The following Consultant Administrative Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) documents are available for public review.
These documents are preliminary and subject to change. This information does not take the place of formal "public review" as pursuant to state and federal requirements.
Only formal public comments submitted during the official comment period on the Draft EIR/EIS will be responded to, in writing, as part of the Final EIR/EIS. The public Draft EIR/EIS is expected to be released by October 1, 2013. The Public Draft will be accompanied by a robust public participation process, including in-Delta office hours, educational workshops and formal public comment hearings.
Preliminary draft BDCP documents are available here.
Please note: The files below are large and may take time to download depending on your internet connection speed.
Table of Contents
An Executive Summary will be available with the Public Draft EIR/EIS, scheduled for release by October 1, 2013.
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Provides background, including information on the BDCP’s relationship to the Delta Reform Act and Delta Plan, project area description, intended uses of the EIR/EIS, and agency roles and responsibilities. Also includes an overview of the project approval process, use of the EIR/EIS by other entities, and issues of known controversy.
Chapter 2 - Project Objectives and Purpose and Need
Describes the project objectives, purpose, and need within the context of the Delta's history, California water use, the regulatory environment, and ecological conditions.
Chapter 3 - Description of Alternatives
Describes the alternatives being considered to meet the project objectives described in Chapter 1.
Chapter 4 - Approach to Environmental Analysis
Provides a framework for the environmental consequences analyses, including any relevant evaluation timeframes, and an overview of the project-level and program-level analysis elements. Also describes the overall organization and content of the resource-specific analyses (Chapters 5–30) and the CEQA determinations (Chapter 31); and an overview of modeling tools and applications.
Chapter 5 - Water Supply
Provides a description of the environmental setting/affected environment related to water supply that may be influenced by implementation of the BDCP alternatives, including possible changes to water supply conditions.
Chapter 6 - Surface Water
Describes the potential changes to surface waters (North Coast, Sacramento River and San Joaquin River basins, including the Delta and Suisun Marsh located at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers) due to modifications in SWP and CVP water supply operations and implementation of habitat restoration in the Delta and Suisun Marsh identified in the BDCP alternatives.
Chapter 7 - Groundwater
Describes the potential changes to groundwater due to implementation of the BDCP alternatives.
Chapter 8 - Water Quality
Defines the environmental setting/affected environment for surface water quality, reviews the environmental and regulatory setting with respect to water quality, and provides an assessment of existing water quality conditions within the project area.
Chapter 9 - Geology and Seismicity
Describes the existing geologic and seismologic conditions and the associated potential geologic, seismic, and geotechnical hazards in the Delta and Suisun Marsh area.
Chapter 10 - Soils
Provides information on soils in the Plan Area which includes portions of the Delta, Suisun Marsh, and Yolo Bypass.
Chapter 11 - Fish and Aquatic Resources
Describes the area of potential environmental effects relative to fish and aquatic resources as they may be impacted by the BDCP alternatives.
Chapter 12 - Terrestrial Biological Resources
Describes the environmental setting/affected environment for the terrestrial biological resources present in the BDCP Plan Area.
Chapter 13 - Land Use
Describes existing land uses and planned future land uses that could be affected by construction and operation of the alternatives. Summarizes goals, objectives, and policies from the general plans and other regulations of entities with jurisdiction in the Delta, Suisun Marsh, and Yolo Bypass upstream of the statutory Delta.
Chapter 14 - Agricultural Resources
Describes the agricultural resources within the study area, specifically the Delta Region, along with areas in Suisun Marsh and the Yolo Bypass covered by Restoration Opportunity Areas (ROAs) identified in the BDCP. Specific impacts to agriculture may also be discussed in Chapters 5, 16, and 30 of the EIR/EIS.
Chapter 15 - Recreation
Describes the recreation facilities and associated recreation activities and opportunities that could be affected by implementing the alternatives.
Chapter 16 - Socioeconomics
Describes the socioeconomic conditions for the Delta including both quantitative and qualitative measures, and focuses on community character, social and economic characteristics, population, housing, employment, and income at regional levels.
Chapter 17 - Aesthetics and Visual Resources
Identifies the study area visual resources that could be affected by implementing the alternatives.
Chapter 18 - Cultural Resources
Provides an overview of the methods used to identify the kind and density of cultural resources in the Plan Area.
Chapter 19 - Transportation
Describes the transportation facilities that could be affected by implementing the alternatives.
Chapter 20 - Public Services and Utilities
Describes public services and utilities in the Plan Area that could be affected by construction and operation of the action alternatives in the Delta, the Suisun Marsh, and portions of the Yolo Bypass. Public services include law enforcement, fire protection and emergency response, hospitals and medical services facilities, public schools, and libraries. Utilities include solid waste management, water supply and treatment, wastewater treatment, energy, and communications.
Chapter 21 - Energy
Discusses the existing conditions for energy generation at the SWP and CVP hydropower facilities and the existing energy use for pumping existing water supplies into the various canals and tunnels in the existing water conveyance and distribution systems.
Chapter 22 - Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases
Describes existing conditions related to air quality in the air quality study area. It also discusses federal, state, and local regulations related to air quality that would apply to the alternatives.
Chapter 23 - Noise
Describes the existing noise environment in the noise study area, and identifies receptors that may potentially be affected by noise. It evaluates noise-sensitive receptors associated with residential and recreational land uses in the Delta and the potential effects of Conservation Measure 1 on these receptors.
Chapter 24 - Hazards and Hazardous Materials
Discusses existing study area characteristics as they pertain to hazards and hazardous materials, federal, state and local regulations applicable to the use, storage and disposal of hazardous materials, the potential effects on the public and the environment from hazards and hazardous materials associated with implementation of the proposed alternatives, as well as potential mitigation measures to reduce the severity of these effects.
Chapter 25 - Public Health
Focuses on issues related to human health and safety that could potentially be affected by the implementation of the BDCP alternatives.
Chapter 26 - Mineral Resources
Describes existing mineral resources within the mineral resources study area that could be affected by construction and operation of the BDCP alternatives.
Chapter 27 - Paleontological Resources
Addresses paleontological resources and the potential effects of the BDCP alternatives on paleontological resources in the Delta and Suisun Marsh.
Chapter 28 - Environmental Justice
Analyzes the potential for the BDCP alternatives to cause disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority and low‐income populations.
Chapter 29 - Climate Change
Presents a discussion of the scientific fundamentals pertaining to climate change that relate to the study area; key regulatory documents associated with adaptation; linkages between resource areas addressed in this EIR/EIS and climate change; and an evaluation of the resiliency of each resource area under each project alternative to potential changes in climate.
Chapter 30 - Growth Inducement
Addresses the direct and indirect growth inducement potential of the BDCP alternatives. Assessing growth inducement potential involves determining whether project implementation would directly or indirectly support economic expansion, population growth, or residential construction, and, if so, determining the magnitude and nature, and potential environmental effects of that growth.
Chapter 31 - Other CEQA/NEPA Required Sections
Provides an overview of other CEQA and NEPA considerations based on the technical analyses presented in Chapters 5–30, and addresses significant irreversible and irretrievable changes, and short-term uses versus long‐term productivity, selection of the environmentally superior/preferable alternative, and significant and unavoidable impacts.
Chapter 32 - Public Involvement, Consultation, and Coordination
Provides a summary of the public involvement and outreach activities (including outreach to the federal and state agencies participating in the CEQA and NEPA processes) conducted for the BDCP EIR/EIS.
Chapter 33 - List of Preparers
Chapter 34 - References
Chapter 35 - Glossary
Acronyms and Abbreviations