[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 14, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2121-2122]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00387]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 298-081]
Southern California Edison Company; Notice of Application
Tendered for Filing With the Commission And Establishing Procedural
Schedule for Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments
Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
a. Type of Application: New Major License.
b. Project No.: 298-081.
c. Date Filed: December 23, 2019.
d. Applicant: Southern California Edison Company.
e. Name of Project: Kaweah Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: The existing project is located on the Kaweah River
and East Fork Kaweah River in Tulare County, California. The project
occupies 176.26 acres of public lands administered by the Bureau of
Land Management. The project incorporates non-project facilities
(diversion structures and water conveyance facilities) located within
Sequoia National Park, which are authorized by a National Park Service
special use permit.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Wayne P. Allen, Principle Manager, Hydro
Licensing and Implementation, Southern California Edison Company, 1515
Walnut Grove Avenue, Rosemead, CA 91770, (626) 302-9741 or email at
[email protected].
i. FERC Contact: Jim Hastreiter, (503) 552-2760 or
[email protected].
j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
k. The Project Description: The Kaweah Project has three
developments consisting of the following components.
Kaweah No. 1
This development consists of: (1) A 20-foot-long and 6-foot-high
concrete
[[Page 2122]]
diversion dam on the East Fork Kaweah River, (2) a 30,723-foot-long
steel flume, (3) a forebay tank, (4) a 3,340-foot-long penstock, and
(4) a powerhouse with an impulse turbine rated at 2.25 megawatts (MW).
Kaweah No. 2
This development consists of: (1) A 161-foot-long and 7-foot-high
masonry diversion dam on the Kaweah River, (2) a 16,738-foot-long
concrete-lined ditch, (3) a 3,822-foot-long steel flume, (4) a 1,047-
foot-long steel pipe, (5) a forebay, (6) a 1,012-foot-long buried
penstock, and (7) a powerhouse with a Francis turbine rated at 1.8 MW.
Kaweah No. 3
This development consists of: (1) A 2,580 foot-long concrete-lined
flume, (2) an embankment forebay, (3) a 3,151 foot-long penstock, and
(4) a powerhouse with two impulse turbines rated at a combined 4.8 MW.
The project has a primary 4.09-mile-long transmission line
extending from the Kaweah No. 3 powerhouse to a substation, and two tap
lines (120-foot-long and 0.4-mile-long) connecting Kaweah No. 1 and No.
2 powerhouses, respectively, to the primary line, and appurtenant
facilities.
Non-project Facilities
The project makes use of several non-project facilities located in
Sequoia National Park. These facilities comprise portions of Kaweah No.
1 and No. 3 developments: (1) Two diversion structures on the Middle
Fork and Marble Fork Kaweah Rivers, (2) a 21,000-foot-long steel flume
that is the initial section of flowline which conveys water to the
Kaweah No. 3 powerhouse, and (3) four small reservoirs on the East Fork
Kaweah River. These facilities are operated under a special use permit
(Permit No. PWR-SEKI-6000-2016-015) issued to SCE by the National Park
Service, which expires on September 8, 2026.
The project developments operate independently of one another and
in a run-of-river mode. Water captured by the diversion structures is
transported through connecting conveyance facilities and penstocks to
the powerhouses for power generation and then returned to the river at
the tailraces. A portion of the water in Kaweah No. 1 and No. 2
flowlines is used to meet downstream contractual obligations for water
delivery with pre-1914 water users.
The project forebays and diversion pools have minimal water storage
capability of about 13 acre-feet (AF). The four small non-project
reservoirs located on tributaries to the East Fork Kaweah River
upstream of the Kaweah No. 1 diversion dam and within the Sequoia
National Park store a maximum of 1,153 AF of water, which is used to
generate power at the Kaweah No. 1 powerhouse.
The project diversions create two bypassed river reaches. The
Kaweah No. 1 development bypasses streamflow around 4.7 miles of the
East Fork Kaweah River from the diversion dam to the confluence with
the Kaweah River. The Kaweah No. 2 development bypasses streamflow
around 4.1 miles of the Kaweah River from the diversion dam to the
Kaweah No. 2 powerhouse tailrace.
The volume and timing of streamflow diverted is a function of
inflow, minimum flow and ramping rate requirements of the existing
license, and the flow required to maintain sufficient head in the water
conveyance facilities (flowlines) to meet downstream water delivery
contractual obligations. The Kaweah No.1 development flowline has a
maximum hydraulic capacity of 24 cubic feet per second (cfs), the
Kaweah No. 2 development flowline has a maximum hydraulic capacity of
87 cfs, and the Kaweah No. 3 development flowline has a maximum
hydraulic capacity of 97 cfs. To maintain sufficient head pressure to
meet downstream water deliveries, SCE must maintain at least 1 cfs flow
through the Kaweah No. 1 development and 3 cfs through the Kaweah No. 2
development.
SCE is proposing to modify the existing project boundary to
encompass all facilities necessary for operation and maintenance of the
project, while removing lands that are not related to project
functions. SCE proposes to include the existing Kaweah No. 1 forebay
access road as a project facility.
SCE proposes to remove part of the ramping rate requirement when
increasing flows below the Kaweah No. 1 and No. 2 diversion dams. The
ramping rate in the existing license requires increasing and decreasing
flows below Kaweah No. 1 and No. 2 powerhouses to not be altered at a
rate greater than 30 percent of the existing stream flow per hour.
SCE also proposes to modify license article 405 to eliminate the
need for future modification requests to resource agencies.
Historically, SCE has requested approval from California Department of
Fish and Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to
temporarily reduce minimum flow releases below Kaweah No. 1 diversion
and Kaweah No. 2 diversion when projected inflows were approaching the
combined flow necessary to meet both water supply and minimum flow
release requirements. These flow modifications were necessary to ensure
compliance with required minimum flows based on uncertainty in actual
runoff and inflow.
SCE further proposes to remove required protective measures for the
elderberry shrub, the host plant for the federally threatened valley
elderberry longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus). In
2014, the FWS determined that Tulare County was no longer considered
within the valley elderberry longhorn beetle's range.
l. Locations of the Application: A copy of the application is
available for review at the Commission in the Public Reference Room or
may be viewed on the Commission's website at http://www.ferc.gov using
the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three
digits in the docket number field to access the document. For
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). A copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at
the address in item (h) above.
m. You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filings and issuances
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC
Online Support.
n. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the
schedule may be made as appropriate.
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Milestone Target date
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Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for February 2020.
Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary April 2020.
terms and conditions, and fishway
prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft EA................ October 2020.
Comments on Draft EA...................... November 2020.
Modified terms and conditions............. January 2021.
Commission issues Final EA................ April 2021.
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o. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice
of ready for environmental analysis.
Dated: January 8, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-00387 Filed 1-13-20; 8:45 am]
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