More details have emerged from the deal and it still looks like it is a pretty good one all around, a real win-win.
Deal on raising river's flow
Campgrounds, trails along the American also would benefit in SMUD hydroelectric upgrade.
By Matt Weiser - Bee Staff WriterPublished 12:00 am PST Saturday, November 18, 2006
Outdoor lovers will begin to see major improvements along the American River's south fork in little more than a year under an agreement to modernize the Sacramento Municipal Utility District's vast hydroelectric system.
The agreement will govern how SMUD operates its 11 dams and eight power plants in the Sierra Nevada for up to 50 years.
If approved next year by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the deal, reached Thursday, will provide more water for boaters, anglers and wildlife, and improve dozens of campgrounds, picnic areas and trails.
The deal concludes five years of sometimes testy negotiations between SMUD and a coalition of 13 government agencies and nonprofits. It was announced just one day before a federal deadline that would have triggered a prolonged and uncertain regulatory process.
Instead, both sides proclaimed Friday that they got what they wanted out of the agreement.
"From SMUD's perspective, the agreement we've struck is a win for us, it's a win for the environment, and it's a win for recreational concerns," said Jim Shetler, SMUD assistant general manager.
SMUD's Upper American River Project generates 688 megawatts of electricity at full capacity. That's about 17 percent of SMUD's demand, or enough to serve about 180,000 homes annually.
It is a complex system that covers nearly 6,000 feet of elevation change in the Sierra Nevada, starting in Desolation Wilderness near Lake Tahoe.
Shetler said the agreement will reduce SMUD's generating capacity by less than 8 percent, though the exact amount is still being studied.
Since the original federal operating license was issued in 1957, the system of dams has diverted most of the water from long stretches of the American River's South Fork, the Rubicon River and Silver Creek.
Federal laws now require that new hydroelectric licenses restore some of the natural resources that dams have compromised for generations.
Beth Paulson, hydroelectric coordinator for the Eldorado National Forest, said the agreement accomplishes this.
"What people will see in the summer is more stable reservoir levels," Paulson said. "They'll see much different stream flows than they have in the past. Our hope is that riparian areas and aquatic habitat will be improved by those flows."
The Forest Service arguably had the most at stake in the negotiations, because it manages most of the public lands around SMUD's facilities. This includes the Crystal Basin Recreation Area, the most popular area in the Eldorado National Forest, drawing 1 million visitors annually -- about 40 percent of them from Sacramento.
