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FERC wants Tuolumne River instream flows fast-tracked
by Chris Shutes, FERC Projects Director
July 18, 2009 -- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an Order July 16, 2009 requiring the operators of the New Don Pedro Project to fast-track instream flow studies, and establishing a process before an Administrative Law Judge to determine what flow changes may be needed in the Lower Tuolumne River.
The Order gives project operators Turlock Irrigation District and Modesto Irrigation District three months to provide FERC with a study plan for an instream flow study, including a water temperature model for the lower Tuolumne River. One month of that time must be reserved for the California Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Marine Fisheries Service to review and comment on the plan.
In addition, FERC has ordered a short timeline on a process to “develop a factual record and assist the parties in developing interim solutions to benefit fall-run Chinook salmon and threatened Central Valley steelhead in the Tuolumne River pending relicensing of the Don Pedro Project No. 2299.”
FERC issued an Order on April 3, 2009 deferring any change in Lower Tuolumne flow requirements until the New Don Pedro Project is relicensed beginning in about 2011 (the present license expires in 2016). CSPA and other Conservation Groups formally requested rehearing on the issue in May, 2008, at the same time that CDFG, FWS and NMFS also sought rehearing. While the new, July 16, 2009 order does not change flows immediately, it recognizes that delay until 2016 may be too late.
The Order also recognizes the definitive nature of a study published by Zimmerman et al in 2008, which shows that steelhead are present in San Joaquin River tributaries, including the Tuolumne. Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts, and a number of other San Joaquin Valley water interests, filed suit in 2002 to de-list San Joaquin watershed Central Valley steelhead under the Endangered Species Act. The districts have long maintained that there are no steelhead in the Tuolumne River, and refer to all fish of the species Onchorhynchus mykiss exclusively as “rainbow trout.”
In addition to CSPA, which organized the funding for the May 2008 rehearing request that was filed by attorneys from the National Heritage Institute, groups represented in the request included Golden West Women Flyfishers, Friends of the River, the Tuolumne River Trust, Cal Trout, and the California Rivers Restoration Fund.