Conducting the Environmental Impact Analysis and Assessment - Environmental Impact Analysis: Process and Methods - page 223

r Creating an artificial water flow to simulate “water over the dam” to
maintain aesthetics if lake levels dropped below the dam spillway
r Exceptions to the minimum release provisions in the lake manage-
ment plan to accommodate specified drought and available water
supply volume conditions
r Continued monitoring of Mill River conditions, particularly salinity
and DO, and periodic reevaluation of the lake management plan in
consideration of new data
r A lake management study to evaluate the relationship between
lake level, aesthetics, and alternatives to improve the lake quality
(including exposed mudflats perceived by some stakeholders as
aesthetically adverse)
The Lake Management Plan was developed in the late 1990s, and continu-
ous monitoring of DO and the aquatic community has proven that the plan
is successful. There have been minor modifications to the plan based on the
monitoring data, including a slight modification of the DO concentration
provisions. The lake management study included mitigation of lake aes-
thetic impacts and an ecologically friendly storm water management plan.
The plan also included an expert environmental advisory team, which has
met at least annually with stakeholders to review results and over the almost
15 years of the plan, the team, RWA, and stakeholders have forged a produc-
tive and even friendly relationship, to the advantage of the environmental
attributes of Lake Whitney and the Mill River.
5.4.5 ProgrammaticMitigation
Mitigation that goes beyond the progressive and integration approach
described above can be implemented as part of a programmatic environ-
mental impact analysis (see Chapter 6 for a description of programmatic and
similar analyses). This approach identifies impacts that are likely for a set
of similar actions as part of a program. A classic example is a program for a
National Forest where forest road maintenance and associated drainage is
a major component with the potential to create substantial environmental
impacts on vegetation, aquatic resources, soil, and land use. Although there
can be a high risk of impact on these resources and the consequences could
be far reaching, they often can be easily avoided or otherwise mitigated.
Most of the mitigation measures are not unique to a specific road or drainage
system and common measures applicable to all roads and drainage systems
in the National Forest can be indentified in the programmatic environmental
evaluation. If the mitigation measures are included in an individual proj-
ect, the impacts are addressed and a separate environmental analysis for the
project is unnecessary, or at least reduced in scope.