Final Environmental Impact Statement for Coastal Water Authority’s Luce Bayou Inter-basin Transfer Project in Liberty and Harris Counties, Texas

Special Public NoticeFEIS U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District (SWG), is issuing a notice to advise the public that a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), for which you might be interested, has been completed and is available for review.

Review period has been extended to Novermber 18, 2013.

Special Public Notice Final Environmental Impact Statement Luce Bayou Inter-basin Transfer Project October 9, 2013 Galveston District Regulatory Branch

Final Environmental Impact Statement for Coastal Water Authority's Luce Bayou Inter-basin Transfer Project in Liberty and Harris Counties, Texas PURPOSE OF PUBLIC NOTICE: To inform you that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District (SWG), is issuing a notice to advise the public that a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), for which you might be interested, has been completed and is available for review FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT: A Notice of Availability for the FEIS was published in the Federal Register on October 4, 2013. The FEIS is available online at the EPA Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Database web site. This site may be accessed at: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/eisdata.html or through a link via the SWG Special Projects web site at: http://www.swg.usace.army.mil/BusinessWithUs/RegulatoryBranch/SpecialProjectsEnvi ronmentalImpactStatements.aspx INFORMATION: The Coastal Water Authority proposes to construct a 26.5 mile water supply conveyance consisting of subsurface pipeline and surface canal within a 300 ft. wide right of way from the Trinity River in Liberty County, TX to Lake Houston in Harris County, TX. The proposed project would transfer water from the Trinity River basin to the San Jacinto River basin. The Coastal Water Authority is the applicant for the Department of Army permit (DA) SWG-2009-00188. A pump station would be constructed on the Trinity River at Capers Ridge approximately 10 miles north of Dayton, Texas. Water from the river would be conveyed by pipeline to a sedimentation basin and then conveyed by earthen canal to Lake Houston to a discharge point in the lake. The canal right of way would include canal side berms, a maintenance access roadway, drainage ditches, and perimeter fencing surrounding the canal. Other elements of the project proposal include the following:

a. Dual 108 inch diameter pipelines constructed to convey water 3.5 miles to a 20 acre sedimentation/settling basin. b. A 23.5 mile clay lined earthen canal with 4:1 side lopes within a 300 ft. wide right of way (ROW) which would include a maintenance roadway, access roads, chain link perimeter fencing, flow control and metering facilities. c. Other facilities include box culverts at roadway and canal crossings, and multiple below ground siphons constructed to maintain existing drainage patterns along the length of the conveyance. d. A maintenance facility is proposed 6 miles north of Dayton, Texas. e. A discharge structure is proposed along the southeast shoreline of Lake Houston. The proposed inter-basin transfer of water from the Trinity River basin to the San Jacinto River basin is an effort by the City of Houston to continue replacing groundwater use with previously secured water resources stored in Lake Livingston. The Applicant has indicated that groundwater reduction is a statutory requirement and is critical to managing the damaging consequences of subsidence throughout the Houston/Harris County area. In addition, water demand projections developed by the City of Houston and State of Texas regional water plan analysis indicate substantial new demand from residential, commercial, industrial, and other water users over the next 50 years. In order to both reduce reliance on groundwater and to continue to meet existing and projected demand with surface water supplies, the Applicant proposes to use the previously secured surface water resources in the Trinity River basin. Up to 400 million gallons per day is proposed to be conveyed in accordance with existing water rights. A Public Notice for Permit Application SWG-2009-00188 was published in 2010 and comments were requested and compiled for evaluation. A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS was published on May 25, 2011 in the Federal Register, and a scoping meeting was held on July 21, 2011 in Dayton, Texas at the Dayton Community Center. The Scoping Notice and NOI were published on the SWG District webpage, and notices were published in local newspapers, and mailed to current stakeholder lists requesting input and comments concerning issues and resources that should be addressed in the DEIS. A Notice of Availability for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was published in the Federal Register on October 26, 2012. A public hearing on the DEIS was held on November 28, 2012 at the Dayton Community Center, Dayton, Texas. The purpose of the hearing was to provide the public an opportunity to comment on the DEIS. Comments on the DEIS were accepted for 45 days. DISTRICT ENGINEER GALVESTON DISTRICT CORPS OF ENGINEERS

Special Public Notice: SWG-2009-00188

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