80 FR 77016 - Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Statement, Upper Truckee River and Marsh Restoration Project, El Dorado County, California

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 238 (December 11, 2015)

The Bureau of Reclamation, the California Tahoe Conservancy (Conservancy), and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency have prepared the final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement/ Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS/EIS) for the Upper Truckee River and Marsh Restoration Project (Project). The purpose of the Project is to restore natural geomorphic processes and improve ecological functions and values in this lowest reach of the Upper Truckee River and the surrounding marsh and help reduce the river's discharge of nutrients and sediment that diminish Lake Tahoe's clarity.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 238 (Friday, December 11, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77016-77018]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31230]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR02015200, XXXR0680R1, RR.17520306.0000006]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Report/
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Statement, Upper 
Truckee River and Marsh Restoration Project, El Dorado County, 
California

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation, the California Tahoe Conservancy 
(Conservancy), and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency have prepared the 
final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement/
Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS/EIS) for the Upper Truckee 
River and Marsh Restoration Project (Project). The purpose of the 
Project is to restore natural geomorphic processes and improve 
ecological functions and values in this lowest reach of the Upper 
Truckee River and the surrounding marsh and help reduce the river's 
discharge of nutrients and sediment that diminish Lake Tahoe's clarity.

DATES: Reclamation will not make a decision on the proposed action 
until at least 30 days after the release of the final EIR/EIS/EIS. 
After the 30-day waiting period, Reclamation will complete a Record of 
Decision (ROD). The ROD will state the action that will be implemented 
and will discuss all factors leading to the decision.

ADDRESSES: Send written correspondence or requests for the document to 
Scott Carroll,

[[Page 77017]]

