The Bureau of Reclamation has released the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) on modifications planned for Stony Gorge Dam, constructed by Reclamation as part of the Orland Project in 1928. Risk studies performed in 2001 under Reclamation's Safety of Dams Program identified a need for structural improvements at Stony Gorge Dam to better enable the facility to withstand seismic loading during an earthquake.

Located about 20 miles west of the town of Willows, Stony Gorge Dam is a 139-foot high buttress style dam that regulates flows along the lower reaches of Stony Creek and stores about 50,000 acre-feet of water for irrigation purposes.

The document is available on Reclamation's web site at: www.usbr.gov/mp/ncao/stony_gorge/index.html. As required by the National Environmental Policy Act, the Draft EA describes the potential environmental impacts, beneficial and adverse, associated with the proposed alternatives.

The Draft EA is available for a 30-day comment period that ends January 21, 2005. Written comments on the Draft EA should be sent to Ms. Basia Trout at Reclamation's Northern California Area Office, P.O. Box 159, Red Bluff, CA 96080, or faxed to 530-528-0612. For additional information or to request a printed copy of the Draft EA, contact Ms. Trout at 530-528-0512, TDD 700-450-6000, or via email at btrout@mp.usbr.gov.