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| The Bureau of Reclamation has released a Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for implementation of the Lake Roosevelt Incremental Storage Releases Project. The purpose of the project is to improve water management in the Columbia River Basin by releasing additional water from Lake Roosevelt to meet objectives established by the Columbia River Water Management Act. To learn more or to download the Draft Environmental Assessment go to the Bureau's webpage. |
KEY DOCUMENTS
Supporting Environmental Studies for the Supplemental EIS
Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (USBOR-2009) Reports of Examination (OCR-2009) Agreements with Tribes
Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the State of Washington’s Columbia River Initiative (2004) Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Columbia River Management Plan (OCR-2007) |
First allocation of water releases:Two “report of examination” (ROEs) documents were delivered on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008, to Bill McDonald, the federal Bureau of Reclamation’s (Bureau) Pacific Northwest regional director. Ecology’s decisions outline how 82,500 acre-feet of water from Lake Roosevelt will be distributed throughout the central Columbia Basin. Issuing the documents triggers a formal 30-day appeal period. The state will tap into a 1938 reservoir right now held by the Bureau to bolster municipal and industrial supplies, provide replacement water to some farmers in the Odessa Subarea where aquifers are declining, and provide stream flow enhancements for fisheries. The decisions represent the first allocation from a total of 132,500 acre-feet of water the state proposes to release from Lake Roosevelt as part of the Columbia River Basin Water Management Program’s goal of developing new water supplies in the region. Details of the plan are addressed in a final supplemental environmental impact statement released in August. Ecology issued permits on December 1, 2008 to allow the Bureau to release the water. News Release on ROEs Report of Examinations S3-30486 S3-30556 Permitting Process & Timeline
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| Ecology is accepting comments
on the trust water applications through January 31, 2010. If you have written comments
please send them to the following address:
Derek Sandison, Director Alternatively, you may email comments to Leann.Purtzer@ecy.wa.gov with “Lake Roosevelt Storage Comment” in the subject line. Protests or objections to approval of these applications must include a detailed statement of the basis for objections. All letters of protest will become public record. Cash shall not be accepted. Fees must be paid by check or money order and are nonrefundable. Protests must be accompanied by a $50 recording fee payable to the Department of Ecology, Cashiering Unit, PO Box 47611, Olympia WA 98504-7611. |
On October 23, 2008, Vision For Our Future, the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, and Columbia Riverkeeper filed an appeal on the ROEs with the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB). The plaintiffs withdrew their appeals and the cases were officially closed by the PCHB on February 23, 2009.
On December 1st, the appellants filed for an injunction in federal court to prevent the Bureau from taking any action under the permits. That case is still pending.
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On March 20, 2008, Governor Chris Gregoire signed legislation that will release the largest delivery of new water to towns and farms in the Columbia Basin, and for endangered salmon, in three decades. Historic partnership agreements with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation and the Spokane Tribe will allow up to 82,500 acre feet of water to be withdrawn from Lake Roosevelt behind Grand Coulee Dam beginning in 2008 and up to 132,000 acre feet of water in drought years. Colville Agreement (1.7MB pdf)Spokane Agreement (615KB pdf) More Information
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Incremental Storage Releases at Lake RooseveltThe Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will work together on the incremental storage releases at Lake Roosevelt which will draw down the lake by an additional foot in normal water years and 1.8 feet during drought years. The storage release will free up water to benefit municipal/industrial supply, the Odessa Subarea interruptible water right holders and instream flows. In non-drought years, 30,000 acre-feet will go to the Odessa Subarea, 25,000 acre-feet to municipal/industrial needs, and 27,500 acre-feet to augment instream flows (82,500 total). An additional 50,000 acre-feet will be released during drought years with 33,000 acre-feet of that release providing relief for interruptible water right holders and 17,000 acre-feet supplementing instream flows. |
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The Colville Confederated Tribes and Spokane Tribe of Indians are now in partnership with the State of Washington to provide new water from Lake Roosevelt for in-stream and out-of-stream uses in the Columbia River Basin. Ecology entered into an Agreement in Principle with the Colville Tribes in 2005 and worked with the Spokane Tribe to study opportunities for shared benefits from the storage releases.
The 2008 Legislature approved agreements with the Colville and Spokane Tribes and the Bureau of Reclamation to begin incremental releases from Lake Roosevelt in 2008.
The Lake Roosevelt incremental storage releases were identified as an early action item in the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Columbia River Management Plan and are addressed in Chapter 5 of that document.
On August 29, 2008, the Washington Department of Ecology
(Ecology) released a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS).
The SEIS addresses the time and manner in which additional water
will be released from Lake Roosevelt to enhance stream flows and to
provide water to municipalities, irrigators in the Odessa Subarea,
and interruptible water right holders. The SEIS supplements the
Final
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Columbia River
Management Plan
issued by Ecology in February 2007. The SEIS provides a more
thorough evaluation of impacts associated with additional releases
of stored water from Lake Roosevelt than was presented in the
Programmatic EIS. The public comment period was from May 15, 2008 to
June 30, 2008. Ecology considered comments submitted by the public
before issuing the final SEIS.
Download the Final Supplemental EIS:
By Chapter:
- Cover, Letter, Fact Sheet (1.7 MB)
- Summary, Chapters 1-2 (711 KB)
- Chapter 3 (1.8 MB)
- Chapter 4 (1.9 MB)
- Chapter 5 (part 1) (2.6 MB)
- Chapter 5 (part 2) (3.4 MB)
- Chapter 6-7 (113 KB)
- Appendices (1.5 MB)
- Maps (part 1) (5.6 MB)
- Maps (part 2) (7.3 MB)
Addendum to the SEISThe Supplemental EIS outlined the permitting strategy for Lake Roosevelt releases including trust water decisions and issuing new mitigated municipal and industrial permits. Over the last year, additional detail became available on these issues, prompting Office of Columbia River (OCR) to issue an addendum to the Supplemental EIS. Topics addressed in the addendum include:
Identification of municipal and industrial water right applications that may be mitigated by the trust water decisions.
The process OCR used to determine which groundwater applications adjacent to the Columbia River may be mitigated by the trust water decisions.
How OCR will deal with uncertainty caused by litigation before the Supreme Court on the definition of a municipal water supplier when it issues new municipal permits from the Columbia River.
What kinds of uses will be permitted under industrial purpose of use for this project.
Download the Addendum to
the Lake Roosevelt Supplemental EIS.
(addendum revised and reposted 12/29/09 [only substantive change was in
section II. Groundwater Permitting under the Impact timing
section] )
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A timeline for this environmental review is shown below.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
