Environmental scoping meetings will be held in January 2006:
Sacramento, CA
January 24, 2006
Bonderson Building
Hearing Room A
901 P St. (at 9th St.)
1:30 - 3:30 PM
Antioch, CA
January 24, 2006
Legion Hall, Veteran's Memorial Building
403 West 6th St.6:30 - 8:30 PM Livermore, CA January 25, 2006
Martinelli Event Center
3585 Greenville Rd.
6:30 - 8:30 PM
Concord, CA
January 26, 2006
CCWD Board Room
1331 Concord Ave.
6:30 - 8:30 PM
For more information, please visit www.lvstudies.com. The site provides project history, fact sheets, project documents, watershed images and more. For specific questions, please contact:
Marguerite Naillon
Project Manager
CALFED Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Studies
P.O. Box H2O
Concord, CA 94524
(925) 688-8018
lvstudies@hotmail.com
CALFED
Curious to learn more about the CALFED Bay-Delta Program? Click here to visit their website and view the history, accomplishments and goals of this organization. Also learn about the Bay-Delta Public Advisory Committee a group that advises the CALFED agencies on implementation of the Bay-Delta Program.
CALFED ROD/Surface Storage Program
The CALFED Record of Decision (ROD) is a comprehensive plan to restore the Bay-Delta ecosystem and improve water supply reliability, water quality and levee integrity. Among other elements, the ROD describes the need for additional surface water storage to improve water quality and water supply reliability. Click here to learn more about the five potential locations identified in the ROD for expanding surface water storage (including Los Vaqueros).
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WELCOME TO WATERLINE
This e-newsletter is the first in a series that will update interested community members about the CALFED Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Studies. If you know others who may be interested in receiving this newsletter, direct them to the project website to sign up, at www.lvstudies.com. If you do not wish to receive the newsletter, please send us an email indicating you would like to be removed from the mailing list. The mailing list is only used for communications related to this project. Thank you, and let us know your suggestions on how we may make this publication most useful to you in upcoming editions.
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PROJECT UPDATE
A federal, state and local partnership – the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the California Department of Water Resources and the Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) – have been working together to address some of the most difficult problems facing the Delta – fishery protection, water supply reliability, and water quality. The Initial Alternatives Information Report (or “IAIR”) explains and begins to analyze a potential project to address these problems – expanding Los Vaqueros Reservoir. The IAIR defines three objectives that must be addressed by a new project:
(1) Improve water supply reliability in drought years for Bay Area water agencies
(2) Provide lower cost environmental water to protect fish in the Delta, and
(3) Improve water quality for Bay Area water agencies and their customers
After examining a broad range of possible ways to meet these objectives, the agencies identified eight initial alternative concepts for configuring and operating an expanded reservoir. These alternatives are described in the IAIR and include alternative sizes of the Reservoir expansion, pumping plants and pipelines. The agencies will now refine the engineering and operations modeling of these alternatives and consider the costs, economics, and environmental impacts.
An expanded Los Vaqueros Reservoir project would include a new Delta intake and fish screens, conveyance facilities from the Delta to the reservoir, a new dam and expanded reservoir, conveyance facilities from the reservoir to Bay Area water users, and additional new recreation facilities.
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PROJECT SCHEDULE
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SPECIAL FOCUS
Federal Decision-Making Requirements
Evaluating a potential reservoir expansion project is a rigorous process with strict federal and state requirements. The federal decision process lays out a specific method for reviewing a project. In addition to environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the federal process requires extensive economic and operational feasibility analysis. We will begin our evaluation process by defining mutual federal, state and local needs and identifying initial alternatives that could address those needs. Then, after several rounds of analysis and refinement and public review, we will identify a preferred project alternative. State and Federal regulations require that we complete a series of reports to document the alternatives development (see graphic below). The ultimate document is a Feasibility Report (FR), which incorporates the results of the project EIS/EIR. The FR serves as the decision-making document for federal and state government participation in the project.
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 We encourage input from interested agencies, organizations, and the public throughout this process. Project information is posted online and available for your review. In the future, we will notify you when new materials are available.
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PROJECT BACKGROUND
Last year, Contra Costa Water District service area voters approved continuing the CALFED Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Studies. The 62% positive vote on Measure N authorized the project to move into the next phase of the studies: technical feasibility, formal environmental review and detailed economic analysis. The IAIR is the first step in developing the alternatives for environmental review and feasibility analysis. During the public scoping meetings planned for early 2006 (see sidebar), the Study Team will present and discuss the alternatives with the public and receive comments and suggestions on project alternatives. Following scoping, the Study Team will further analyze, screen, and refine these alternatives. These refined alternatives are then included in the Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR).
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