SEPA RULES
DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSAL: Sand Hollow Recreation Area Improvement Project.
RCW 197-11-970
DETERMINATION OF NONSIGNIFICANCE
DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSAL: Sand Hollow Recreation Area Improvement Project.
Proposed Improvements:
The proposed project will provide increased recreation opportunities on the Wanapum Reservoir of the Columbia River just south of Vantage, Washington, in order to comply with Grant PUD’s FERC license for the Priest Rapids Project. The proposed project improvements will support improved habitat conditions and provide improved access to the Wanapum Reservoir from Grant County including Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility for the general public.
The existing site is used as an informal camping and day use area during the summer recreation season. The site is long and relatively narrow, covering approximately 35 acres. The site experiences particularly heavy use during holiday weekends and concert weekends at the Gorge Amphitheatre approximately 15 miles to the north. The site is currently accessed by a 28-foot-wide paved access driveway served by a deceleration lane on SR 243. The access drive leads to a 1.5-acre informal parking area surfaced with highly compacted native gravel, cobble, and sand. The parking area is bordered by barrier rock and an access gate to the south to limit visitor vehicular travel on the site. During the recreation season, Grant PUD places portable toilets, 55-gallon garbage receptacles, and picnic tables at the site. A network of user-defined campsites, fire rings, and trails can be found throughout the site impacting a majority of the upland and a significant amount of the 6.2 acre category III lake-fringe mosaic wetland. The proposed project will address the currently degraded condition of the site through proposed access improvements, as well as defining day-use, camping sites, and pathways.
In addition to the upland site improvements, the project includes installation of a Private Aid to Navigation (PATON). The PATON would be located in the northernmost cove of the site, which is a natural beach area composed of cobbles, gravel, and sand. The PATON is intended to separate boaters from the bathing beach area.
The proposed project improvements include the following components:
• Demolition
- Roadbed (portions of the access drive not being used as recreation improvement areas)
- Parking lot surfacing (portions of the surfacing not being utilized as the compacted subgrade for the proposed parking lot)
- Site fencing
- Concrete bases for portable toilets
- Removal of 29 non-native trees to accommodate proposed site improvements and associated grading.
• Concrete ADA-accessible parking stalls (8)
• Gravel parking stalls delineated by wheel stops (60)
• Gravel emergency vehicle turn-arounds (3)
• Double concrete vault toilet (4)
• Benches (3)
• Trash receptacles near parking and day use areas (14)
• Pet waste bag dispensers (3)
• Pack it in, pack it out stations (3)
• 5 yard dumpster pad and fenced enclosure
• Gravel trail of various widths, including accessible routes
• Picnic areas with ADA accessible tables (11)
• Pedestal grills (7)
• Drive in tent campsites, including four ADA-accessible sites (30)
• Walk in tent campsites (10)
• ADA-accessible picnic tables and fire rings at each campsite (40)
• Stormwater handling improvements (Bioswales, filter strips, and treatment and infiltration ponds)
• Barrier rock and fencing
• Site access gate (3)
• Regulatory, way-finding, and interpretive signage
• Installation of a navigation aid buoy line
- Plastic-coated steel cable
- Fully plastic-encapsulated foam barrier floats
- Fully plastic-encapsulated foam can buoy with warning
- Manta Ray anchor and anchor chain
- Rock-bolt anchors
- Attachment hardware for anchor bolts, cables, floats, Manta Ray anchor, and can buoy
As previously mentioned, the site is currently in a degraded condition due to soil erosion, soil compaction, and other effects created by user activity. A large portion of the site is impacted both in and out of the mosaic wetland. The proposed improvements will provide defined vehicular and pedestrian routes to designated camping and picnic facilities, reducing user impacts to the site along the shoreline, within the existing mosaic wetland and in the wetland buffer. In addition, installation of the PATON will provide navigation safety improvements and improve public safety in the bathing beach by excluding boat traffic from the area.
PROPONENT: Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County
LOCATION OF PROPOSAL, INCLUDING STREET ADDRESS, IF ANY:
Sand Hollow Recreation Area is located on the Columbia River on the east side of the Wanapum Reservoir, approximately 3 miles upstream of Wanapum Dam near the town of Vantage, Washington. The site is located in Grant County. The site can be accessed by heading south off of Interstate 90 on the east side of the Columbia River on SR 243. Follow SR 243 along the east side of the Columbia River for 1.9 miles to the project site on the west side of the highway. The site is accessed by a 28-foot-wide paved access driveway served by a deceleration lane on SR 243.
The site is located downstream (south) of the Interstate 90 crossing of the Columbia River. It is located on parcel number 150360000 in Section 33 of Township 17 North, Range 23 East of the Willamette Meridian, and within Water Resources Inventory Area (WRIA) 41 (Lower Crab). The parcel is zoned Rural Remote, and the primary land use in the project area is open space and agriculture. Elevations at the site range from approximately 572 to 593 feet.
LEAD AGENCY: Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County
The lead agency for this proposal has determined that it does 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 decision was made after review of a completed environmental checklist and other information on file with the lead agency. This information is available to the public on request.
o There is no comment period for this DNS.
o This DNS is issued after using the optional DNS process in WAC 197-11-355. There is no further comment period on the DNS.
6 This DNS is issued under WAC 197–11–340(2); the lead agency will not act on this proposal for 14 days from the date below. Comments must be submitted by December 17, 2013 5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
Responsible official: Ross Hendrick
Position/title: License Compliance and Implementation Services Manager
Phone: 509-793-1468
Address: P.O. Box 878
30 C St. SW
Ephrata, WA 98823
Date: 11/26/13 Signature: /s/Ross Hendrick________________________
o There is no agency appeal.
#12022/3460896
Pub.: December 4 & 11, 2013