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One of the officials from FERC looks at the jury-rigged repair made to the 1937 vintage irrigation canal in November 2004 when the canal bank collapsed sending mud and silt down into the South Fork Pit River. The proposal calls for bare dirt except a few areas.

Three Days of Meetings, June 2005

These public meetings were expressly to gather information to create the list of study subjects, they were also the only local public forums and many people treated them as such and the meetings became quite-high spirited. the people who are fighting to save this river are extremely passionate and committed. Certainly public controversy itself is a study subject. You can read a local newspaper article about the Wednesday indoor meetings plus the actual transcripts themselves. The court-reporter stenographer was run ragged by the lengthy testimony and made a few amusing errors. Corrections are being submitted as comments to FERC.

Scoping is the part of the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) licensing process in which an official visit is made to the project area and the parties who will be making decisions look and discuss the project area before deciding on the final "scope" or list of categories to be studied. In-person public comment is also recorded for the public record by a court-reporter stenographer. (Anyone may comment for the Scoping or just to state your opinion, details here.)

The official Scoping Site Visit began Tuesday morning June 14th at the Likely Fire House. The group covered almost every inch of the area of this project proposal. Many questions were asked and fewer answered. Concerns, comments, and questions were presented at the scoping meetings the next day.

Attending the visit were the applicant, three ranchers from Alturas Ranches and the South Fork Irrigation District, supporters of the project who operate the existing irrigation diversion canal and dam, a Modoc County Supervisor who outspokenly supports the project, four people from the local offices of US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, (absent were anyone from the California Department of Fish and Game who have an official role in the licensing process), four people from FERC in Washington, DC -- each specialized in either fisheries, animal life, or Native American anthropology, their college intern, and four local property owners who oppose the project.

Public land makes up the majority along the South Fork Pit River Canyon, National Forest with scattered parcels of private property. The canal and reservoir area is public land under BLM supervision. (topo map)

The diversion intake control was the first site we drove to. It can be seen from the roadside near a large turnout on County Road 64 about 7 miles from Likely. It presently consists of the original 1937 utilitarian-looking concrete control structure and a weir which stretches across the river. We learned that the proposal would re-build over the original concrete therefore qualifying as "using an existing structure." Being 70 years old it is not presently up to "current code," and the weir can block fish passage now if the water gets too low. The project would build the weir even higher to accommodate the increased water. The project applicant will be required to use project funds to make the system "fish friendly" which is being presented as an "upgrade." Other sources of funds are available for this sort of river improvement project.

The proposed de-watered stretches were the next stops, areas fronting the river which would be drastically changed by the reduction in water. This incredibly beautiful stretch of river is about half private land (some undeveloped) and half public land. Most of the private homes and home sites are obscured or fully invisible to the road, giving a pleasant rural wilderness impression to visitors.

We also visited a site which had been affected by the November 2004 canal breach and subsequent siltation. A number of dead shellfish were observed.

Approaching the canal from Old Blue Lake Road, we stopped to observe the river, the fishing access, and various unimproved camp and picnic sites in the vicinity and along the adjoining dirt roads. These sites have been used by generations of visitors and locals, and the same good camp sites were used by Native Americans "since," as one Tribal member stated, "the beginning of time."

We then proceeded up to the canal and observed the areas of deep erosion from the November 2004 canal breach. We walked around and looked at various parts of the now dry canal (the existing diversion season is October through April) and a gauging station.

The canal, a simple earth ditch with a berm to one side, is the original structure built in 1937. A concern was raised by one of the rangers about whether the canal could handle 2 1/2 times more water over twice as many months, having no chance to dry out and solidify. The project which would use heavy equipment to deepen the channel, proposes to lay pond liner (a wooly material like automobile carpeting) in only the most vulnerable areas. This was again characterized as an "improvement."

We followed the access road, which would also possible need to be made stronger to transport heavy equipment and supplies, along the canal all the way to the West Valley Reservoir.

The proposed new canal branches off close to to bring the water nearer to the dam. A large concrete structure is proposed, to contain any overflow and direct the water back into the old canal should the power plants go offline.

The first 20 x50 foot building's proposed site on the northeast shore of the West Valley Reservoir was where we broke for lunch. We were not allowed to tour some nearby areas where the 4 1/2 foot diameter pipe would be constructed, due to nesting Bald Eagles! (Our majestic National Bird is an endangered species!) In contrast to the ever-present water-sound in the South Fork Canyon, the reservoir area is almost perfectly silent. Built in 1937, the earthen dam stores water to irrigate ranch fields in the Likely area.

The water from the new canal branch would come down a steep cliff in a 4 1/2 foot diameter pipe to the powerhouse -- a 20' by 50' by 20 foot high metal building (1000 square feet -- the size of a small home!) with associated pipes. The water would then exit through the dam and would continue down the canyon. Though efforts are made in the design to exclude fish we were told that some will inevitably be sucked in and killed in the lower powerhouse's turbines. The 4 1/2 foot diameter pipe would take the place of Short Creek (called West Valley Creek on some maps) and flow down to the confluence with the South Fork Pit River. Some water may spill out into the creek in the event there is too much water or the power plant is offline but this erratic flow would not be enough to keep fish alive. Fish now become trapped in the pools when water releases are switched off.

The second 1000 square foot powerhouse site is proposed for the bottom of Short Creek's Canyon (photo of site). The 4 1/2 foot pipe would come down from the dam alongside the existing service access road. The applicant has not settled on the exact spot for the second 20' by 50' by 20 foot high building and associated pipes but all would be visible from the main road (County Road 64). He hopes to try to disguise it with trees or camouflage paint. There aren't many site choices since the area between canyon walls and river is fairly narrow. There are private homes within a quarter-mile in each direction. Without the white noise of the river, the industrial sounds will carry easily along the rocky canyon walls.

The USGS Gauging Station was our last tour stop. Located just downstream from the project proposed area and just west of the bridge where the South Fork Pit River exits the main canyon, about 3 miles east of Likely. Data from this gauging station can be seen online in real-time and as historic data from 2001 back to 1920.

Please note that up to 38 cfs is already removed November through April and the May and June snow-melt's seasonal creeks and various year-round seeping springs add water to the South Fork Pit upstream from this station. The project would raise the diversion to 100 cfs all year round.

June 24, 2005

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