Call to action - save Lake Almanor

[Lance Gray]

Folks,

There are people out there that want to steal the cold-water from Lake Almanor. Please if you can send letters to the FERC.

By stealing the cold-water from Lake Almanor - they will kill all the huge wild trout!

I have placed a link below to a blast I just sent out. Take a look.

https://conta.cc/37Dc1YG

Thank you for all your help!

[tcorfey]

Hi Lance,
So the SWRCB is recommending to FERC that they make cold water releases of up to 250 CFS from the Canyon Dam intake tower from the middle of June through the middle of September as a condition of approval. They say this is to protect the trout from river temps that could go above 68 degrees in the North Fork of the Feather River for about 40 miles downstream between Rock Creek and Cresta dams. According to the flow charts I looked at the last 5 years they already average a release of 200-250 cfs during the summer months but in wet years it can average upto 500 cfs. The 250 cfs average would not seem to be a big deal and it is to protect the trout in the North Fork so that sounds like a good thing. Not sure if I am understanding this correctly, so please let me know if I am misunderstanding something? Maybe they were taking water closer to the surface that was warmer and now they want to take water from a deeper source that is colder?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

The huge population in southern California runs this state.

They need all the water in northern California and I don't know if anything will stop them.

I guess all we can do it to try to stop them?

The good thing about the water in our higher elevation reservoirs is that it is clean.

[tcorfey]

Bill, this is not asking for more water it is asking for about the same amount of water that is already flowing to the North Fork but, it is requesting the water come from an area of the lake where the water is colder in order to protect the trout from high temp water in the North Fork of the Feather river. At least that is how I read it. Can you point out where you saw a request for more water? I don't see it. Average flows on the North Fork over the last 5 years is around 200-250 cfs. The requirement being requested is for 250 cfs but they want the water to come from colder water in the reservoir which is deeper in the lake.

This solution to assist the trout in the North Fork was endorsed by California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
"https://calsport.org/news/cspa-defends-cold-water-for-north-fork-feather-river-lake-almanor/"

It seems summer flows in some years is much higher than 250 cfs.
17966

I am trying to understand the reason for the opposition to providing colder water to the Trout in the North Fork of the Feather? Perhaps there is some kind of fear that releasing colder water from deeper in the reservoir will somehow raise the surface temperature of the water in Lake Almanor? I don't know, but I am trying to find out.

[WLREDBAND]

<<<I am trying to understand the reason for the opposition to providing colder water to the Trout in the North Fork of the Feather? >>>
I have the same question. This is NOT the Lake Almanor Thermal Curtain proposal and people seem to be confusing the two in all the opposition letters I read.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks for the clarification.......hope it is true.

[Lew Riffle]

All: It has come to my attention that there is a big letter-writing campaign in Plumas County asking to stop the State Water Board's mandate for increased flows into the North Fork Feather River from Lake Almanor to lower summer temperatures. I would not encourage you to sign these letters because they are not fully informed about the facts.

Currently, from mid-June to mid-September temperatures in the river are above 68 degrees F, and not supportive for the fish in the river. They are also outside the state-required temperatures below state dams. Here's my summary of the issues:

What is the current problem the State Water Board wants to fix and why is it important? It's clear from the issues discussed in the attached documents that the water temperature below Canyon Dam exceeds the Central Valley Basin temperature standard of max 20 degrees C (68 F) in the summer. It is also clear that the water conditions within Lake Almanor are not suitable during the summer. The cause is the design, configuration, and operation of the hydropower project (Project 2105) that PG&E operates on the Feather River. I think we all know that coldwater fish need temps below 68 degrees F.
The recommendations of the State Water Board for condition 6A of the Final Water Quality Certification for Project 2105 would bring into compliance the waters in the North Fork Feather. this is important because all power plant operators need to meet state water quality standards. In order to not mandate PG&E to change the complete design of their whole project (very costly) they are making this 6A conditions recommendation. Alone it does make the problems in Lake Almanor worse.
What is recommendation (6A)? Supplemental releases of water at Canyon Dam up to a Maximum of 250 cfs, and release this water from the low-level Canyon Dam outlet.
What additional condition is being recommended to help Lake Almanor's water quality? An additional oxygenation facility -Speece Cone or comparable oxygenation facility to oxygenate the hypolimnion of Lake Almanor in the vicinity of Canyon Dam. The situation in the summer is that the coldwater pool at the bottom of the lake is without oxygen. By adding an oxygenation facility it makes the lake more suitable to support coldwater fish. Coldwater pool lack of oxygen is already a problem and will get worse as time passes if oxygenation is not done, regardless of changes in the flows into the river.
What is the right request of FERC? To mandate both coldwater releases from Canyon Dam and installation of the oxygenation facility in the lake near the dam. This is the correct content for the letter. It will help both the fishery in NF Feather and the fish in the Lake.
My source of information is from the State Water Board and Chris Shutes of CSPA, a litigant in this case. I'd be happy to talk with anyone who is interested. I would not support signing the current letters if they do not address oxygenation in the Lake. The 6A recommendations along with an oxygenation facility in the Lake is the best solution. See the attachments.
Mark Rockwell

--
Dr. Mark Rockwell, D.C.
President & VP Conservation,
Northern Calif. Council,
Fly Fishers International
mrockwell1945@gmail.com
530 559-5759 (cell)