NOA of the Partially Recirculated DEIR for SWP Water Supply Amendments for Water Management Project
*Notice updated May 12, 2020
NOTICE is hereby given that a Partially Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) prepared by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is available for public review.
TITLE: STATE WATER PROJECT WATER SUPPLY AMENDMENTS FOR WATER MANAGEMENT–
Partially Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
In October 2018, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) circulated the State Water Project Water Supply Contract Amendments for Water Management and California Waterfix Draft Environmental Impact Report (2018 DEIR), State Clearinghouse Number 2018072033. On May 2, 2019, the Director of DWR issued a memo withdrawing approval of California WaterFix. On May 20, 2019 DWR and the SWP Public Water Agencies (PWAs) held a public meeting and negotiated a change to the June 27, 2018 Agreement in Principle (AIP) to remove the objective that would have addressed the cost allocation of California WaterFix. Therefore, this Partially Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report provides an amended project description that reflects removal of the AIP provisions regarding cost allocation for California WaterFix.
The proposed project is located within the State Water Project (SWP) Service Area, which includes the water delivery facilities of the SWP and service areas of the PWAs that receive water from the SWP. The proposed project would add, delete, and modify provisions of the Contracts and clarify certain terms of the Contracts that will provide greater water management regarding transfers and exchanges of SWP water within the SWP service area. The proposed project would not build new or modify existing SWP facilities nor change any of the PWAs Annual Table A amounts. The proposed project would not change the water supply delivered by the SWP, as SWP water would continue to be delivered to the PWAs consistent with current Contract terms and all regulatory requirements.
LOCATION:
The proposed project does not have a specific physical location. However, the environmental analysis prepared in the Partially Recirculated DEIR will address whether implementation of the proposed project would affect areas within the State connected with operation and management of the SWP. Therefore, the proposed project study area consists of the areas encompassing SWP operations and facilities, as well as PWA service areas.
REVIEW: The review period for the Partially Recirculated DEIR begins February 28, 2020 and ends June 1, 2020 Copies of the DEIR can be reviewed, here.
Comments regarding the Partially Recirculated DEIR should be submitted in writing to: Brian “BG” Heiland, Principal Engineer, State Water Project, Department of Water Resources, P.O. Box 942836, Sacramento, CA 94236-0001 or by e-mail to: WMTAmendment@water.ca.gov. Comments should focus only on the new information about the proposed project. Comments are due no later than 5:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on June 1, 2020 which is 94 days after publication of this notice.
PRIVACY NOTE: Comments from individual respondents, including names and home addresses of respondents, will be made available for public review. You may request DWR withhold your contact information from public disclosure, which will be honored to the extent allowable under California law. If you wish DWR to consider withholding this information, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comments.