Middle Fork American River Hydroelectric Relicensing, Integrated Licensing Process

Client: Placer County Water Agency

Location: Placer County, CA

Summary: The Middle Fork American River Hydroelectric Project (MFP) is a large multi-purpose water supply and hydroelectric project located in Placer County, California, within the boundaries of the Tahoe and El Dorado National Forests. The MFP is operated to provide consumptive water and hydroelectric power and to benefit fish and wildlife, and provides dispersed and developed recreation opportunities. PCWA has chosen to relicense the MFP following FERC?s Integrated Licensing Process (ILP).

Cardno ENTRIX and PCWA have developed an excellent working relationship with all stakeholders. To our knowledge the PCWA project is the only FERC project to have a complete set of stakeholder approved technical study plans submitted with the Pre-Application Document (PAD). PCWA and Cardno ENTRIX have developed an aggressive timeline for completion of all studies to allow ample time for stakeholder negotiation of license conditions prior to the submittal of the Draft License Application. The project includes a total of 28 technical study plans that will be completed in 2009. The instream flow component of the MFP includes an integration of fish, amphibian, benthos, riparian vegetation, sediment transport, recreation, and water temperature studies.

The instream flow, riparian vegetation, sediment transport, recreation, and water temperature studies encompass both small streams and large rivers. The instream flow study includes 12 instream flow study reaches using a combination of 1D hydraulics and detailed 2D hydrodynamics and habitat modeling. A detailed multi-reservoir, multi-river, and multi-powerhouse dynamic temperature model is being used in combination with a large empirical data set to address flow and water temperature relationships.