May 9, 2001
John Redding
(208) 378-5212
Jim Blanchard
(509) 754-0226
TDD (800) 833-6388
Public Scoping Meeting on Banks Lake Drawdown
The Bureau of Reclamation will hold a public scoping meeting about the potential drawdown of Banks Lake in northwest Washington State on Tuesday, May 15, from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the Coulee City Middle School Gym, 312 East Main Street, Coulee City, Washington.
Reclamation will present alternatives being considered to draw the lake down up to 10 feet and provide opportunities to identify issues and concerns associated with the proposed alternatives or identify other alternatives for the Banks Lake drawdown.
Action 31 of the Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion, issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service on December 21, 2000, calls for Reclamation to assess the operation of Banks Lake at up to 10 feet below full pool during August of each year. The reduction of pumping into Banks Lake will increase the amount of water available to support endangered salmonid stocks in the Columbia River.
This scoping meeting is not part of the Banks Lake Resource Management Plan Environmental Assessment.
The meeting facilities are physically accessible to people with disabilities. Please direct requests for sign language interpretation for the hearing impaired, or other special needs, to Jim Blanchard, Bureau of Reclamation at telephone (509) 754-0226, or fax (509) 754-0239. The hearing impaired may contact Mr. Blanchard at the above number via a toll free TDD relay at (800) 833-6388.
Those unable to attend the scoping meeting may send their written comments by mail to Jim Blanchard, Special Projects Officer, Bureau of Reclamation, PO Box 815, Ephrata, Washington 98823, or by fax to (509) 754-0239. Comments need to be received by May 31, to be included in the scoping summary.
Reclamation is currently authorized to operate the reservoir down to 5 feet below full pool; however, for the past 5 years it has been operated at close to full pool throughout the year to increase the generating capability of the pump/generators at Grand Coulee. Previous operations were within the top 2 feet of full pool during irrigation season, and then the reservoir level was drawn down 5 feet during the non-irrigation season.
Reclamation is preparing an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act. The No Action Alternative will be the current operation, which is a 5-foot drawdown in August for fish flows as called for by Action 23 of the December 21, 2000, FCRPS Biological Opinion. Under NEPA, impacts of this alternative must be evaluated and will form the basis for comparison of impacts among the action alternatives. A range of action alternatives to draw the lake down 10 feet during August of each year will be developed. The draft EIS will evaluate impacts of these alternatives compared to the No Action Alternative.
Banks Lake is operated as a re-regulation reservoir for the Columbia Basin Project. The reservoir is approximately 27 miles long and contains slightly more than 1 million acre-feet of water at full pool. The water supply for the reservoir is stored behind Grand Coulee Dam and is lifted from Franklin Delano Roosevelt Reservoir into Banks Lake. Water is delivered into the Main Canal at Dry Falls Dam on the southern end of Banks Lake and from there delivered to approximately 670,000 acres.
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