EP Water - Heath de Leon Water Transmission Main (408-SPA-2025-006)
PUBLIC NOTICE COMMENT PERIOD:
Begins: September 08, 2025
Ends: October 08, 2025
REQUESTER: In compliance with U.S.C. Title 33, Chapter 9, Subchapter 1, Section 408, EPWater (requester and non-federal sponsor of the federally authorized project) has requested permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to alter the Buena Vista Diversion Channel federal project; a concrete-lined diversion channel which is part of a federal flood risk management project authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986.
LOCATION: The Heath de Leon Water Transmission Main project would extend for approximately 2 miles from the new Heath de Leon Booster Station, located in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, at the intersection of Bluff Trail Lane and South Mesa Hills Drive to the existing 30-inch valve stub-out from an existing 30-inch pipeline, located at the intersection of South Mesa Hills Drive and Cabaret Drive. The pipeline would cross the existing Buena Vista Diversion Channel (a concrete-lined channel) near the following coordinates: Latitude: 31.821518°. Longitude: -106.540474°.
REQUESTER’S PROPOSED ACTON: The purpose of the Heath de Leon Water Transmission Main project is to install a pipeline to transport potable water from the Heath De Leon Booster Station to the existing Festival Reservoir and further into the Crown Point pressure zone. This project is a continuation of the Crestmont to Festival Reservoir 30-inch Water Transmission Line project that was completed in December 2022.
The proposed pipeline would be a 30-inch Ductile Iron Pipe (DIP), with a pressure rating of 300 psi. The method of installation for the majority of the project alignment would be open-cut with trench box method. The portion of the project requiring Section 408 Permission consists of 891 linear feet of pipeline, which would be installed by Tunneling Boring Machine (TBM) method to cross underneath the Buena Vista Diversion Channel and Sunland Park Drive at the location shown in the attached drawings. A Drilling and Invasive Program Plan (DIPP) was completed by EPWater for this crossing and this will be reviewed by the Corps.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF PROPOSED ACTION:
Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act
The Corps has reviewed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's latest published version of federally listed endangered and threatened species located in El Paso County, Texas to determine if any listed species or their critical habitat may occur in the proposed project action area. The listed species include the endangered Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), the threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus), the threatened rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa), the threatened western yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), and the proposed threatened monarch butterfly (Danaus Plexippus). The Corps has made a preliminary determination that the proposed project will not affect any federally listed endangered or threatened species or their critical habitats that are protected by the Endangered Species Act.
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act
EPWater and the Corps reviewed the latest version of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as well as the Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Historic Site Atlas for records of NRHP-eligible, and potentially eligible, historic properties to determine if there are any historic properties that may be affected by the proposed undertaking. The proposed project permit area is located within a heavily developed urban area and has been extensively modified by previous work. Also, the project activities within the permit area involve work of a limited nature and scope and have little likelihood of impinging upon a historic property even if such properties were to be present. EPWater consulted with the Texas Historical Commission regarding possible effects of the proposed project and received a response indicating that the project would have no effect on any historic properties. Based on this initial information, the Corps has made a preliminary determination that the proposed project will not likely affect any historic properties that meet the criteria for inclusion in the NRHP.
AUTHORITY: The authority to grant permission for temporary or permanent use, occupation or alteration of any USACE civil works project is contained in Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, as amended, codified at 33 U.S.C. 408 (“Section 408”). Section 408 authorizes the Secretary of the Army, on the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers, to grant permission for the alteration or occupation or use of a USACE project if the Secretary determines that the activity will not be injurious to the public interest and will not impair the usefulness of the project. The Secretary of Army’s authority under Section 408 has been delegated to the USACE, Chief of Engineers. The USACE Chief of Engineers has further delegated the authority to the USACE, Directorate of Civil Works and Division and District Engineers, depending upon the nature of the activity.
LIMITS OF SECTION 408 AUTHORITY: A requester has the responsibility to acquire all other permissions or authorizations required by federal, state, and local laws or regulations, including any required permits from the USACE Regulatory Program under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403) and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1344). In addition, an approval under Section 408 does not grant any property rights or exclusive privileges nor does it authorize any injury to the property or rights of others.
EVALUATION FACTORS: The decision whether to grant the requested permission for project alteration under Section 408 will be based on several factors. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefit which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. Review of requests for alteration will be reviewed by a USACE technical review team considering the following factors:
1) Impair the Usefulness of the Federal Project Determination. The review team will determine if the proposed alteration would limit the ability of the USACE project to function as authorized, or would compromise or change any authorized project conditions, purposes or outputs. In order for an alteration to be approved, the requester must demonstrate that the alteration does not impair the usefulness of the federally authorized project.
2) Injurious to the Public Interest Determination. Proposed alterations will be reviewed to determine the probable impacts, including cumulative impacts, on the public interest. Factors that may be relevant to the public interest evaluation depend upon the type of USACE project being altered and the nature of the proposed alteration and may include, but are not limited to, such things as conservation, economic development, historic properties, cultural resources, environmental impacts, water supply, water quality, flood hazards, floodplains, residual risk, induced damages, navigation, shore erosion or accretion, and recreation. This evaluation will consider information received from the interested parties, including tribes, agencies, and the public. The benefits that reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal must be compared against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. The decision whether to approve an alteration will be determined by the consideration of whether benefits are commensurate with risks and by the net impact of the alteration on the public interest using the public interest factors.
3) Environmental Compliance. A decision on a Section 408 request is a federal action, and therefore subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other environmental compliance requirements. While USACE is responsible for ensuring environmental compliance, the requester is responsible for providing all information that the Albuquerque District identifies as necessary to satisfy all applicable federal laws, executive orders, regulations, policies, and procedures. NEPA and other analysis completed to comply with other environmental statutes (e.g. Endangered Species Act) should be commensurate with the scale and potential effects of the activity that would alter the USACE project. The Albuquerque District will work with the requester to determine the requirements, which will be scaled to the likely impacts of the proposed alteration and should convey the relevant considerations and impacts in a concise and effective manner.
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT: The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from the public; federal, state, and local agencies and officials; tribes; and other interested parties regarding the Heath de Leon Water Transmission Main project, a proposed alteration to a proposed federally authorized project. Comments received within 30 days of publication of this notice will be used in the evaluation of potential impacts of the proposed action on important resources and in the evaluation of whether the proposed alteration would be injurious to the public interest and/or would impair the usefulness of the authorized project. Only the specific activities that have the potential to occupy, use or alter the Buena Vista Diversion Channel federal project will be evaluated. Please limit comments to the area of the alteration and those adjacent areas that would be directly or indirectly affected by the alteration to the Buena Vista Diversion Channel. Please note that all comment letters received are subject to release to the public through the Freedom of Information Act.
SUBMITTING COMMENTS: Written comments, referencing Department of the Army file number 408-SPA-2025-006 must be submitted to the office listed below on or before October 8, 2025.
S. Brad Crosson, Section 408 Coordinator, Regulatory Division, Albuquerque District
Email: CESPA-408@usace.army.mil
Attachment: Proposed Project Location Maps and Site Plan Drawings (8 Pages)