FERC Project 184 ECOLOGICAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE

Transcription

1 Kirkwood Meadows Public Utility District Community Services Building Loop Road Kirkwood, CA WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS July 10, 2008, Meeting Notes Doug Barber (FS), Peg Campbell (EID), Dan Corcoran (EID), Tom Cumpston, (EID), Brian Deason (EID), Dan Downey (EID), Jake Eymann (EID), Tom Henie (KMPUD), Alice Howard (ERC Member), Robert Hughes (DFG), Cheri Jaggers (EID), Kathy Jimenez (EID), Mitchell Katzel (Entrix), Susy Keirn (EID), Steve Lindstrom (EID), Bill Moler (URS), Jim Murphy (EID), Duane Nelson (FS), George Osborne (EID), Brad Pearson (League to Save Sierra Lakes (LSSL)), Mike Richter (Kirkwood Mountain Resort), Norm Rupp (LSSL), Steve Setoodeh (EID), Chris Shutes (ERC Member), Evelyn Spirou (Amador Co.), John Voss (Caples Lake Resort), Dick Wentzel (East Silver Lake Homeowner s Association), Conference phone attendees: Kim Morales (FS), Beth Paulson (FS), Jann Williams (FS) The Ecological Resources Committee (ERC) meeting convened at approximately 10:10 a.m. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA Henie asked to have two items added to the July 10, 2008, Agenda: (1) Fish Planting, and (2) Electricity. He presented these two items at the end of the meeting. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The notes of May 8, 2008, ERC meeting were approved after the following changes: Page 1, Paragraph 3, first sentence: Robert Hughes reported that his staff was changed to Robert Hughes reported that DFG staff. Page 3, paragraph 2, second sentence: It was noted that the FS has not formally approved, but the technical person did approve via . was replaced with An from a Forest Service Biologist was received and read to the group. The only changes to the May 20, 2008, conference call notes were grammatical in nature. WATER UPDATE Downey from EID handed out the El Dorado Irrigation District Project 184 SCADA Daily Reading Sheet giving an update on Lake Aloha, Echo Lake, Caples Lake, and Silver Lake storage. ERC Meeting Notes Page 1 of 5 July 10, 2008

2 The flows from Lake Aloha will be increased on July 11 to meet fish flow requirements. Lake Aloha did not spill this year, coming within 0.25 inch of the manual gate. Echo Lake is full and the water will not be used until after Labor Day. Caples Lake did not fill this year. The lake is at 19,000 acre feet. The flow will probably be cut back during the week of July 14 and flow increased from Lake Aloha to make up for Caples cut back. The lake level target for Caples at the end of July is 18,646 acre feet. Every effort will be made to keep the lake at that level or above. There will be outflow during August to bring Caples to the target of 14,376 acre feet at the end of August. Silver Lake water will not be used until September 15 th. The powerhouse has been shut down until August. DAM SAFETY ACTIVITIES A: Follow-up on Caples and Silver outlet works inspection Deason gave a PowerPoint presentation on the stream surveys of Caples Creek during the Caples Main Dam outlet works inspection on June 10 th and 11 th. The surveys were conducted to monitor for potential fish stranding or isolation during the ramp down. Two teams of four people monitored the upstream and downstream reach each day of the inspection. The results of this monitoring were that no stranding was observed anywhere in the 1.5 mile reach. Four isolation pools were observed in the low gradient reach, and from them, a total of five brook trout, ranging in size from 3-6 inches and ten trout fry (total length ~ 1 inch) were moved from isolation pools to the main channel. B: Review of Special Board Meeting Eymann gave a similar PowerPoint presentation to the ERC that he gave to the EID Board of Directors (Board) at the Special Board Meeting held July 1, The presentation described the background of the operational problems at Caples main dam, preliminary results of the inspections at Caples main dam and Silver Lake outlet works, and requested the Board to declare an emergency for purposes of exemption from competitive bidding requirements and CEQA review for the Caples Lake Dam outlet works and Silver Lake Dam outlet works. The presentation and an audio file of the July 1, 2008 Special Board Meeting is available on the Project 184 website at: Wentzel asked why the Silver Lake Dam was inspected without the ERC being notified beforehand. Eymann explained that EID was using best management practices. EID inspected Silver Lake Dam because they had the divers on hand with time to perform the task. There was no deviation from license requirements to facilitate the Silver Lake inspection, and therefore, there was no authorization required from the ERC. ERC Meeting Notes Page 2 of 5 July 10, 2008

