Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir Project Geotechnical Evaluation Eagle Permit NEPA Documents

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received an application from Del Puerto Water District requesting eagle take coverage under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.  The application requested authorization for incidental disturbance take of eagles in the vicinity of geotechnical evaluation surveys for the Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir Project.  Del Puerto Water District will be conducting geotechnical surveys to evaluate the site of the proposed Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir for the initial stages of the project.  The project is located in Del Puerto Canyon in the foothills west of the City of Patterson, California and Interstate-5, in Stanislaus County, California.  The geotechnical surveys will occur over 22 months, from approximately March 2022 through December 2023.

We prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA), pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, to assess impacts of the proposed action of issuance of the requested eagle take permit to the applicant, as well as alternatives to the proposed action. The proposed action of issuing a permit required implementation of measures to avoid and minimize adverse effects to eagles to the maximum extent practicable and compensatory mitigation to fully offset eagle take. Details of the minimizations measures and compensatory mitigation can be found in the EA document. The analysis detailed in the EA resulted in selection of the proposed action and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).  Please find the FONSI and EA below.