SACRAMENTO -- A notice announcing the availability of a draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for a proposed science and research center in the Delta will be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 30, 2015, the California Department of Water Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.
The notice is available now and can be viewed here.
The notice opens a 45-day public comment period that will end Dec. 14, 2015 and will include two public meetings at the following times and locations:
- Tuesday, Dec. 1, 6 p.m., D.H. White Elementary School, 500 Elm Way, Rio Vista.
- Thursday, Dec. 3, 5:30 p.m., Arnold Rue Community Center, 5758 Lorraine Ave., Stockton.
The Delta Research Station would consist of two facilities – an Estuarine Research Station and Fish Technology Center, and would consolidate approximately 145 employees from federal and state offices of the Interagency Ecological Program (IEP). A total of four alternatives are identified in the EIR/EIS, with the preferred alternative located at the Sacramento River site of the Rio Vista Army Reserve Center in the City of Rio Vista.
The DRS would consolidate a number of existing and new activities and would bring together state and federal staff working on Bay-Delta issues, allowing for increased interagency coordination and collaboration. The EIS/EIR also includes plans to construct and operate a co-located Fish Technology Center to conduct research and develop captive propagation techniques that might help imperiled fish populations.
Go to the project’s web site at http://www.deltaresearchstation.com/ for more information on the Delta Research Station project. Recent photos of the existing preferred alternative location can be found here.
Comments on the Draft EIR/EIS must be received or postmarked by 5 p.m. PST on Dec. 14, 2015. Comments may also be dropped off at the two public meetings listed above. Comments may also be submitted by one of the following methods: 1) By email: comments@deltasearchstation.com; 2) By hard copy: Submit by mail or by hand delivery to USFWS, Attn: Barbara Beggs, 650 Capitol Mall Suite 8-300, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Hard-bound copies of the Draft EIR/EIS will be available at the following locations:
- USFWS San Francisco Bay-Delta Office, 650 Capitol Mall Suite 8-300, Sacramento, CA, 95814
- Rio Vista Library, 44 South Second Street, Rio Vista, CA, 94571
- Cesar Chavez Central Library, 605 North El Dorado Street, Stockton, CA 95202
###
