FERC Releases Final Environmental Impact Statement For Dam Licensing

In July 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the licensing of Don Pedro and La Grange Dams on the Tuolumne. While it includes a few conditions our coalition proposed, it doesn't go nearly far enough to protect and restore the Tuolumne River ecosystem. The preferred alternative is based largely on the TRVA, with a few small modifications.

FERC relied heavily on highly suspect studies commissioned by the Irrigation Districts. For example, one study supposedly found that fish in the Tuolumne have adapted to warmer water temperatures, and can therefore survive with lower, warmer flows. However, the study failed to assess how warmer temperatures affect food sources, such as aquatic insect larvae, and how non-native fish (which evolved in slow moving, warm water and prey on baby salmon and trout) might outcompete native species.

Unlike the Bay Delta Plan, FERC’s preferred alternative does not include quantifiable goals and objectives upon which success could be measured. The Bay Delta Plan, on the other hand, includes adaptive management – if goals and objectives can be met through non-flow measures, unimpaired flow could be reduced to as low as 30% between February and June. If the goals are not being met, unimpaired flow could be increased to as high as 50% in those months.

Fortunately, the State Water Board has a role to play in the FERC licensing process – it has the authority to issue a water quality certification, including flow requirements, prior to FERC issuing a new license.