Environmental Planner, State of California, California Tahoe 
Conservancy, 1061 Third Street, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150; by fax to 
(530) 542-5567; or by email to [email protected].
    The final EIR/EIS/EIS is accessible at the following Web sites:
     http://tahoe.ca.gov/upper-truckee-marsh-69.aspx.
     http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=2937.
    To request a compact disc of the final EIR/EIS/EIS, please contact 
Mr. Carroll as indicated above, or call (530) 543-6062. See the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for locations where paper copies of 
the final EIR/EIS/EIS are available for public review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Carroll, California Tahoe 
Conservancy, at [email protected], or (530) 543-6062; or 
Shannon Friedman, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, at 
[email protected]., or (775) 589-5205; and Rosemary Stefani, Bureau of 
Reclamation, at (916) 978-5045, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The approximately 592-acre project area is 
along the most downstream reaches of the Upper Truckee River and Trout 
Creek, including their mouths at Lake Tahoe in the City of South Lake 
Tahoe, within El Dorado County, California. It includes 1.8-miles of 
the Upper Truckee River as well as the marsh and meadows surrounding 
the lowest reaches of Trout Creek. The majority of the project area is 
owned by the Conservancy though the Project does include small areas 
owned by other public agencies and private landowners.
    Four action alternatives (Alternatives 1-4), and the No-Project/No-
Action Alternative (Alternative 5), were analyzed in the draft EIR/EIS/
EIS. None of the alternatives evaluated in the draft EIR/EIS/EIS were 
designated as preferred. Rather, guiding principles were developed 
requiring that each alternative be designed as a ``full-spectrum'' 
alternative that addressed, to varying degrees, all project objectives 
and design directives; be modular in nature, such that recreation 
access and infrastructure components could be interchangeable with 
habitat restoration and protection measures proposed; and embody a 
diverse range of feasible and implementable concepts, consistent with 
constraints identified and mapped early in the planning process. After 
input from responsible and interested agencies, and public comments 
provided on the draft EIR/EIS/EIS, and through additional outreach 
efforts, the lead agencies used a qualitative system to weigh the pros 
and cons of the alternatives to develop the Preferred Alternative 
described following the action alternatives below.
    Alternative 1 would involve restoration of the Upper Truckee River 
by increasing channel length and decreasing channel capacity. 
Alternative 1 includes maximum recreation access and infrastructure on 
the perimeter of the marsh, including a bridge and board walk. 
Alternative 2 would involve river restoration by directly raising the 
streambed elevation, increasing the channel length, and decreasing 
channel capacity. A key element of this alternative's restoration 
component would be the excavation of a new river channel that has less 
capacity than the existing channel. Alternative 2 includes a minimum 
recreation access and infrastructure design approach, focusing 
primarily on habitat protection features. Alternative 3 would promote 
the development, through natural processes, of a new main channel and/
or distributary channels in the central portion of the project area. A 
``pilot'' channel would be constructed from the existing river channel 
to historical channels in the center of the project area, but no 
construction would occur in the central or northern portions of the 
project area. Rather, natural processes would be allowed to dictate the 
flow path(s), bed and bank elevations, and capacities of the channel(s) 
through the central and northern portions of the project area. 
Alternative 3 would include a moderate level of recreation access and 
infrastructure, including more signage, more trail development, and 
viewpoints than proposed under Alternative 2 but less than Alternative 
1. Alternative 4 would restore the river channel and its connection to 
the floodplain by lowering bank heights by excavating an inset 
floodplain along much of the river channel, and by localized cut and 
fill to create meanders in the existing straightened reach. Alternative 
4 would include a similar level of recreation infrastructure as 
Alternative 3. Alternative 5 would not provide any actions to restore 
the river channel and its connection to the floodplain or recreation 
features beyond maintaining existing infrastructure in the project 
area. This alternative would allow, but not facilitate the long-term, 
passive recovery of the river system via natural processes. This 
alternative represents a projection of reasonably foreseeable future 
conditions that could occur if no project actions were implemented.
    The Preferred Alternative includes the most beneficial and cost-
effective elements of the five alternatives evaluated in the draft EIR/
EIS/EIS. This alternative is also the most feasible, the most highly 
responsive to public comments, and the most resilient to the potential 
impacts of climate change. It includes the following components:
     Alternative 3 restoration elements which involve 
construction of a small pilot channel that would reconnect the Upper 
Truckee River to the middle of the marsh to attain ecosystem and water 
quality improvements. This concept proposes the most geomorphically 
appropriate channel configuration allowing the pilot channel to 
strategically connect the current river alignment to historic channels 
and lagoons. The river would form its own pattern and spread over the 
expanse of the marsh, resulting in substantial benefits to habitats, 
wildlife, and water quality. The abandoned sections of existing river 
channel would be largely filled to create restored meadow and expanded 
wetlands.
     Alternative 5 for recreation elements on the east side of 
the Upper Truckee Marsh that would maintain the current dispersed 
recreation experience. No new recreation infrastructure would be 
installed and public access would be afforded through the current 
informal user-created trail system. The Conservancy would continue to 
manage and reduce the impacts of recreational use and new trails while 
providing on-site signage.
     Alternative 3 recreation elements for the west side of the 
Upper Truckee Marsh would upgrade the recreation infrastructure through 
construction of ADA-accessible trails to Lake Tahoe and formalized 
viewpoints that provide interpretive and site-information signage. The 
developed recreation experience would be maintained consistent with 
natural resource values.
     Previously proposed only under Alternatives 1 and 2, the 
Preferred Alternative would also include the restoration of sand ridges 
(``dunes'') at Cove East Beach that were graded and leveled as part of 
the Tahoe Keys development and the removal of fill at the east end of 
Barton Beach to create a restored lagoon.
    The detailed description of the Preferred Alternative, the 
selection process, and a summary of Alternatives 1 through 5 are 
presented in Chapter 2 of the final EIR/EIS/EIS.
    A Notice of Availability of the draft EIR/EIS/EIS was published in 
the Federal Register on February 26, 2013 (78 FR 13082). The comment 
period on the draft EIR/EIS/EIS ended on April 29, 2013. The final EIR/
EIS/EIS contains responses to all comments received and

[[Page 77018]]

reflects comments and any additional information received during the 
review period.
    Copies of the final EIR/EIS/EIS are available for public review at 
the following locations:
     State of California, California Tahoe Conservancy, 1061 
Third Street, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150.
     Tahoe Regional Planning Agency front desk, 128 Market 
Street, Stateline, NV 89449.
     Mid-Pacific Regional Library, Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 
Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825.

Public Disclosure

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in any correspondence, you 
should be aware that your entire correspondence--including your 
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any 
time. While you may ask us in your correspondence to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

     Dated: November 20, 2015.
 Jason R. Phillips,
 Deputy Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-31230 Filed 12-10-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4332-90-P-P