Revised Notice of Intent to be prepared for the Clear Branch Dam Project

On September 19, 2022, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)-Oregon State Office, as Lead Federal Agency, in partnership with the Forest Service-Mount Hood National Forest (Forest Service) (Cooperating Action Agency), and the Middle Fork Irrigation District (MFID) (Project Sponsor, Owner/Operator), published an initial notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS for the Clear Branch Dam Rehabilitation Project (Project) in the proximity of Parkdale in unincorporated Hood River County, Oregon.  The purpose of the Project is to continue to provide a clean, dependable water supply for the Upper Hood River Valley in Hood River County, Oregon, as authorized in the 1962 Middle Fork Hood River Watershed Work Plan.  The need the project would address is to remediate Clear Branch Dam so as to remedy seepage issues and to meet current dam safety and environmental compliance standards for NRCS, Forest Service, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and other regulatory agencies. 

In the original NOI, NRCS and Forest Service requested Scoping comments to identify significant issues and potential alternatives, information, and analyses relevant to the proposed action from all interested individuals, Tribes, and Federal and State Agencies.  Due to additional evaluation and in part in response to original Scoping comments, NRCS and Forest Service have made certain refinements to the alternatives the EIS will consider in detail from the preliminary description in the original NOI.  In light of the refinements that have been made to the alternatives to be considered in detail, NRCS and Forest Service will issue a Revised NOI and provide a supplemental Scoping period to receive comments addressing such alternatives.  The Revised NOI updates and clarifies the preliminary description of alternatives the EIS will consider in detail from that provided in the original NOI. It is anticipated that the Revised NOI will be issued in late 2024 or early 2025, coinciding with a public Scoping meeting to review the refinements to the alternatives to be considered in detail.