Draft Environmental Assessment 2008 Conditional One Year Pre-approval of Transfers and Exchanges between Friant and Cross Valley Long-Term CVP Contractors and NCVP Contractors EA-07-120 U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Mid Pacific Region South Central California Area Office Fresno, California February 2008 This page intentionally left blank i Contents Section 1 Purpose and Need for Action...................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Purpose and Need ............................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Scope................................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Potential Issues.................................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Authorities for the Proposed Action ................................................................................... 4 Section 2 Alternatives Including Proposed Action..................................................................... 6 2.1 No Action Alternative......................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Proposed Action.................................................................................................................. 6 Deer Creek & Tule River Authority Member Districts: ..................................................... 7 Transfer Only Alternative - Alternative 2 ................................................................................. 11 Exchange Only Alternative - Alternative 3 ............................................................................... 11 Section 3 Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences ....................................... 12 3.1 Surface Water Resources ................................................................................................... 12 3.1.1 Affected Environment.............................................................................................. 12 3.1.2 Environmental Consequences .................................................................................. 15 Transfer Only Alternative -....................................................................................................... 15 Exchange Only Alternative -..................................................................................................... 15 Transfer Only Alternative -....................................................................................................... 21 Exchange Only Alternative -..................................................................................................... 21 3.3 Land Use ............................................................................................................................ 22 Transfer Only Alternative -....................................................................................................... 23 Exchange Only Alternative -..................................................................................................... 23 3.4 Biological Resources ......................................................................................................... 23 Transfer Only Alternative -....................................................................................................... 26 Exchange Only Alternative -..................................................................................................... 26 3.5 Socioeconomic Resources ................................................................................................. 27 Transfer Only Alternative -....................................................................................................... 27 Exchange Only Alternative -..................................................................................................... 28 3.6 Cultural Resources............................................................................................................. 29 Transfer Only Alternative -....................................................................................................... 30 Exchange Only Alternative -..................................................................................................... 30 3.7 Indian Trust Assets ............................................................................................................ 30 Transfer Only Alternative -....................................................................................................... 31 Exchange Only Alternative -..................................................................................................... 31 3.8 Environmental Justice........................................................................................................ 31 Transfer Only Alternative -....................................................................................................... 32 Exchange Only Alternative -..................................................................................................... 32 Section 4 Consultation and Coordination ................................................................................. 33 4.1 Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 USC § 651 et seq.)............................................ 33 4.2 Endangered Species Act (16 USC. § 1521 et seq.)........................................................... 33 4.3 National Historic Preservation Act (15 USC § 470 et seq.) ............................................. 34 4.4 Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 USC Sec. § 703 et seq.)................................................... 34 4.6 Executive Order 11988 – Floodplain Management and Executive Order 11990 - Protection of Wetlands.............................................................................................................. 34 EA-07-120 ii Draft Environmental Assessment Section 5 List of Preparers and Reviewers ............................................................................... 34 Appendix A................................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 2 Plants ........................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 3 Mammals ..................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 4 Birds ............................................................................................................................ 42 Chapter 5 Fish .............................................................................................................................. 43 CVP Water Supplies ................................................................................................................... 1 This page intentionally left blank ............................................................................................... 2 CVP Water Supplies .............................................................................................................. 3 EA-07-120 iii Draft Environmental Assessment List of Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Definition of Terms AID Alta Irrigation District af acre-feet; One acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons (the volume of water one foot deep and an acre in area) af/y Acre-feet per year Ag Agricultural typically referring to the purpose of use of water Aqueduct California Aqueduct BA Biological Assessment Banking Banking is percolating surface water into the ground for later extraction and use outside of the groundwater banking boundary BO Biological Opinion BVWSD Buena Vista Water Storage District CDFG California Department of Fish and Game CNDDB California Natural Diversity Database CNLM Center for Natural Land Management CO Contracting Officer CoID Consolidated Irrigation District Conjunctive Use Conjunctive use is percolating surface water into the ground for later extraction and use within the district or groundwater banking boundary Contractor City, county, water or irrigation district contracted with Federal or State Agencies to obtain water. Contract Year A contract year typically begins on March 1st and ends th February 28 of the following year however it is the period of time specified in the Contract. Corps US Army Corps of Engineers CVC Cross Valley Canal CVP Central Valley Project CVPIA Central Valley Project Improvement Act CVP Contractor Friant Division or Cross Valley Division Long-Term Contractor CWD Cawelo Water District DCTRA Deer Creek and Tule River Authority DWR Department of Water Resources EA Environmental Assessment ENCSD East Niles Community Services District ESA Endangered Species Act Exchange Exchange of water between contractors FID Fresno Irrigation District FKC Friant-Kern Canal Friant Friant Division HCP Habitat Conservation Plan ID Irrigation District EA-07-120 iv Draft Environmental Assessment In-Lieu Groundwater Banking In-lieu groundwater banking is the immediate use of surface water instead of percolating it into the ground resulting in the development of a groundwater account the provider of the surface water can obtain at a later date. JID James Irrigation District KCWA Kern County Water Agency KCWD Kings County Water District KDWD