RAFTING would gain special consideration vis-ˆ-vis power generation under proposed legislation. See story, "Bill gives rafting preference over hydropower."Democrat file photo by Joanne McCubrey
Posted on 04/19/2002 4:59:36 PM PDT by Phil V.
RAFTING would gain special consideration vis-ˆ-vis power generation under proposed legislation. See story, "Bill gives rafting preference over hydropower."Democrat file photo by Joanne McCubrey |
By EDMOND JACOBY Staff writer
State Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, has introduced legislation that would block state agencies from furthering any uses of the South Fork of the American River that is not consistent with whitewater rafting or other recreational activities.
The legislation, SB 2078, quickly moved from its introduction Feb. 22 through committee assignment and amendments, and is scheduled for what may be its final hurdle, a hearing Tuesday before the Committee on Natural Resources and Wildlife, before being acted upon.
Asserting that it is reasonable to operate "hydropower projects upstream of and including Chili Bar Dam" in a manner "to enhance instream beneficial uses, including whitewater boating, swimming, and fishing on the South Fork American River below Chili Bar Dam," the legislation proclaims that the state Legislature "hereby finds and declares" that "maintaining sufficient, reliable, and predictable instream flows is necessary for safe and efficient whitewater recreational use and for reasonable domestic water use."
The legislation specifically prohibits state agencies, which would include the California Regional Water Quality Control Board and other state agencies with regulatory authority over the river system in El Dorado County, from assisting or cooperating, "whether by loan, grant, license or otherwise, with any department or agency of the federal or local government in the planning or construction of any dam, diversion, or water impoundment facility ... unless the secretary determines that the structure will not adversely affect water flow conditions for whitewater recreational use or other instream beneficial uses ... of the South Fork American River below Chili Bar Dam to Salmon Falls Bridge."
The legislation also specifically deletes language from the California Water Code that grants certain water use rights to the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District.
According to Torlakson's press spokesman, Robert Oaks, the 7th District senator is a whitewater rafter. An information backgrounder supplied by his Sacramento office described the bill as a cure for difficulties encountered last summer by recreational river users.
"For many years, there was a casual arrangement whereby recreation interests met with (Chili Bar) dam operators to release adequate flows of water for recreation," the backgrounder said.
"During Summer 2001, water was not released regularly and consistently from Chile [sic] Bar reservoir, creating significant problems for downstream recreation," it said.
Torlakson is not alone in his interest in whitewater rafting on the South Fork of the American below Chili Bar Dam. The number varies, but approximately 40 outfitters hold commercial licenses from El Dorado County for rafting on the South Fork. Some of those outfitters are local companies, most are not, but all pay $300 per year for the right to operate their rafts on the river below Chili Bar Dam, plus daily use fees for each passenger they carry down river. County officials say the business is beneficial to local businesses, although detractors complain the foreign companies are benefiting from the arrangement more than the local economy.
El Dorado has not always favored commercial rafting, and in the 1970s it attempted to ban rafting on the South Fork altogether, according to county Parks and Recreation staffer Jeff Novak. The matter went to court, he said, and the county was directed to manage the river for the benefit of rafting and other recreational uses, based on the model provided by federal practices. The key ruling for rafting was when the South Fork was declared a navigable river, thus allowing rafting by right.
Attempting to reach a balance between the court order and local opponents, the county adopted as controlling the historical rafting patterns and limited the number of licenses it issues based on historical usage levels. A new river management plan was adopted by the Board of Supervisors last fall. Individual, non-commercial rafting is not governed by the rules.
A key issue in the whitewater use quarrel is the generation of electric power by powerhouses on the South Fork above Chili Bar Dam. El Dorado Irrigation District operates one, the El Dorado Powerhouse, which is due to begin generating power in June after a major overhaul necessitated by the floods of 1999. Sacramento Municipal Utility District operates 10, and Pacific Gas & Electric operates one power generator that is integral with Chili Bar Dam.
Electricity generated by the powerhouses does not bring the same price around the clock. At peak usage times -- in the summer, that typically is between late morning and early evening on weekdays, when air conditioners are in use -- electricity brings a higher price than at other hours, and a significantly higher price than in the hours between midnight and sunrise.
According to hydraulic engineers, early-morning releases at Chili Bar Dam sufficient to assure river flows on the order of 1,200 to 1,700 cubic feet per second, the amount rafters say is needed to make the rafting experience safe and enjoyable, require water to begin surging down the upper reaches of the South Fork, coursing through the powerhouses one-by-one, during those post-midnight hours.
The water, they say, can be stored and used to drive the generators when power is needed, but once generated, the electricity is gone; it cannot be stored for sale when the price rises. In effect, the stored water is stored electricity waiting to be generated and sold.
While recreationalists may see the issue in terms of lost river access, for the utility companies it is more one of lost revenues, which translates, in turn, to higher rates they may have to charge their customers. The tension inherent in that dichotomy is little more than a difference of opinion when water is abundant, but it becomes something worth fighting about when drought enters the picture.
That's what happened last summer. Low water levels and low flow rates restricted the ability of the utilities to cooperate with releases timed and gauged to benefit rafting below Chili Bar Dam.
"If the water is up there, they'll release it," said EID Director Richard Akin.
"Last summer it wasn't there. You can't get blood out of a turnip, and you can't get water out of a dry stream bed," he said.
Whitewater enthusiasts, according to the arguments they put forth, see dams like the one at Chili Bar as the key to the problem.
The dam was built, however, as part of the power generation system. If it were not there, the South Fork would become a trickle in the summer as it did historically before the dam was built.
" Rafting is a great thing," said Richard Akin.
"But, you know, in 1977 my son rode his bicycle down to Coloma, and he rode it across the American River. It gets that low in the summer," he said.
"Every summer, the American River slows to a trickle. If it wasn't for the dams storing water to produce power, there wouldn't be any water from late spring until well into fall," he said.
"These people forget where that water comes from," he said.
EID Board President George Osborne agrees, and said he has photographs of people picnicking beside the South Fork of the American at Chili Bar before the dam was built there.
"They rolled up their pants legs and waded across the river there," he said.
"In the past, the 'area of origin' concept was a much higher priority than it is today," Akin said.
"And this just sounds to me like another effort to grab from us our local resource heritage."
E-mail Edmond Jacoby at ejacoby@mtdemocrat.net
All of these dams are also capable of drying up the river bed entirely below the dam. Though personally I've never seen a five foot wall of water below a dam, what a dam is capable of doing is not at question. What is at question is, what's a more important use of a resevoir in a drought year; providing plenty of water for rafters, or holding back water to generate electricity?
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