Purpose and Need

The Rehabilitation Project would be implemented as agricultural water management, as authorized under sections 3 and 4 of Public Law 83-566. The primary purpose of the Rehabilitation Project is 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.

An assessment of Clear Branch Dam was performed by NRCS and the Project Sponsor in 2015 to evaluate the condition of the dam. Results of the assessment indicated that modifications to Clear Branch Dam are needed to extend its service life. To meet the purpose of providing a clean dependable water supply, there is a need to rehabilitate Clear Branch Dam to meet current dam safety and environmental compliance standards for NRCS, the Forest Service, FERC, and other regulatory agencies.

Action to rehabilitate the dam is necessary because the dam reached the end of its original service life and requires structural modifications to extend its service life another 50 to 100 years.

The need for watershed planning is established and implementation of management actions are authorized under Public Law 83–566, the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 (16 U.S.C. 1001-1009), as amended, and Public Law 78–534, the Flood Control Act of 1944 (33 U.S.C. 702b-1). Further context for the need for watershed planning is provided below.

A Watershed Work Plan for Middle Fork Hood River Watershed

A Watershed Work Plan for Middle Fork Hood River Watershed in Hood River County, Oregon was authorized by the Soil Conservation Service, the predecessor to NRCS, and its partners in 1962, under the authority of the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act. The primary objective of the Rehabilitation Project is to provide a clean dependable water supply and improved water distribution system for the irrigation of 8,000 acres; this objective was accomplished with the construction of a reservoir on Clear Branch of the Middle Fork Hood River in 1968, named Clear Branch Dam. The dam is owned and operated by the Middle Fork Irrigation District. Today, the reservoir behind Clear Branch Dam provides water to 404 users to irrigate 6,362 acres in the Upper Hood River valley.

In 2016, NRCS, the Forest Service, and the Project Sponsor initiated scoping for an Environmental Assessment for the rehabilitation of Clear Branch Dam. A public scoping meeting was conducted on August 15, 2016, in Parkdale, Oregon.

Since scoping for the Environmental Assessment (EA) was completed in 2016, NRCS, the Forest Service, and the Project Sponsor have completed additional investigations and studies to evaluate the condition of the dam. As a result of the new information obtained during the EA process, the rehabilitation needed is more extensive than anticipated during scoping in 2016. Estimated federal funds required for the construction of the proposed action may exceed $25 million and the proposed action will therefore require congressional approval per the 2018 Agriculture Appropriations Act amended funding threshold. In accordance with 7 CFR 650.7(a)(2), an EIS is required for projects requiring congressional approval.