Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Farmers Irrigation District Infrastructure Modernization Project

The United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Oregon announces the availability of a Final Watershed Plan-Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Farmers Irrigation District (FID) Infrastructure Modernization Project.

The project is located in Hood River County, Oregon and will pipe 3 miles of open canals (Farmers Canal and Rainy Ditch); install six Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems; deepen the existing attenuation bay by 0.2 acre-feet; and expand Forebay 3 by approximately 2 acre-feet. The project will improve water delivery reliability and drought resilience for FID irrigators, improve water conservation, improve streamflow in the Hood River, reduce the sediment content in irrigation water, and reduce FID’s operation and maintenance costs. 

The Farmers Irrigation District is the project sponsor. The project may be partially funded through the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations Program, administered by NRCS and authorized by Public Law 83-566.

Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR Part 1500), and NRCS Regulations (7 CFR Part 650), NRCS gives notice that an environmental impact statement is not being prepared for this project.

The environmental assessment of this federally assisted action indicates that the project will not cause significant local, regional or national impacts on the environment. As a result of these findings, Greg Becker, NRCS State Conservationist, has determined that the preparation and review of an environmental impact statement is not needed for this project.

This Notice has been forwarded to various Federal, State and local agencies and interested parties. The FONSI and other supporting planning documents are available at: https://watershedplans.org/farmers-id.

No administrative action on implementation of the proposal will be taken for 30 days from the publication date of this Notice.

For more information, contact Gary Diridoni, NRCS, at (503) 414-3092 or gary.diridoni@usda.gov.