---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 09:18:23 -0500
From: Christopher Scharpf <ichthos at charm.net>
Reply-To: nanfa at aquaria.net
To: NANFA Mailing List <nanfa at aquaria.net>
Subject: NANFA-- letters needed to save salmon & steelhead
Letters Needed To Remove Battle Creek Dams;
Endangered Salmon And Steelhead At Stake
State and federal agencies, and the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E)
have reached a tentative $50 million agreement to restore endangered salmon
and steelhead on Battle Creek. A key tributary to the Sacramento River,
Battle Creek is considered by biologists to be the best opportunity to help
restore four runs of endangered salmon and steelhead in the entire Central
Valley, including the nearly extinct Sacramento River winter run chinook
salmon.
PG&E operates an extensive system of diversion dams, canals, and
powerhouses in the Battle Creek watershed, which originates on the slopes
of Mt. Lassen, and flows westward to the Sacramento River. The creek is
fed by numerous cold springs erupting from the lava rock along the way.
Many of the utility's hydro dams on Battle Creek block salmon and steelhead
migration. In addition, the project's unscreened diversions capture fish
and significantly reduce the creek's natural flows.
The agreement between state and federal agencies working under the umbrella
of the CALFED Bay Delta Program and PG&E will result in the removal of some
its dams, construction of fish screens and ladders on others, and
significantly increase instream flows for salmon and steelhead. Overall,
the agreement is intended to restore up to 42 miles of critical fish
habitat. The agreement will cost the public $27.2 million. PG&E estimates
that it will contribute $20.6 million in lost power revenues associated
with increased instream flows. But conservation groups estimate that
PG&E's contribution could be as a low as $7.5 million depending on economic
assumptions.
A key objective of the public agencies is to establish a second refuge in
the Sacramento watershed for the endangered winter run chinook salmon.
Currently numbering in the hundreds, the winter run only spawns in the
Sacramento River below Shasta dam. Restoration of Battle Creek will allow
establishment of a second winter run population in a tributary watershed
somewhat drought resistant due to its spring-fed flows, as well as
safeguard the endangered fish from potential disasters on the Sacramento
River such as the 1991 Cantara toxic spill.
Although they support the intent of restoring endangered salmon and
steelhead habitat in Battle Creek, Friends of the River and other
conservation groups are disappointed that the tentative agreement between
the agencies and PG&E does not require removal of the key Eagle Canyon dam
on the North Fork of Battle Creek. The dam is located in the middle of the
highest quality salmon and steelhead habitat in the entire watershed, and
therefore is a high priority for removal under the CALFED Program.
Eagle Canyon dam represents only about 11 percent of the total project
generating capacity, but PG&E has refused to agree to remove the dam,
although it has agreed to remove five other small diversion dams in the
watershed. Instead, the agreement commits the public to spend more than $2
million installing a fish screen and fish ladder on the Eagle Canyon dam in
an attempt to facilitate fish migration. Conservationists question whether
the new screen and ladder will work as effectively as removing the dam to
provide full access to Eagle Canyon's high quality salmon and steelhead
habitat. Even if the Eagle Canyon dam and the five other dams identified
in the agreement are removed, seven of PG&E's storage and diversion dams,
miles of canals, and all the project powerhouses on Battle Creek would
remain to generate power and profit for the utility.
Conservationists are also concerned about the precedent-setting nature of
the agreement. Currently, state and federal law requires utilities such as
PG&E to have functioning fish screens and ladders on their dams, provide
instream flows to maintain healthy fish populations, and to take whatever
measures are needed to protect and enhance threatened and endangered
species. Conservationists believe that the public should cover the costs
of dam removal, but the agreement provides substantial public funding for
fish screens, ladders, and instream flows that PG&E is required to provide
by law. Conservationists involved in the federal relicensing of
hydroelectric projects throughout California and the nation are concerned
that the Battle Creek agreement will establish a bad precedent of public
funding to mitigate the environmental impacts of a privately owned
profit-making industry.
In addition, PG&E's financial contribution to the agreement is based solely
on the utility's estimate of lost power generating revenues. At the
minimum, the public agenices should independently review the economics of
the agreement to ensure that restoration costs are equitably divided
between public and private interests.
What You Can Do:
The state and federal agencies intend to finalize the Battle Creek
restoration agreement with PG&E sometime by April 26, 1999. Please write
separate letters to the California Department of Fish and Game and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service today. In your letter, support the intent to
restore endangered salmon and steelhead habitat in Battle Creek, but urge
the agencies to modify the Battle Creek agreement to:
… Remove the Eagle Canyon dam to restore the best salmon and steelhead
habitat in the watershed, in addition to the five other dams that PG&E has
agreed to remove. Even if Eagle Canyon and the five other dams identified
in the agreement are removed, seven storage and diversion dams, miles of
canals, and all the project powerhouses would remain in the watershed to
generate power and profit for the utility.
… Conduct an independent economic analysis of PG&E's supposed lost
generating revenues to ensure an equitable split of restoration costs
between the public and PG&E.
Send your letters to:
Robert C. Hight
Director
California Department of Fish & Game
1416 Ninth Street, 12th Floor
Sacramemento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 653-7387
Wayne White
Field Supervisor
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
3310 El Camino Avenue, Suite 130
Sacramento, CA 95821
Fax: (916) 979-2710
For more information, contact Steve Evans at Friends of the River, 915 20th
Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 442-3155, email:
sevans at friendsoftheriver.org. http://www.friendsoftheriver.org
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