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Lassen Lodge Hydroelectric Project

Upper South Fork Battle Creek, California.

Project Profile & Applicant

FERC Project No. 12496 has undergone numerous Preliminary Permit Applications (PPA) and Licensing processes since the 1990s. Currently, the proposed 5 megawatt (MW) Project does not have a Preliminary Permit, but is progressing through the Traditional Licensing Process (TLP). The proposed Project is to be located on the South Fork Battle Creek (SFBC), California, and upstream of FERC Project P-1121’s “Battle Creek Restoration Project.”. The Applicant is Rugraw, LLC.

The proposed Project would create a natural Dam on the SFBC, at the 4,300-foot elevation point, with anchored boulders and include volitional fish passage facilities. The Dam diverts water into a 48-inch diameter, buried, Pipeline/Penstock about 13,600 feet long. The Pipeline/Penstock delivers water into a 5 MW Powerhouse that discharges into the SFBC at the 3,350-foot elevation point, about 1.5 miles downstream of Angel Falls (current limit of anadromy).

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

  1. The distinct population segment (DPS) of California Central Valley (CV) steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and its critical habitat;
  2. The evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) of spring-run Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) and its critical habitat;
  3. The ESU of CV fall-run Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) [Species of Concern]; and
  4. Any resident rainbow trout (O. mykiss) (as this form may exhibit an anadromous lifestyle periodically).

Currently, anadromous fish cannot access the Project reach because downstream dam removal, as part of the FERC Project P-1121’s Battle Creek Restoration Project, will not be completed until about 2015. However, the current limit of Critical Habitat, by Final Rule, is Angel Falls on the SFBC, which is 1.5 miles upstream of the Project’s proposed Powerhouse. Thus, it is reasonably foreseeable that anadromous fish would gain access into the Project-affected reach above the Powerhouse within the term of a new license.

FERC Relicensing Status

PPAs (24 years) and TLP (20 years) processes ongoing: Since the 1990s, FERC has issued four Preliminary Permits to Rugraw:  November 25, 1991 (P-11157, dismissed); June 26, 2001 (P-11894, dismissed); October 8, 2004 (P-12496-000, expired); and May 4, 2010 (P-12496-001, expired). When FERC granted the fourth Preliminary Permit in May 2010, Rugraw was still under the TLP. In May 2012, Rugraw filed a draft Exemption Application but, by August 2012, FERC rejected it and the TLP process continued. In April 2013, Rugraw submitted a Notice to continue with the TLP. But, by May 2013, the P-12496-001 Preliminary Permit had expired. From May 2013 to March 2014, Rugraw has not sought a new PPA, but has progressed towards the development of a final License Application under the TLP. Rugraw anticipates filing a final License Application by the end of March 2014.

Resources

Project information can be found at http://sustainablethroughinnovation.com/Projects.html. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC eLibrary, Docket P-12496.