Nelson Springs Project
Yakima County, Washington

• PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

  
  BPA proposes to fund the construction of a modular office complex in a floodplain and potentially in wetlands located in Yakima County, Washington. This building would replace the two exiting buildings that house some of the Yakama Nation's Fisheries Department staff. The proposed location of the new building is 771 Pence Road, northwest of the city of Yakima in T13N, R18E, Sec 9 of the Selah Quadrangle. The site is approximately 125 meters from the Naches River and 20 meters from Buckskin Slough. The existing house and modular building would be removed and the new office complex would be built at a different on-site location.
  
  The proposed project construction would be within the 100-year floodplains of Naches Creek. A wetland delineation has been completed to determine the presence and location of any wetlands on the site. In accordance with DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain and wetlands environmental review requirements, the new construction would be located outside of the designated floodway and would be designed not to flood or affect flood behavior during 100-year flood events. BPA has prepared a floodplain and wetlands assessment and will perform this proposed action in a manner to avoid or minimize potential harm to or within the affected floodplain and wetlands. The assessment and a floodplain statement of findings are available to all interested parties upon request.
  
  

• CURRENT STATUS:

  
  This project is programmatically covered under the Fish and Wildlife Implementation Program Environmental Impact Statement and Final Fish and Wildlife Implementation Plan ROD. BPA has completed a Floodplains/Wetlands Assessment and Statement of Findings. These documents are available below.
  
  

• COMMENTS:

  
  BPA accepted public comments about the project through February 26, 2010. The comment period is now closed. All comments received are posted in their entirety at the Nelson Springs Project comments page.




• CONTACT:

  
  Israel N Duran, Contract Environmental Protection Specialist, Bonneville Power Administration - KEC-4, P.O. Box 3621, Portland, Oregon, 97208-3621; direct telephone number 503-230-3967, toll-free telephone number 1-800-282-3713, fax number 503-230-5699; or e-mail address: induran@bpa.gov.
  
  

• DOCUMENTS:

  
  Postcard to Public (135Kb pdf) (01/29/10)
  Comment Form (40Kb pdf) (01/29/10)
  Floodplains/Wetlands Assessment & Statement of Findings Public Letter (34Kb pdf) (12/08/09)
  Floodplains/Wetlands Public Letter (27Kb pdf) (09/22/09)
  Project Vicinity Map (830Kb pdf) (09/15/08)