Notice of Determination for the Lookout Slough Project
Notice is hereby given that the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has certify a Revised Final Environmental Impact Report (Revised Final EIR) for the Lookout Slough Tidal Habitat Restoration and Flood Improvement Project (Project) on September 28, 2023. The Notice of Determination has been filed at the State Clearinghouse, per California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15094.
Background:
A Final Environmental Impact Report (2020 Final EIR) was previously prepared pursuant to CEQA (Pub. Resources Code, Section 21000 et seq.) and was certified by DWR on November 2, 2020 (State Clearinghouse no. 2019039136), which included revisions to and responses to comments on the Project’s Draft Environmental Impact Report completed in December 2019 (2019 Draft EIR).
On January 5, 2023, the Contra Costa Superior Court ordered DWR to decertify that portion of the 2020 Final EIR related to the Project's potential impact on recreational opportunities to fish from the shoreline. In compliance with the Court’s January 5, 2023 Peremptory Writ of Mandate (Writ) and Judgment Granting Petition for Writ of Mandate (Judgment), DWR partially decertified that portion of the 2020 Final EIR on March 6, 2023. On June 1, 2023, DWR partially recirculated for public comment a Revised Final EIR for a 45-day public comment period from June 1, 2023 to July 17, 2023.
The Revised Final EIR, including the responses to public comments received during the public comment period, focuses exclusively on those portions of those portions of the analysis related to the Project’s potentially significant impacts on recreational opportunities to fish from the shoreline and includes revisions amplifying and clarifying the previous analysis, as directed by the Court. The Revised Final EIR’s expanded analysis and explanation is based on public comment, survey data, and information maintained by public agencies, and pertains to impacts that were considered, but were found to have a less than significant impact. No substantial changes to the previously identified significant impacts on environmental resources in the decertified 2020 Final EIR were found as a result of the analysis done in the Revised Final EIR. No additional mitigation measures have been proposed.
After reconsideration, DWR has concluded that the Project would not substantially decrease opportunities to fish from the shoreline within the Delta region, as set forth in Chapter 2 and Appendix A of the Revised Final EIR.
Accessing the Revised Final EIR and Responses to Comments:
Digital copies of the Revised Final EIR are available on the DWR website under the “Lookout Slough Tidal Habitat Restoration and Flood Improvement Project” header, or by visiting the following web address: Delta Projects