Hydropower -
Environmental Impact Statements (EISs)
Final Environmental Impact
Statement for Relicensing of the Klamath Hydroelectric
Project No. 2082-027
Issued: November 16, 2007
Commission staff prepared a Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS) for relicensing of PacifiCorp’s
169-megawatt Klamath Hydroelectric Project, located
primarily on the Klamath River in Klamath County, Oregon
and Siskiyou County, California. On average, the project
generates 716,820 megawatt-hours of electricity
annually. The project occupies 219 acres of lands of the
United States, which are administered by the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
The existing project consists of eight developments,
seven of which are located on the Klamath River.
PacifiCorp proposes to decommission the upstream-most
East Side and West Side developments and to remove the
Keno development, which has no generating facilities,
from the project. The remaining project developments on
the main stem of the Klamath River are J.C. Boyle, Copco
No. 1, Copco No. 2, and Iron Gate. The proposed project
also includes the existing Fall Creek development,
located on a Klamath River tributary.
In this FEIS, Commission staff assessed the
environmental and economic effects of:
- Continuing to operate the project with no changes
or enhancements (no-action alternative);
- Operating the project as proposed by PacifiCorp
(PacifiCorp’s proposal);
- Operating the project as proposed by PacifiCorp
with additional or modified environmental measures
(staff alternative);
- Staff alternative with conditions filed by the
Department’s of the Interior and Commerce;
- Retirement of the Iron Gate and Copco No. 1
developments with additional or modified measures for
the remaining developments; and
- Retirement of the Iron Gate, Copco No. 2, Copco
No. 1, and J.C. Boyle developments, with additional or
modified measures for the remaining developments.
The staff alternative incorporates most of PacifiCorp’s
proposed environmental measures, some with certain
modifications. The staff alternative also includes 25
environmental measures additional to those proposed by
PacifiCorp, including:
- Implementation of an integrated fish passage and
disease management program;
- Implementation of an adaptive spawning gravel
augmentation program in the J.C. Boyle bypassed reach
and downstream of Iron Gate dam.
Based on our detailed analysis of the environmental
benefits and costs associated with the five action
alternatives considered in detail in this FEIS, we
conclude that the best alternative for the Klamath
Hydroelectric Project would be to issue a new license
consistent with the environmental measures specified in
the Staff Alternative.
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