Proposed Rules. Notice

Agency: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior
Action: Notice
Citation: FR Doc. 00-28770

Summary

To meet the requirements of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) of 1992 and the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, Reclamation developed and published the Criteria for Evaluating Water Conservation Plans, dated April 30, 1993. In September 1996, Reclamation revised the document and renamed it to Criteria for Evaluating Water Management Plans (Criteria). Patterson Water District has developed a water management plan which Reclamation has evaluated and preliminarily determined to meet the requirements of the Criteria. The 1996 Criteria were developed based on information provided during public scoping and public review sessions held throughout Reclamation's Mid-Pacific (MP) Region. Reclamation uses these Criteria to evaluate the adequacy of all water management plans developed by Central Valley Project contractors. The Criteria were developed and the plans have been evaluated for the purpose of promoting the most efficient water use reasonably achievable by all MP Region contractors. Reclamation made a commitment (stated within the Criteria) to publish a notice of its draft determination of the adequacy of each contractor's water management plan in the Federal Register to allow the public a minimum of 30 days to comment on its preliminary determinations.

Dates

All public comments must be received by December 13, 2000.

Supplementary Information

Under provision of Section 3405 (e) of the CVPIA (Title 34 Pub. L. 102-575), “The Secretary [of the Interior] shall establish and administer an office on Central Valley Project water conservation best management practices that shall * * * develop criteria for evaluating the adequacy of all water conservation plans developed by project contractors, including those plans required by section 210 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982.” Also, according to Section 3405 (e)(1), these criteria will be developed “* * * with the purpose of promoting the highest level of water use efficiency reasonably achievable by project contractors using best available cost-effective technology and best management practices.” The Criteria states that all parties (districts) that contract with Reclamation for water supplies (municipal and industrial contracts over 2,000 irrigable acre-feet and agricultural contracts over 2,000 irrigable acres) will prepare water management plans which will be evaluated by Reclamation based on the following required information detailed in the steps listed below to develop, implement, monitor, and update their water management plans. The steps are: 1. Describe the district. 2. Inventory water resources available to the District. 3. Best Management Practices (BMP's) for Agricultural Contractors. 4. BMP's for Urban Contractors. 5. Exemption Process. Public comment on Reclamation's preliminary ( i.e., draft) determinations of Patterson Water District's water management plan is invited at this time. A copy of the Plan will be available for review at Reclamation's MP Regional Office located in Sacramento, California, and MP's South-Central California Area Office located in Fresno, California. Dated: November 1, 2000. Charles B. Johnson, Acting Regional Resources Manager, Mid-Pacific Region. [FR Doc. 00-28770 Filed 11-9-00; 8:45 am]*