FERC Staff Issues Final Environmental Impact Statement for Grant Lake Hydroelectric Project

On May 1, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued their final Environmental Impact Statement for Grant Lake Hydroelectric Project, a five-megawatt project, proposed by Kenai Hydro, LLC. Kenai Hydro first filed its application for the Grant Lake Project in April 2016, and after amending their application in January, May, and August, a draft Environmental Impact Statement was issued in October 2018.

The Grant Lake Project will be located in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, on Grant Lake and near Grant Creek. It will “occupy 1,688.7 acres of federal lands within the Chugach National Forest, administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service.”

FERC has identified “the primary issues associated with licensing the project are erosion and sedimentation control; protection of aquatic habitats including stream flows, water temperature and spawning gravel recruitment and movement; recreation use in the proposed project area and potential conflicts with the Iditarod National Historic Trail; and the protection of cultural resources.”

FERC “recommended the staff alternative, which consists of most measures included in Kenai Hydro’s proposal, as well as many of the mandatory conditions and recommendations made by state and federal agencies, and some additional measures developed by the staff.”

In the Statement, Kenai Hydro said they would take the following measures to protect the environment:

“Project Construction

• “Designate a third-party environmental compliance monitor (ECM) to oversee construction activities and ensure compliance with measures to protect natural resources.

• “Develop an erosion and sediment control plan (ESCP) that includes best management practices (BMPs) to prevent sediment mobilized during construction from entering Grant Creek or Grant Lake.

• “Restore areas disturbed by construction to pre-existing conditions.

• “Develop a hazardous materials containment/fuel storage plan that includes measures to contain all hazardous materials used during construction.

• “Consult with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Alaska DFG), U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, and U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to finalize design details for fish exclusion measures in the tailrace.

• “Consult with Alaska DFG’s habitat biologist to establish timing windows for instream construction and stream-crossing activities.

• “Develop a bear safety plan that includes: (1) keeping construction sites and refuse areas clear of substances that attract bears, (2) installing bear-proof garbage receptacles and other measures during construction to prevent bears from obtaining food or garbage, (3) minimizing possible conflict with bears during construction and operation, (4) establishing protocols for dealing with problem bears, 10 and (5) notifying authorities of any bear-human conflict.

“Project Operation

• “Provide the following minimum flows in the bypassed reach: 5 cfs from January 1 through July 31, 10 cfs from August 1 through September 31, 7 cfs from October 1 through October 31, and 6 cfs from November 1 through December 31 to protect aquatic habitat and support benthic macroinvertebrates.

• “Provide the following instantaneous minimum flows downstream of the tailrace: 60 cfs from January 1 through May 15, 80 cfs from May 16 through May 31, 150 cfs from June 1 through June 30, 195 cfs from July 1 through September 1, 150 cfs from September 1 through September 30, 125 cfs from October 1 through October 15, 72 cfs from October 16 through November 15, and 60 cfs from November 16 through December 31 to protect habitat for salmonids and benthic macroinvertebrates.

• “Use variable depth withdrawals from the project intake to control water temperature in Grant Creek.

• “Provide channel maintenance flows of 800 cfs to the Grant Creek bypassed reach for a continuous 8-hour duration, once per year, in a minimum of 2 years in each moving 10-year period to promote sediment recruitment and transport from the bypassed reach to Grant Creek.

• “Limit upramping rates to 1 inch per hour during the winter (November 16 through May 15) and 2 inches per hour during the summer (May 16 through November 15). Limit downramping rates to 1 inch per hour from November 16 through May 15 and 2.25 inches per hour from May 16 through November 15.

• “Implement the Operation Compliance Monitoring Plan (filed on January 16, 2018) that includes: (1) lake level and temperature monitoring in Grant Lake; (2) flow and temperature monitoring in Grant Creek bypassed reach; (3) flow and temperature monitoring in Grant Creek tailrace; (4) failsafe provisions; (5) a schedule for installing, maintaining, and collecting flow and temperature instrumentation; and (6) reporting.

• “Develop a spill prevention, control, and containment plan and a hazardous materials containment/fuel storage plan to prevent hazardous materials from entering Grant Creek or Grant Lake during construction and operations.

• “Implement the Biotic Monitoring Plan (filed on January 16, 2018) that includes monitoring juvenile and adult salmonid abundance and habitat use, and monitoring gravel transport in Grant Creek to assess project effects on salmonid spawning habitat.

• “Conduct biological monitoring in Grant Creek to determine the need for gravel augmentation as well as the effectiveness of the proposed enhancement/mitigation measures, including minimum flows in the bypassed reach and minimum flows downstream of the tailrace, and to evaluate the need for removal of a log jam to increase flow in a Grant Creek side channel.

• “Implement the Vegetation Management Plan (filed on January 16, 2018) that includes: (1) invasive plant management and control, (2) revegetation, (3) vegetation maintenance, (4) sensitive plant species protection and monitoring, and (5) pale poppy population management.

• “Implement the Avian Protection Plan (filed on January 16, 2018) that addresses migratory species and bald eagles and minimizes potential for electrocutions or collisions with the project transmission line.

• “Develop an Iditarod National Historic Trail (INHT) re-route plan that includes constructing the southern half of the proposed INHT re-route from the existing route to Grant Creek.

• “Restrict public access to the project using signage and gating/fencing of the access road to address local residents’ concerns about encouraging motorized use near the project and reduce the potential for unauthorized motorized use and on adjacent National Forest System lands (NFS lands).

• “Develop a fire prevention plan.

• “Implement the Historic Properties Management Plan (HPMP) (filed on January 16, 2018) to protect historic properties in the project area.”

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