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Home My WebLink AboutNeck Lake Hydro Appendix REF Round VIII APPENDICES  Governing Body Resolution  Certification  Letters of Support  Figures  Project Timeline Chart  Resumes  Permitting  Photos GOVERNING BODY RESOLUTION CERTIFICATION LETTERS OF SUPPORT BLANK PAGE [intentionally left blank] PROJECT TIMELINE CHART Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4PHASE I: ReconnassainceReconnaissance (completed) PHASE II: Resource Assement/Feasibility Analysis/Conceptual DesignAgency Consultation/PermittingResource Assessment (studies)Feasibility & Conceptual DesignPHASE III: Final Design and PermittingPermitting & FERC License AppFERC Application ProcessingFinal Design Agency Permits IssuedPHASE IV: ConstructionGrant processingAccess RoadDiversion & IntakePenstockGenerating Equipment Procurement PowerhouseInstall Distribution LineTest and Start-UpLEGEND: <-- Procurement and off-site fabrication <-- On-site construction2020NECK LAKE HYDROELECTRIC PROJECTDEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 PERMITTING 133 FERC ¶62,121 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Alaska Power &Telephone Compan y Docket No.DI10-5-000 ORDER RULING ON DECLARATION OF INTENTION AND FINDING LICENSING IS REQUIRED (Issued November 04,2010) 1.On December 23,2009,and supplemented on January 12,February 4, February 24,March 16,and March 23,2010,Alaska Power &Telephone Company filed a Declaration of Intention (DI)concerning the proposal to develop the Neck Lake Hydroelectric Project,to be located on Neck Lake outlet stream near the community of Whale Pass on Prince of Wales Island,Alaska (T.66 S.,R.79 E.,sec.35,Copper River Meridian,Alaska). PROJECT DESCRIPTION 2.The proposed Neck Lake Hydroelectric Project would consist of:(1)a small reservoir;(2)a three-foot-high,75-foot-long dam,located approximately 1,300 feet below the Neck Lake outlet;(3)a 400-foot-long penstock;(4)a proposed powerhouse containing a generator with a capacity of 124 kW –400 kW;(5)a transmission line; (6)an access road;and (7)appurtenant facilities.The proposed project would not be connected to an interstate grid,and would not occupy any tribal or federal lands. PUBLIC NOTICE 3.Notice of the DI was published in the Federal Register on April 7,2010.Protests, comments,and motions to intervene were to be filed by April 30,2010.On April 13, 2010,the U.S.D.A.Forest Service –Region 10 filed a motion to intervene.The Forest Service stated that the project appears to be adjacent to a Forest Service road reservation, and therefore,has the potential to affect National Forest System lands.On April 30, 2010,the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA)filed comments.In its comments,SSRAA stated that it has concerns regarding the adverse impact of project operations on its existing fish program.No other protests,comments, or motions to intervene were received. 20101104-3033 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 11/04/2010 Docket No.DI10-5-000 2 JURISDICTION 4.Pursuant to section 23(b)(1)of the Federal Power Act (FPA),16 U.S.C.§817(1), a non-federal hydroelectric project must (unless it has a still-valid pre-1920 federal permit)be licensed if it: •is located on a navigable water of the United States; •occupies lands or reservations of the United States; •utilizes surplus water or waterpower from a government dam;or •is located on a stream over which Congress has Commerce Clause jurisdiction,is constructed or modified on or after August 26,1935,and affects the interests of interstate or foreign commerce. DISCUSSION 5.Because the licensing requirement is established on other grounds,I do not address the issue of whether Neck Lake outlet stream is navigable at the project site.The project would not occupy federal lands.The project would not use surplus water or waterpower from a federal government dam.The project would be constructed after August 26,1935,would be located on a Commerce Clause stream,1 and would affect the interests of interstate or foreign commerce within the meaning of section 23(b(1)of the Federal Power Act because of its significant effect on anadromous fish in Alaska’s District 6 fishery. A.Fish Resource 6.SSRAA operates a raceway and adult collection facilities for summer run coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)at the mouth of the outlet stream from Neck Lake.The adult summer run coho salmon harvested at this facility during June,July,and August are marketed for sale in the Pacific Northwest as Snow Pass Coho.2 Adult summer run coho also return to the nearby Burnett Inlet Hatchery,where about 2 million eggs are collected and fertilized each year.After the fry hatch,1.6-to 1.7-million are transported by plane to net pens in Neck Lake,where they rear for a year and are then released as yearling smolts.Upon release from the net pens,these smolts move out of Neck Lake and down the Neck Lake outlet stream,pass over a barrier falls,and enter salt water in Whale Pass.After 12 to 14 months at sea,the returning adult fish enter the commercial gillnet 1 Neck Lake outlet stream is a tributary to Whale Pass,a navigable water of the United States. 2 http://www.ssraa.org/snow_pass_coho.htm This web site provides information on SSRAA’s collection,rearing and marketing of snow pass summer run coho salmon. 20101104-3033 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 11/04/2010 Docket No.DI10-5-000 3 fishery in Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s salmon District 6 (also referred to as District 106)in southeast Alaska. 