[Federal Register: June 21, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 120)]
[Notices]               
[Page 42239-42240]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21jn02-34]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

 
Availability of the Draft Supplement to the Final Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Authorized Red River Chloride Project Wichita 
River Only Portion, Oklahoma and Texas

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DOD.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: Notice is made of the availability of a Draft Supplement to 
the Final Environmental Impact Statement (DSFEIS) for the Authorized 
Red River Chloride Control Project Wichita River Only Portion, Oklahoma 
and Texas prepared by the Tulsa District of the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers (USACE). The purpose of the project is to investigate methods 
to reduce the natural occurring levels of chlorides in the Wichita 
River Basin in Texas.

DATES: The DSFEIS will be available for public review when this 
announcement is published. The review period of the document will be 
until September 11, 2002. To request a copy of the supplement, please 
call (918) 669-4396.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information regarding 
DSFEIS, please contact Stephen L. Nolen, Chief, Environmental Analysis 
and Compliance Branch, U.S Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: CESWT-PE-E, 
1645 South 101st East Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74128-4629.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1957, the U.S. Public Health Service 
initiated a study to locate natural chloride seeps and springs and to 
determine the contribution of these chloride sources to the Red River, 
to which the Wichita River is a tributary. In 1959, the USACE 
recommended measures to control identified natural chloride sources. 
Congress authorized plans for chloride control in 1966. This project 
was known as the Red River Chloride Control Project (RRCCP). A Final 
Environmental Statement (FES) for the RRCCP dated July 1976, of which 
the Wichita River was a portion, was filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency on May 18, 1977, and published in the Federal 
Register on May 27, 1977. Since the 1976 FES, proposed project outputs 
have changed. Target chloride concentrations of 250 mg/l or less 94% of 
the time at Lake Texoma and 98% of the time at Lake Kemp were 
originally established for the proposed project. However, project 
modifications described in the supplement would affect design 
effectiveness of the plan evaluated in the 1976 FES. As such, an 
environmental reevaluation was approved in 1997, and the NEPA scoping 
process was initiated in 1998. The proposed plan is expected to meet 
the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC) secondary 
drinking water standard of 300mg/l chloride 40% of the time at Lake 
Kemp.
    Effectiveness of constructed portions of the project were evaluated 
by a Congressionally authorized panel, in accordance with Public Law 
99-662, to assess the improvements in water quality assumed in the 
economic reanalysis of the proposed project. The panel submitted a 
favorable report to the Federal Public Works Committees of the House 
and Senate in August 1988 indicating that Area VIII was performing as 
designed. As noted above, design changes have been developed for the 
proposed project that would lessen impacts on stream flow, water 
quality, and chloride removal compared to the proposed project 
evaluated in the 1976 FES. In addition, potential direct and indirect 
impacts have been identified that were not addressed in the FES.
    During the NEPA process for the DSFEIS, several issues were 
identified as concerns by the public and commenting natural resource 
agencies. Major issues addressed in this document include: (1) 
Hydrological biological, and water quality issues concerning fish, 
aquatic invertebrates, aquatic macrophytes, and the wetland/riparian 
ecosystem of the Wichita River, Lake Kemp, and Red River above Lake 
Texoma to the confluences of the Wichita River; (2) Lakes Kemp, 
Diversion, and Texoma components, including chloride/turbidity 
relationships, chloride/fish reproduction relationships, chloride/
plankton community issues, chloride/nutrient dynamics issues, and 
impacts on recreational values; (3) water quality and quantity impacts 
on Dundee Fish Hatchery below Lake Diversion; (4) selenium (Se) 
concentrations and impact on biota; (5) man-made brines and associated 
reduction; (6) Section 401 water quality issues; (7) mitigation as it 
relates to habitat losses from construction of proposed project 
components; (8) Federally-listed threatened and endangered species; and 
(9) unquantifiable/undefined impacts.
    Changes in the project base condition have also occurred since the 
1976 FES. Due to growing concern in the Wichita River Basin about the 
availability of water and its effect on economic growth and 
development, the Red River Authority of Texas (RRA) in cooperation with 
the Texas State Soil and Water

[[Page 42240]]

Conservation Board (TSSWCB) initiated a study to determine the 
feasibility of implementing a brush control and management program to 
increase water yield. The goal is to restore large areas of brush to 
native grasses, but leave brush buffers and habitat corridors composed 
of mesquite and juniper. The results of the study revealed that 
implementation of the proposed brush control program may provide a net 
increase in watershed yield at Lake Kemp. The brush control program has 
currently been included in Texas Senate Bill 1 and the Region B Water 
Plan. The supplement has assumed a brush management factor of 50% 
implementation as its future condition without chloride control.
    Fourteen alternatives were developed by the USACE for achieving 
lower concentrations of chlorides in the Wichita River. The objective 
of the 14 USACE action alternatives was to improve water quality in the 
Wichita River to a point where it may be economically useful for 
municipal, industrial, and agricultural water supply. The U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 
(TPWD) developed an additional twelve (12) alternatives that were also 
considered by the USACE. The objectives of these alternatives were to 
lower chloride control impacts by reducing brines pumped to Truscott 
Brine Lake and eliminating potential selenium impacts, as well as 
replacing stream habitat and lessening the impact of zero flow days on 
fish populations.
    From all the developed alternatives, USACE Alternative 7a was 
selected as having the greatest net NED benefits. However, concerns 
regarding this alternative have been raised by the USFWS and TPWD. Due 
to higher economic, technical, and regulatory viability, Alternative 7a 
best serves the purpose and need for the proposed action and is the 
proposed plan.
    The DSFEIS has been coordinated and approved by offices and 
directorates affected by or interested in the subject matter, including 
the Office of Counsel and Executive Offices.

Stephen R. Zeltner,
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, Acting District Engineer.
[FR Doc. 02-15719 Filed 6-20-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-39-M