Powerline Plan and Environ. Assessment Jan. 2013 - Flood Control ...

Powerline Flood Retarding Structure
Pinal County, AZ
Draft Supplemental Watershed Plan
and Environmental Assessment
7.0 CONSULTATION AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
As noted in Section 3.0 – Scope of the Supplemental Watershed Plan and Environmental
Assessment, an initial public scoping meeting to solicit input on the planning process for the
Powerline, Vineyard Road, and Rittenhouse Flood Retarding Structures Rehabilitation or
Replacement Project FRS was held on November 4, 2010 in Mesa, Arizona (Williams Gateway
Airport). Meeting notices/announcements were published in local newspapers, mailed to
approximately 11 Federal and State agencies and newsletters sent to approximately several
thousand local residents (including disadvantaged and minority publics) and stakeholders, and
electronic copies sent to Pinal County. The Sponsor provided a program overview at the meeting.
Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. provided an overview of the study and the scheduled activities.
Several local residents attended the scoping meeting. Since no public comments were received at
the scoping meeting no relevant concerns were identified during this public scoping process.
On February 1, 2011, the District and Kimley-Horn conducted a second public presentation in
Mesa, Arizona (Williams Gateway Airport). The purpose of the presentation was to present the
draft alternatives for the rehabilitation or replacement project. The objective of the presentation
was to gain public input and comments on the draft alternatives. Several comments were received
from the public in attendance providing input on the draft alternatives.
A third public meeting will be held during the review of this draft Plan/EA. The meeting will be
held in Mesa, Arizona (Williams Gateway Airport). The purpose of the public meeting is to present
the Preferred Alternative and summarize the alternatives studied for the PVR project. Comments
will be solicited from the public (including disadvantaged and minority publics) on the Preferred
Alternative.
Stakeholder meetings and workshops have been conducted with invited public agencies,
conservation groups, and land planning group to obtain comments, feedback, and evaluations of
tentative alternatives for the PVR dams. A series of seven (7) meetings and workshops were
conducted during the period from August 2010 to April 2012. Presentation materials consisting of
descriptions and exhibits of proposed alternatives, cost estimates, environmental considerations,
land footprints, and multi-use opportunities were discussed and used in the workshops to evaluate,
screen, and rank the alternatives. The alternatives were ranked by the stakeholders using a
weighted matrix scoring system.
In compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, NRCS conducted
consultations with the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and with all tribes whose
ancestral claims areas overlap the project area. Tribes include the Gila River Indian Community,
the Hopi Tribe, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the San
Carlos Apache Nation, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, and the Yavapai-Apache Nation. In
November 2012, NRCS and project sponsor representatives met with a representative of the SHPO
to initiate the Section 106 process. In January 2013, correspondence was sent to the SHPO and
affected tribes describing the purpose and need of the project, the preferred alternative, the area of
potential effects for the project, known archaeological sites within the project area, and the need for
mitigation of sites that will be adversely affected by project implementation. NRCS invited the
SHPO and affected tribes to collaborate in the Section 106 process for the project. Specifically, the
SHPO and tribes were requested to identify any previously unrecorded cultural resources, provide
USDA- NRCS Page 7-1 January 2013
Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.