3 C: Next Steps Since the July 1, 2008, Special Board Meeting, EID has hired an engineering consultant and a contractor to develop a plan to fix the problems at the two dams. EID indicated the best estimate at this time is that the repairs will take place in September Pearson noted that if the tower-works in Silver Lake are considered unstable and unsafe, then EID should block passage onto the tower. It was noted that the Caples Lake boat launch project is another major consideration and construction should coincide with the emergency repairs. CAPLES LAKE BOAT LAUNCH UPDATE Status: Barber (FS) said this project was now out to bid and all permits have been acquired except one. The one remaining is the encroachment permit from CalTrans. EID is working with FS to address CalTrans requirements. Litigation Update: EID is handling the litigation on the Caples Lake Boat Launch in-house. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires the parties have an early settlement conference, which occurred by telephone about 10 days ago. They have six issues about the project: 1) size of the project, 2) on-site presence (they would like 24/7), 3) location of the gate, 4) hours of operation (they want defined hours rather than dusk to dawn), 5) landscape plan, 6) lake tender s house to be retained. EID evaluated retention of the lake tender s house and determined it was not feasible due to its degraded condition and cost to repair. The only scheduled court date at the moment is a scheduling and status conference in September. CAPLES LAKE FEASIBILITY STUDY A report was given by consultants, Moler, geologist with URS, and Katzel with ENTRIX, who are working with EID to develop a feasibility study. Deason stated that the objective for today is to develop a preliminary plan of action with alternatives, and to get input from the ERC. This feasibility study is required by the license and is meant to evaluate whether the facilities can be modified to provide pulse flows up to 600 cfs to the Caples Creek natural channel. The ERC suggested including integration of the spillway channel restoration and stabilization into the screening criteria. In addition, the ERC suggested several alternatives to evaluate including: armoring spillway channel to accommodate additional ERC Meeting Notes Page 3 of 5 July 10, 2008

4 flow, slip-lining the outlet works, changing port size for existing slide gates, and adding slide gate control at upper sealed port. The ERC suggested that the feasibility study should not proceed until a number of milestones were achieved. First, the gates need to be repaired. Second, the discharge capacity needs to be confirmed. Third, data from the geomorphology monitoring, which is scheduled to begin in 2009, needs to be collected and evaluated in order to know what pulse flow discharge is actually required. Deason will write an extension request letter to the ERC and bring to the August 7, 2008, ERC meeting for review and approval. The letter will outline the current status of the Caples Feasibility Study, why EID has reached a point where it can not go further, outline milestones that need to happen in order for the study to move forward, and request an extension of time. OVERVIEW OF CAPLES LAKE ACTIVITIES UPDATE Deason reviewed the updated Caples Lake Activities Overview chart that he reviewed at the May 8, 2008, ERC meeting. This chart lists the steps in each project relating to Caples Lake separately, and then how they are all interconnected. OTHER ITEMS, DISCUSSIONS Corcoran discussed two plans that are due by October: Oyster Creek Stabilization Caples Spillway Stabilization Each of these plans depends upon information obtained by implementation of the geomorphology monitoring scheduled to occur in Therefore, these two plans will require extensions. Jaggers explained that the Alternative Forecasting Tool is anticipated to be reviewed by the ERC in August and approved in September but that will not allow enough time for agency approval, so an extension letter will be needed. Henie reported on the Fish Enhancement Fund stocking program at Caples Lake and Silver Lake over the last 5 years. The first two years 40% trophy and 60% catchables were planted. In years three and four, the percentage of trophy fish went down to 34% and catchables increased; year five the trophies were decreased to 30%. Henie also discussed the concept of delivering electricity to the Kirkwood region and the KMPUD s role in possibly enhancing EID s electricity capabilities in the area. The area being considered is 2.5 by 4.5 miles and covers three counties. Generators are currently used for making electricity. Bringing in electricity from Sierra Pacific or PG&E is being explored. The plan is to go underground. Permitting is ready to start this year or next ERC Meeting Notes Page 4 of 5 July 10, 2008

5 year and construction the following year. The estimated project cost is approximately 30 to 45 million dollars. Regarding the ongoing water quality monitoring, Brian mentioned that a couple of the sampling dates were missed due to smoke/air quality, especially in some of the remote sites that require extensive hiking to access. ACTION ITEM Deason will write an extension request letter to ERC and bring to the August 7, 2008, ERC meeting for approval. The letter will outline the current status of the Caples Feasibility Study, why EID has reached a point where it can not go further, outline milestones that need to happen in order for the study to move forward, and request an extension from FERC. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 2:45 p.m. ERC Meeting Notes Page 5 of 5 July 10, 2008