A draft study on the potential environmental impacts of a proposed expansion of the campus's wastewater treatment plant is available for public review and comment.

The plant expansion would accommodate projected campus demands for wastewater treatment through 2013, increasing treatment capacity from 2.5 million gallons per day to 3.8 million. It also would improve UC Davis' ability to meet current and future regulatory requirements.

Once completed, the project would increase the amount of treated water discharged to the south fork of Putah Creek. It would use the existing discharge site and maintain current water quality.

Most construction activities associated with the project would occur on the site of the existing plant, located south of Interstate 80 and the railroad tracks and east of Old Davis Road. Other construction would take place at the central campus influent pump station, located south of LaRue Road and north of the Arboretum Waterway.

The draft environmental impact report (EIR) evaluated these potential impact areas: increased emissions of certain air pollutants; impacts on certain plant and animal species of concern and their habitats; water quality impacts on surface water and groundwater resources; hydrologic impacts (such as erosion and flooding); and possible discharges of treated wastewater that exceed regulatory limits.

The report concludes that there are very few potentially significant project-specific impacts. Those few impacts could affect water quality and biological resources, and can be mitigated to less-than-significant levels. The report describes those proposed mitigation measures, which include ongoing monitoring and implementation of source controls if problems are found in the future.

Copies of the draft environmental impact report are available at the UC Davis Office of Resource Management and Planning in 376 Mrak Hall on campus; the reserve desk of the Shields Library on campus; the Yolo County Public Library, 315 East 14th St., Davis; the Vacaville Public Library, 1020 Ulatis Drive, Vacaville; and on the Web at http://www.ormp.ucdavis.edu/environreview/.

A public hearing to submit comments on the draft EIR will be held on Nov. 1, 2004, at 7 p.m. at the University Club Main Conference Room.

Written comments on the draft EIR can be submitted up to 5 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2004. They may be e-mailed to environreview@ucdavis.edu or sent to John Meyer, Vice Chancellor for Resource Management and Planning, 376 Mrak Hall, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616.