Terrestrial Resources: Transfers could alter habitat
availability and suitability, including seasonally flooded agriculture
fields and associated irrigation waterways. Such habitat alterations
could affect terrestrial wildlife resources such as the Federally
threatened Giant Garter Snake (Thamnophis gigas).
<bullet> Agricultural Land Use: Transfers could impact the amount
of land categorized as Prime Farmland, Farmland of Statewide or Local
Importance, or Unique Farmland under the Federal Farmland Protection
Policy Act or the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program or convert
agricultural lands under the Williamson Act and other land resource
programs to an irreversible or incompatible use.
<bullet> Cultural and Tribal Resources: Transfers could impact
cultural or tribal resources by impacting fisheries, river flows or
reservoir levels.
<bullet> Visual Resources: Transfers could degrade the existing
landscape character or scenic attractiveness of visual resources in the
project area.
<bullet> Recreation: Transfers could alter river flows and
reservoir water levels impacting water-based recreation opportunities.
<bullet> Utilities and Power: Transfers could change the power
generated by reservoir and facilities.
<bullet> Flood Control: Transfers could change storage levels in
reservoirs and river flows, potentially affecting flood control
capacity.
These issue areas will be discussed in the EIS/EIR, and reasonable
mitigation measures will be recommended to avoid, minimize, or
compensate for adverse effects caused by the proposed action or
alternatives.
Statutory Authority and Anticipated Permits
NEPA [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.] requires that Federal agencies
conduct an environmental analysis of their proposed actions to
determine if the actions may significantly affect the human
environment. The EIS/EIR will analyze the environmental effects that
may result from the implementation of the proposed action and
alternatives. In addition to NEPA and CEQA, various other Federal,
State, and local authorizations may be required for the Proposed
Action. Applicable Federal laws include, but are not limited to,
Endangered Species Act, Magnuson[hyphen]Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and Clean Water
Act.
Schedule for the Decision-Making Process
Reclamation and SLDMWA will review and consider comments received
during scoping and will prepare a scoping report. After the Draft EIS/
EIR is completed, anticipated in 2025, Reclamation will publish a
notice of availability (NOA) and request public comments on the Draft
EIS/EIR. After the public comment period ends, Reclamation will then
develop the Final EIS and anticipates making the Final EIS/EIR
available to the public in 2026. Reclamation may issue a Record of
Decision (ROD) no sooner than 30 days after the Final EIS/EIR is
released.
Public Disclosure
Before including your name, address, telephone 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.
How to Request Reasonable Accommodation
If special assistance or interpretation is required to participate
in the public
[[Page 42612]]
scoping meeting, please contact Nicole Johnson (contact information
provided above) as far in advance as possible, and no less than 72
hours in advance, to enable Reclamation to secure the needed services.
If a request cannot be honored, the requestor will be notified.
Information regarding this proposed action is available in alternative
formats upon request.
Adam Nickels,
Acting Regional Director, California Great Basin Region.
[FR Doc. 2025-16833 Filed 9-2-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4332-90-P
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