7.Based on ten years of harvest records (2000 –2009)for the District 6 gillnet fishery,Neck Lake-produced coho salmon contributed an average of 23 percent (with a range of 6 percent to 40 percent)of the total commercial summer run coho salmon catch (Alaska Department of Fish and Game,2010).3 The ex-vessel value4 of this catch for the period 2000-2009 ranged from $12,437 to $186,960 and averaged 20 percent of the total value of the District 6 ex-vessel harvest.Thus,the contribution and value of Neck Lake- produced coho salmon represents a significant part of the District 6 summer coho salmon harvest.For this period,the return from the coho yearling smolts released from Neck Lake averaged 65,000 adult coho salmon,consisting of commercial and sport fishery harvest,and those fish that escaped harvest and returned to the collection facilities on the outlet stream from Neck Lake,for an average survival rate of 4 percent (SSRAA,2010).5 B. Proposed Project Effects 8.The proposed hydro project would use flows from Neck Lake and would consist of a small diversion dam with an intake structure downstream of Neck Lake,a penstock that bypasses about 400 feet of stream,and a powerhouse that discharges near the base of the fish ladder/raceway operated by the SSRAA for capturing returning adult coho salmon.The proposed project description did not provide any details of project design or mode of operation that would prevent or minimize impacts to coho smolts passing from Neck Lake downstream to salt water and return of adults to the collection facilities. 9.Coho smolts moving downstream from Neck Lake could be harmed by:turbine injur y and mortality resulting from entrainment at the project intake structure with no or ineffective screens;injury and mortality from passage over the diversion structure with an inadequate plunge pool;and,inadequate flows in the bypassed reach for passage downstream.Of these three effects,turbine caused mortality would likely be the most significant.Mortality of the downstream migrating coho smolts passing through the project turbine could range from 5 to 20 percent but could reach 100 percent,depending 3 E-mail dated August 6,2010,from Troy Thynes,Alaska Department of Fish and Game to John Novak of Commission staff.(Filed August 20,2010) 4 Price received b y fishermen for fish,shellfish,and other aquatic animals landed at the dock. 5 E-mail dated July 29,2010,from Rod Neterer,Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association to John Novak of Commission staff.(Filed August 4,2010) 20101104-3033 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 11/04/2010 Docket No.DI10-5-000 4 upon the type of turbine installed at this project.6 10.Adult coho salmon returning to SSRAA’s collection facilities could be falsely attracted to the project discharge that would be adjacent to the discharge from the collection facilities.Without a tailrace barrier or modified operation,these fish falsely attracted to the project discharge could enter the draft tube and come in contact with the turbine runners,causing some level of injur y and mortality to these fish.This would affect the survival return rate and ultimately the number of coho harvested for sale by the SSRAA.Further,the SSRAA has expressed the concern that if the penstock were routed over the top of the fish ladder,adult coho salmon,which are active jumpers,would be injured while jumping and coming in contact with the penstock. C. Conclusion 11. Based on available information about the project and its location in a salmon rearing system that contributes a large number of coho salmon to an important commercial fisher y,the proposed project has the potential to cause substantial injur y and mortality to coho smolts passing downstream,thereby significantly affecting the commercial coho fishery in District 6.As noted above,over the past 10 years Neck Lake coho salmon have contributed an average of 23 percent of the commercial gillnet harvest in District 6.This is a significant contribution.Without adequate design and screening of the project intake and worse case,20 percent or more7 of the downstream migrating coho smolts would experience turbine mortality and thereby reduce the commercial fishery in District 6 b y five percent or more.In the Gartina Creek project order,8 the Commission determined that a potential eight-percent reduction in the commercial salmon harvest in District 114 was large enough to be considered real and substantial, therefore requiring licensing of that project.Without adequate fish protection measures, this proposed project also has the potential to cause either a similar or greater level of reduction in the coho salmon commercial harvest.Applying the same rationale here,the impacts of the proposed project on the District 6 commercial gillnet fishery would be real and substantial.Therefore,the project requires licensing because it would significantly affect interstate commerce within the meaning of section 23 (b)(1)of the Federal Power Act. 6 Therrien,J.and Bourgeois,G.2000.Fish passage at small hydro sites.The International Energ y Agency Technical Report.113 pages +Appendices. 7 Some turbines are reported to cause mortalities reaching 100 percent. Installation of such a turbine at this project would result in a 23-percent reduction in the District 6 commercial gillnet fishery for coho salmon. 8 101 FERC ¶61,191 (November 21,2002). 20101104-3033 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 11/04/2010 Docket No.DI10-5-000 5 12. For all the foregoing reasons,I find that the proposed Neck Lake Project would substantially affect the District 6 commercial fishery,and therefore,would affect the interests of interstate or foreign commerce.Accordingly,the project must be licensed pursuant to section 23(b)(1)of the FPA. The Director orders: (A)Alaska Power &Telephone Compan y’s proposed Neck Lake H ydroelectric Project,to be located on Neck Lake outlet stream near the community of Whale Pass on Prince of Wales Island,Alaska,is required to be licensed pursuant to section 23(b)(1)of the Federal Power Act.No construction of the project may commence until a license has been obtained. (B)This order constitutes final agency action.An y party may file a request for rehearing of this order within 30 da ys from the date of its issuance,as provided in section 313(a)of the FPA,16 U.S.C.§825l (2006),and the Commission’s regulations at 18 C.F.R.§385.713 (2010).The filing of a request for rehearing does not operate as a stay of the effective date of this order,or of any other date specified in this order.The licensee’s failure to file a request for rehearing shall constitute acceptance of this order. Edward A.Abrams Director Division of Hydropower Administration and Compliance 20101104-3033 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 11/04/2010 PHOTOS