DES receives more than 800 comments on Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Capitol Lake - Deschutes Estuary Long-Term Management Project

The Department of Enterprise Services (DES) received more than 800 comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Capitol Lake - Deschutes Estuary Long-Term Management Project. The comment period closed Aug. 29.

“I would like to thank everyone who took the time to comment on the Draft EIS and help us make sure we have the best body of information available to complete our analysis, deliver a final EIS and identify a preferred alternative,” said Bill Frare, DES Assistant Director for Facility Professional Services. “We have already started analyzing the comments.”

An EIS supports informed decision making. Neither short-term actions like dredging nor a long-term management alternative can be implemented without an EIS. The Final EIS, which will identify a Preferred Alternative for long-term management of Capitol Lake – Deschutes Estuary, is expected in 2022, pending the volume and content of comments received, and whether additional technical analyses are required to ensure a complete evaluation.

What’s next

October: All Draft EIS comments received during the extended, 62-day comment period will be published on the project website by early October. The Final EIS will include a comment response summary that documents comments and how they were addressed.

November: The Executive and Technical work groups and Community Sounding Board will reconvene. Work Group and Community Sounding Board meetings are open to the public. Topics are expected to include:
• Summary of key Draft EIS comment themes
• Description of focus areas for the Final EIS
• Discussion on the remaining steps in the Preferred Alternative selection process

Background

The EIS contains an impartial analysis of three long-term management alternatives – a managed lake, an estuary, and a hybrid – and discusses how the environment would change under these alternatives, including potential impacts and benefits, and ways to avoid or minimize the impacts.

Learn more

Project website
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