Grassland Bypass Project, 2010-2019, Fresno and Merced Counties, CA

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Federal lead agency and the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority (Authority) is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) State lead agency. Together, these agencies have made available for public review and comment the Draft EIS/EIR. The joint Draft EIS/EIR evaluates the effects of continuing the Grassland Bypass Project until December 31, 2019 (Project). The actions analyzed in the Draft EIS/EIR include continued use of the Grassland Bypass Channel and a 28-mile segment of the San Luis Drain (Drain); continued discharges to Mud Slough until December 31, 2019; management of accumulated sediments within the Drain segment; ongoing use and development of areas utilized for application of subsurface drainage on salt tolerant crops; and programmatic consideration of future phases of the treatment and disposal program.