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Officials tour hydroelectric project
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| Federal, state, PacifiCorp and other officials walk atop the Copco No. 1 dam just south of the Oregon-California border on the Klamath River Wednesday. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is working on relicensing the dam and others in PacifiCorp's Klamath hydroelectric project. |
Published May 20, 2004
By DYLAN DARLING
Seven thousand pages of application material and data for a federal power license say a lot.
But they don't say as much as actually walking through an old powerhouse, looking down from a dam or hearing in person from people who rely on a river's water.
Federal officials and private consultants were in the Klamath Basin to do all three and more on PacifiCorp's 151-megawatt Klamath River hydroelectric project this week.
"The purpose is to let them get to know the project," said John Mudre, who is managing the relicensing for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Wednesday the officials and consultants toured the project's dams on the Klamath River in California - Iron Gate, Copco No. 1 and Copco No. 2, as well as other smaller pieces of the project's power complex that lie on creeks leading into the river.
Tuesday the same group had toured the parts of the project close to Klamath Falls, including the Link River Dam and the Eastside and Westside powerhouses, and held a public meeting at the Klamath County Fairgrounds.
PacifiCorp's Klamath project is up for a new 50-year license in 2006. To meet FERC's timetable, the Portland-based power company submitted its lengthy application in February.
Along for the tour Wednesday, which had about 25 people in it and was led by PacifiCorp officials, were representatives from the many other federal agencies involved with the relicensing process. Some were very familiar with the project and others were seeing it for the first time.
"You can read things, you can read things, but once you get a visual you can actually understand things," said Barbara Machado, district hydrologist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
And the issues surrounding the relicensing of the project, from salmon passage to recreational use, are complex. The process has the attention of two states, several Department of the Interior bureaus and American Indian tribes from up and down the river and its tributaries.
From fish die-offs on the lower end of the river to the potential impact on Klamath Reclamation Project diversions at the head waters, PacifiCorp's Klamath project relicensing has people's attentions for reasons other than power, said Dennis Smith of the U.S. Forest Service.
"It runs the gamut," he said.
Data doesn't tell all the story.
Information is interpreted by different groups in different ways. Trying to get those groups into agreement about the issues is just one of the complexities of the relicensing process.
One of the most recent issues to come up is salmon, with the Klamath Tribes filing $1 billion in claims against PacifiCorp for the salmon runs that were blocked by dams.
It's unclear how the suit will affect the relicensing process.
"We have a policy of not speaking on ongoing litigation so we can't speak to that," said Toby Freeman, PacifiCorp hydro relicensing manager.
In an attempt to start sorting out the relevant issues, FERC is hosting a series of public meetings this week. The first was Tuesday in Klamath Falls, one was held this morning in Redding, another is set for tonight in Yreka and another for Friday morning in Ashland.
FERC will write an environmental impact statement for the project, a document that will include a range of alternatives.
Mudre said he hopes that as many people who want to comment about the project come to the meetings or send in a written comment.
"That's what we want to do, hear from all the people so we can make a balanced decision," Mudre said.
Over the last several years PacifiCorp held many meetings with federal, state and local governments, as well as people from agriculture, upstream and downstream tribes, environmental organizations and communities along the river.
Although the meetings were key to the creation of the project's application, they weren't required, said Freeman.
"All the meetings we have been doing for the last couple of years had really been voluntary on our part," he said. "The formal process is really in FERC's hands now."
After the scoping period, FERC will start working on the draft environmental impact statement. The draft is expected to be out in July 2005 and the final should be out in December 2005.
Written comments about the relicensing of PacifiCorp's Klamath project should be sent to FERC by June 21. The comments need to have "Klamath Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 2082-027" at the top of the first page and need to be sent Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426. Comments can also be submitted electronically using the "eFiling" link on FERC's Web page.
On the Net:
www.ferc.gov
www.pacificorp.com/Article/Article1152.html
By DYLAN DARLING
Seven thousand pages of application material and data for a federal power license say a lot.
But they don't say as much as actually walking through an old powerhouse, looking down from a dam or hearing in person from people who rely on a river's water.
Federal officials and private consultants were in the Klamath Basin to do all three and more on PacifiCorp's 151-megawatt Klamath River hydroelectric project this week.
"The purpose is to let them get to know the project," said John Mudre, who is managing the relicensing for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Wednesday the officials and consultants toured the project's dams on the Klamath River in California - Iron Gate, Copco No. 1 and Copco No. 2, as well as other smaller pieces of the project's power complex that lie on creeks leading into the river.
Tuesday the same group had toured the parts of the project close to Klamath Falls, including the Link River Dam and the Eastside and Westside powerhouses, and held a public meeting at the Klamath County Fairgrounds.
PacifiCorp's Klamath project is up for a new 50-year license in 2006. To meet FERC's timetable, the Portland-based power company submitted its lengthy application in February.
Along for the tour Wednesday, which had about 25 people in it and was led by PacifiCorp officials, were representatives from the many other federal agencies involved with the relicensing process. Some were very familiar with the project and others were seeing it for the first time.
"You can read things, you can read things, but once you get a visual you can actually understand things," said Barbara Machado, district hydrologist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
And the issues surrounding the relicensing of the project, from salmon passage to recreational use, are complex. The process has the attention of two states, several Department of the Interior bureaus and American Indian tribes from up and down the river and its tributaries.
From fish die-offs on the lower end of the river to the potential impact on Klamath Reclamation Project diversions at the head waters, PacifiCorp's Klamath project relicensing has people's attentions for reasons other than power, said Dennis Smith of the U.S. Forest Service.
"It runs the gamut," he said.
Data doesn't tell all the story.
Information is interpreted by different groups in different ways. Trying to get those groups into agreement about the issues is just one of the complexities of the relicensing process.
One of the most recent issues to come up is salmon, with the Klamath Tribes filing $1 billion in claims against PacifiCorp for the salmon runs that were blocked by dams.
It's unclear how the suit will affect the relicensing process.
"We have a policy of not speaking on ongoing litigation so we can't speak to that," said Toby Freeman, PacifiCorp hydro relicensing manager.
In an attempt to start sorting out the relevant issues, FERC is hosting a series of public meetings this week. The first was Tuesday in Klamath Falls, one was held this morning in Redding, another is set for tonight in Yreka and another for Friday morning in Ashland.
FERC will write an environmental impact statement for the project, a document that will include a range of alternatives.
Mudre said he hopes that as many people who want to comment about the project come to the meetings or send in a written comment.
"That's what we want to do, hear from all the people so we can make a balanced decision," Mudre said.
Over the last several years PacifiCorp held many meetings with federal, state and local governments, as well as people from agriculture, upstream and downstream tribes, environmental organizations and communities along the river.
Although the meetings were key to the creation of the project's application, they weren't required, said Freeman.
"All the meetings we have been doing for the last couple of years had really been voluntary on our part," he said. "The formal process is really in FERC's hands now."
After the scoping period, FERC will start working on the draft environmental impact statement. The draft is expected to be out in July 2005 and the final should be out in December 2005.
Written comments about the relicensing of PacifiCorp's Klamath project should be sent to FERC by June 21. The comments need to have "Klamath Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 2082-027" at the top of the first page and need to be sent Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426. Comments can also be submitted electronically using the "eFiling" link on FERC's Web page.
On the Net:
www.ferc.gov
www.pacificorp.com/Article/Article1152.html
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