Programmatic EIS Update Icicle Work Group Meeting September 27, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Icicle Work Group Meeting

Programmatic EIS Update

September 27, 2018

Note: Collation and response to comments is ongoing; results in this presentation should be considered draft work product.

Icicle Strategy Environmental Review and Permitting

Programmatic Environmental Review Project Design Project Environmental Review Permitting Permitting Decision If Fatally Flawed Project Implementation If Permitted

Process for Selecting a Preferred Alt

Decision Making Process

 Public Comments on DPEIS  Input from Icicle Work Group

As the SEPA Responsible Officials, Co-leads Will Select Preferred Alternative considering:

 Potential environmental impacts and mitigation  Costs / benefits  Long-term resiliency  Constructability / Fundability  Public comments received  Icicle Work Group Support under Operating Procedures

Operating Procedures for Decision Making Decision on key points and for the final project list will be made by consensus. If consensus cannot be met, objections must be clear and those objecting must help to offer other solutions that will meet the guiding principles. If full consensus cannot be reached, a formal dissenting opinion can be filed.

Comment Demographics

Category Totals IWG Members 10 Agencies (non-IWG members) 2 Non-Governmental Organizations (non-IWG members) 11 Individual Comment Emails 173 Individual Comment Letters 17 Public Hearing Comment Forms 3 Public Hearing Transcript Comments 7 Form Letter Comment Emails (online templates) 8582

Total 8805

Comment Demographics

IWG Members Bureau of Reclamation US Fish & Wildlife Service, Washington Office US Fish & Wildlife Service, Leavenworth Fisheries Complex US Forest Service, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest WA Department of Fish & Wildlife Icicle Creek Watershed Council & Trout Unlimited Washington Water Trust Daryl Harnden Yakama Nation Agencies (non-IWG members) WA Department of Health, Office of Drinking Water WA Department of Agriculture

Comment Demographics

Non-Governmental Organizations (non-WIG members) Group Letter 1 (ALPS et al)

Alpine Lakes Protection Society; The Wilderness Society; American Whitewater; Aqua Permanente; Center for Environmental Law & Policy; Conservation Congress; Doug Scott Wilderness Consulting; El Sendero Backcountry Ski & Snowshoe Club; Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs; Friends of Bumping Lake; Friends of the Clearwater; Friends of Enchantments; Friends of Lake Kachess; Friends

• f Wild Sky; Great Old Broads for Wilderness; Icicle Creek Watershed Council; Issaquah Alps Trails

Club; Kittitas Audubon Society; The Mazamas; Middle Fork Recreation Coalition (MidFORC); North Cascades Conservation Council; North Central Washington Audubon Society; River Runners For Wilderness; Save Our Sky Blue Waters; Seattle Audubon Society; Sierra Club; Spokane Mountaineers; Spring Family Trust for Trails Washington Wild; Wild Fish Conservancy; Wilderness Watch

Group Letter 2 (WTA et al)

Washington Trails Association; The Mountaineer; Access Funds

Alpine Lakes Foundation Chelan-Douglas Land Trust Great Old Broads for Wilderness North Central Washington Audubon Society Olympic Park Associates Pacific Crest Trail Association Pacific Law Group (on behalf of the Wilderness Society) Washington Native Plant Society Wise Use Movement

Comment Demographics

Form Letter Comment Emails (online templates) Wilderness Watch 6666 Sierra Club 483 Washington Wild 184 The Wilderness Society 230 Washington Trails Association 996 UNKNOWN 23

Types of Comments Received

Comment Category Examples Wilderness Values General Support for Wilderness Values; No Action in Wilderness Area Recreational Impacts Concern over access to sites; trail impacts; campsite impacts Relinquishment Concern about water rights relinquishment; requests of extent and validity review to be included in PEIS Water Rights Additional comments about water rights, such as federal water rights Easements/Ownership Concerns over IPID Easement; Ownership of lands Wilderness Act Concerns over violations of the Wilderness Act (tool use and if modifying existing storage is permissible) SEPA Process Concern over SEPA process violations No Eightmile Lake Restoration Stated opposition for Eightmile Lake Restoration project No Alternative 4 Stated opposition to Alternative 4 Preference for Alternative 5 Stated preference for Alternative 5 Alternative 1 Preference Stated Support for Alternative 1 Full IPID Pump Exchange Support Stated support for the Full IPID Piping and Pump Exchange Project Alpine Lakes Automation Support Stated support for Alpine Lakes Automation

Types of Comments Received (Cont.)

Comment Category Examples No/Pro Alpine Lakes Automation Stated opposition to Alpine Lakes Automation project Eightmile Lake Restoration Support States support for Eightmile Lake Restoration Project Climate Change Concern about impacts of climate change; concern about efficacy of program with climate change LNFH Issues with LNFH operations, water use, or proposed projects Agricultural Water Use Opposition to increased agricultural water supplies; concern over agricultural water use Residential Development Opposition to or concern about residential development Supplemental DPEIS Requests that a supplemental/revised draft PEIS be prepared Conservation General support for water conservation; Request for more water conservation USFS Statements about USFS jurisdiction No New Dams General opposition to new dams stated New Alternative Stated support for a different alternative then those analyzed in the DPEIS Impacts to Tributary Streams Concerns over impacts of releases on tributaries General Support General support for the Icicle Strategy Goals

Co-Leads are currently evaluating appropriate response comments. Example comments here are intended to provide an indication of the types of comments received, but is not intended to generalize or depict the entirety of public comments.

Example Comments

Note: Collation and response to comments is ongoing; results in this presentation should be considered draft work product.

Relinquishment

How Extent and Validity Fits into Environmental Review – DRAFT

Proposal Development Programmatic Environmental Review Project Environmental Review Permitting (Water Right Change Application) Extent and Validity Review If Fatally Flawed Permitting Decision

Extent and Validity Policy

Water Resources POL-1120

Tentative Determinations

 What triggers a tentative determination?

• A water right change or transfer
• An application for new water right or water right

change on a property with a appurtenant water rights

• When evaluating water users that may be considered

as potentially impaired by a water right permitting decision

• When there is a pending departmental order on a

water right

 Under POL-1120, RCW, WAC and Case Law,

Environmental Review is Not a Trigger for Tentative Determination

Timing of SEPA vs. Water Right Review

 WAC 197-11-055: Integrating SEPA and agency

activities. The SEPA process shall be integrated with agency activities at the earliest possible time to ensure that planning and decisions reflect environmental values, to avoid delays later in the process, and to seek to resolve potential problems.

 Ecology PRO 1000 – SEPA is triggered when an

application for a new use or a change to an existing use is filed.

Wilderness Values

Recreational Impacts

Water Rights

Easements/Ownership

Wilderness Act

SEPA Process

No Eightmile Lake Restoration

No Alternative 4

Preference for Alternative 1

Preference for Alternative 5

Full IPID Pump Exchange Support

Alpine Lakes Automation Support

Eightmile Lake Restoration Support/ General Support for Storage

Climate Change

LNFH

Agricultural Water Use

Residential Development

Supplemental DPEIS

Conservation

USFS

No New Dams

New Alternative

Impacts to Tributary Streams

General Support

Questions?