From the Department of Water Resources:
Notice of Availability: Lower Elkhorn Basin Levee Setback Project Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIS/EIR) Released for Public Review by California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District (Corps)
Comment Period May 25, 2018 to July 9, 2018.
PUBLIC MEETING: A public meeting to present information about the project and receive oral or written comments on the Draft EIS/EIR will be held on Thursday, June 7, 2018 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at West Sacramento City Hall, 1110 West Capitol Avenue, West Sacramento, California 95691
PROJECT LOCATION: The project site is located in Yolo County, California, and is bounded by the Sacramento River on the east, the Tule Canal and Yolo Bypass on the west, the Sacramento Bypass on the south, and Interstate 5 (I-5) on the north.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: DWR proposes to construct levee setbacks to widen portions of the Yolo and Sacramento Bypasses to increase conveyance capacity and reduce flood risk. The proposed project would be part of a series of proposed flood-risk reduction improvements contemplated under DWR’s Central Valley Flood Protection Plan and its related Sacramento River Basin-Wide Feasibility Study. The proposed project would entail the following flood-risk reduction elements: (1) widening the Yolo Bypass by constructing a setback levee approximately 1,500 feet east of the Tule Canal in the Lower Elkhorn Basin (between I-5 and the Sacramento Bypass) , (2) widening the Sacramento Bypass by constructing a setback levee approximately 1,500 feet north of the existing levee, (3) potential degrading of all or portions of existing levees; and (4) implementing ecosystem improvements
SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS: The proposed project would have potentially significant or significant environmental effects related to aesthetics; air quality; biological resources (fisheries and aquatic organisms, vegetation and wildlife, and wetlands and waters); climate change, cultural resources, geology, soils, and paleontological resources; hazards and hazardous materials; land use and planning, and agricultural and forestry resources; noise and vibration; recreation; socioeconomics (NEPA only); traffic and transportation; utilities and service systems; and water quality.
CORTESE LIST: Portions of the project site are included on lists of sites enumerated under Section 65962.5 of the California Government Code.
AVAILABILITY: The Draft EIS/EIR is available on DWR’s webpage at https://www.water.ca.gov/Programs/Flood-Management/Flood-Projects/Lower-Elkhorn-Basin. Hard copies of the document are also available for review during normal business hours at 3464 El Camino Avenue, Sacramento. The document is also available for review at the Yolo County Library at 1212 Merkley Avenue in West Sacramento, and at the Woodland Public Library at 250 First Street in Woodland.
SUBMITTING COMMENTS: Please submit written comments, including via e-mail, by 5:00pm on July 9, 2018 to either:
Erin Brehmer, Environmental Project Manager, Department of Water Resources, Flood Projects Office; 3464 El Camino Avenue Suite 150, Sacramento, CA 95821
Email: LowerElkhorn@water.ca.gov
Tanis Toland, Sacramento District, US Army Corps of Engineers 10th Floor, Planning Division; 1325 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814-2922
Email: LowerElkhorn@water.ca.gov
Please note that all comment letters received become part of the public record.
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