Bay-Delta Advisory Council Meeting

AGENCY:

Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY:

The Bay-Delta Advisory Council (BDAC) will meet on November 15, 2000, to discuss the Director's Report. CALFED Program Update, and the Ecosystem Restoration Program. The CALFED agencies will also formally thank the Council for all their hard work. This meeting is open to the public. Interested persons may make oral statements to BDAC, or may file written statements for consideration.

Our practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address form public disclosure, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we would withhold a respondent's identity from public disclosure, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. We will make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available for public disclosure in their entirety.

DATES:

The BDAC meeting will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, November 15, 2000.

ADDRESSES:

The Bay-Delta Advisory Council will meet at the Sacramento Convention Center at 13th and “J” Streets, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 264-5291.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Eugenia Laychak, CALFED Bay-Delta Program, at (916) 657-2666. If reasonable accommodation is needed due to a disability, please contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Office at (916) 653-6952 or TDD (916) 653-6934 at least one week prior to the meeting.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta system) is a critically important part of California's natural environment and economy. In recognition of the serious problems facing the region and the complex resource management decisions that must be made, the state of California and the Federal government are working together to stabilize, protect, restore, and enhance the Bay-Delta system. The State and Federal agencies with management and regulatory responsibilities in the Bay-Delta system are working together as CALFED to provide policy direction and oversight for the process.

One area of Bay-Delta management includes the establishment of a joint State-Federal process to develop long-term solutions to problems in the Bay-Delta system related to fish and wildlife, water supply reliability, natural disasters, and water quality. The intent is to develop a comprehensive and balanced plan, which addresses all of the resource problems. This effort, the CALFED Bay-Delta Program (Program), is being carried out under the policy direction of CALFED. The Program is exploring and developing a long-term solution for a cooperative planning process that will determine the most appropriate strategy and actions necessary to improve water quality, restore health to the Bay-Delta ecosystem, provide for a variety of beneficial uses, and minimize Bay-Delta system vulnerability. A group of citizen advisors representing California's agricultural, environmental, urban, business, fishing, and other interests who have a stake in finding long-term solutions for the problems affecting the Bay-Delta system has been chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The BDAC provides advice to CALFED on the program mission, problems to be addressed, and objectives for the Program. BDAC provides a forum to help ensure public participation, and will review reports and other materials prepared by the CALFED staff.

Minutes of the meeting will be maintained by the Program, Suite 1155, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, and will be available for public inspection during regular business hours, Monday through Friday within 30 days following the meeting.