PUBLIC NOTICE

STATE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT

MITIGATED DETERMINATION OF NONSIGNIFICANCE

POTHOLES SUPPLEMENTAL FEED ROUTE PROJECT - PHASE 2

Description of proposal:

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), in cooperation with the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology), proposes to develop supplemental feed routes to convey water from Banks Lake to Potholes Reservoir. Banks Lake and Potholes Reservoir are part of the Columbia Basin Project, Reclamation's irrigation project supplied by Grand Coulee Dam and Lake Roosevelt. The Columbia Basin Project is designed so that return flows from irrigation and naturally occurring flows in the northern half of the project, generally the area north of Potholes Reservoir, would flow to Potholes Reservoir and supply the southern portion of the project, generally the area south of Potholes Reservoir. Because the Columbia Basin Project has not been completely developed, there are not adequate return flows in the northern portion of the project to provide a reliable supply of irrigation water to the southern portion of the project. To meet that need, water is diverted from Banks Lake to Potholes Reservoir. This diverted water is called feed water. At present, the Potholes Canal serves approximately 231,000 acres, requiring up to 990,000 acre-feet of water annually from Potholes Reservoir. Of that amount, about 350,000 acre-feet is feed water from Banks Lake. There are currently three feed routes that use canals and existing waterways. The primary route is through the East Low Canal to Rocky Coulee Wasteway then into middle Crab Creek, Moses Lake, and finally into Potholes Reservoir. The two secondary routes are through East Low Canal to the Lind Coulee Wasteway and through West Canal to the Frenchman Hills Wasteway.

The purpose of the Supplemental Feed Route Project is to improve the reliability of the supply of feed water to Potholes Reservoir. Reclamation and Ecology originally considered three possible routes-Crab Creek, W20 Lateral, and Frenchman Hills Wasteway. Based on evaluations of potential routes documented in Ecology's 2007 State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Columbia River Water Management Program and Reclamation's 2007 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Finding of No Significant Impact and Environmental Assessment for the project, Reclamation identified a preferred alternative that involves use of both the Crab Creek and Frenchman Hills Wasteway Feed Routes. Using both routes will allow Reclamation more flexibility in routing water to Potholes Reservoir and to respond to requests from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to occasionally operate Crab Creek with only spring flow, rather than on a year-round basis.

Reclamation is developing the Supplemental Feed Route in two phases. Phase I involved expanding the capacity of the Frenchman Hills Wasteway Feed Route from 21,000 acre-feet to 46,000 acre-feet of feed by enlarging culverts at the Road C SE crossing of the wasteway. That project was addressed in a SEPA Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance (MDNS) and environmental checklist released on January 17, 2008. Construction was completed in April 2008.

This MDNS addresses Phase II of the project, development of the Crab Creek Feed Route. The project will allow a base flow of 100 cubic feet per second (cfs) to be released from Pinto Dam year round and up to 500 cfs to be released between April 1 and June 30. Total annual feed through Crab Creek could be as much as 126,000 acre-feet.The feed water would replace water currently being fed down Reclamation's East Low Canal and would not increase total feed to Potholes Reservoir or result in additional diversions from the Columbia River.

During some years, operation of the Crab Creek Feed Route would be modified by releasing water during only a portion of the year. This would allow side channels and ponds created by the feed water to dry up periodically for purposes of controlling invasive species of plants, fish, and amphibians.

Elements of the Crab Creek Feed Route project include:

• Modification of the 4-by-4 outlet gate at Pinto Dam (Billy Clapp Lake) as well as construction of an energy dissipater and spillway below the outlet gate,

• Construction of a concrete weir at the outlet of Brook Lake to control releases from the lake,

• Removal of obstructions in Crab Creek,

• Installation of culverts at the Road 16 NE crossing of the creek,

• Construction of fish passage barriers to control invasive fish and amphibian movement along Crab Creek, and

• Acquisition of lands and that would potentially be affected by inundation or water encroachment as well as relocation of affected facilities or structures.

Proponent: U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology)

Location of proposal, including street address, if any: The project site is located in Grant County in eastern Washington State. The Crab Creek Feed Route begins at Pinto Dam, just north of State Route 28 approximately 11.5 miles east of Soap Lake, Washington. From Pinto Dam, feed water would be released to Brook Lake, located immediately below the dam. Brook Lake discharges to Crab Creek, through which the feed water would travel until it discharges into the Parker Horn of Moses Lake. Once in Moses Lake, the feed water would pass through the Moses Lake Outlet into the Potholes Reservoir.

SEPA Lead agency: Washington State Department of Ecology

Responsible official: Derek I. Sandison

Position/title: Director, Office of Columbia River, Washington State Department of Ecology

Address:

303 S Mission Street, Ste. 200

Wenatchee, WA 98801

Email: dsan461@ecy.wa.gov

Threshold determination: The lead agency has determined that this proposal, with mitigation described in the attached Environmental Checklist, will not have a probable significant adverse impact on the environment. An environmental impact statement (EIS) is not required under RCW 43.21C.030 (2)(c).

This MDNS is issued under provisions of WAC 197-11-340 and WAC 197-11-350; the lead agency will not act on this proposal for at least 14 days from May 14, 2009. Comments must be submitted by May 29, 2009 (an additional day is being provided since the comment period includes a holiday).

Date: May 14, 2009

#05025/475644

Pub.: May 14, 2009