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Home My WebLink About04.16.2024 Board Correspondence - FW_ Government Agency Submittal submitted in FERC P-2107-000 by State Water Resources Control Board (CA),et al.From:Clerk of the Board To:Bennett, Robin; Clerk of the Board; Connelly, Bill; Cook, Holly; Cook, Robin; Durfee, Peter; Hancock, LeAnne; Jessee, Meegan; Kimmelshue, Tod; Kitts, Melissa; Lee, Lewis; McDonnell, Susan; Pickett, Andy; Ritter, Tami; Stephens, Brad J.; Sweeney, Kathleen; Teeter, Doug; Zepeda, Elizabeth; Loeser, Kamie Cc:Nevers, Dawn Subject:FW: Government Agency Submittal submitted in FERC P-2107-000 by State Water Resources Control Board (CA),et al. Date:Tuesday, April 16, 2024 2:47:32 PM -----Original Message----- From: 'FERC eSubscription' <eSubscription@ferc.gov> Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2024 2:16 PM Subject: Government Agency Submittal submitted in FERC P-2107-000 by State Water Resources Control Board (CA),et al. .ATTENTION: This message originated from outside Butte County. Please exercise judgment before opening attachments, clicking on links, or replying.. On 4/16/2024, the following Filing was submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington D.C.: Filer: State Water Resources Control Board (CA) State Water Resources Control Board (CA) (as Agent) Docket(s): P-2107-000 Lead Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company Filing Type: Government Agency Submittal Description: California State Water Resources Control Board submits Approval of Revised Fish and Benthic Macroinvertebrate Monitoring Plan re the Poe Hydroelectric Project under P-2107. 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State Water Resources Control Board April 15, 2024 Mr. Sky Ramirez-Doble Hydro License Coordinator, Power Division Pacific Gas and Electric Company Sent via Email: S9RV@pge.com Poe Hydroelectric Project Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Project No. 2107 Butte County North Fork Feather River APPROVAL OF REVISED FISH AND BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATE MONITORING PLAN Dear Mr. Ramirez-Doble: On October 31, 2023, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) submitted a revised Fish and Benthic Macroinvertebrate Monitoring Plan (Fish and BMI Plan) to the State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Water Board) Deputy Director of the Division of Water Rights (Deputy Director) for review and consideration of approval. The Plan is required per Condition 9 (Poe Bypass Reach Biological Monitoring) of the Poe Hydroelectric Project (Project) water quality certification (certification)0F 1. Background Condition 9 of the certification requires PG&E to develop a biological monitoring plan for fish, benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI), and amphibians in consultation with staff from the State Water Board, United States Forest Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and United States Fish and Wildlife Service (collectively the Resource Agencies). During early consultation, PG&E and Resource Agencies staff agreed to develop two plans to meet this requirement: (1) Fish and BMI Plan (approved by the Deputy Director on March 6, 2020); and (2) Poe Amphibian Monitoring Plan (approved by the Deputy Director on October 15, 2020). The purpose of the biological monitoring plans is to identify the impact of new license flows to fish, BMI, and amphibian populations in the Project area. 1 The Project certification was issued by the State Water Board Executive Director on December 28, 2017. On December 17, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a new license to PG&E for the Project. The new license incorporates the State Water Board’s Project certification. Document Accession #: 20240416-5254 Filed Date: 04/16/2024 Mr. Sky Ramirez-Doble - 2 - April 15, 2024 On February 9, 2022, PG&E began discussions with Resource Agencies staff to revise the Fish and BMI Plan to include changes to monitoring locations, methods, and schedule. PG&E distributed a draft revised Fish and BMI Plan to the Resource Agencies on June 15, 2023. Resource Agencies staff provided no comments. On July 6, 2023, PG&E submitted a temporary variance request to modify 2023 fish and BMI monitoring consistent with the revised Fish and BMI Plan. PG&E received concurrences from Resource Agencies staff on the 2023 fish and BMI monitoring variance. The Deputy Director approved the temporary variance for 2023 on September 15, 2023. Proposed Revisions PG&E’s proposed revisions to the Fish and BMI Plan are summarized below: • Shift monitoring for one year from 2020 – 2022 to 2021 – 2023 due to the 2020 North Complex Fire. • Move the Poe Dam fish and BMI monitoring location to Flea Valley Creek and the Stag Creek BMI monitoring location to Yellow Creek as the current monitoring locations are unsafe and/or inaccessible due to fire damage. • Extend the monitoring window from September 15 – October 15 to September 15 – October 31 to provide scheduling flexibility, with the goal of completing monitoring by the end of September. • Change fish length classifications from two-inch increments (i.e., 0 – 2 inches, 2 – 4 inches, etc.) to five-inch increments (i.e., 0 – 5 inches, 5 – 10 inches, etc.). This will allow monitoring crews to identify fish size classification more accurately during snorkel surveys. Five-inch increments will still allow PG&E to comply with the purpose of fish monitoring in the Fish and BMI Plan (i.e., determine the presence of multiple year classes and fish abundance). • Discontinue the Target Riffle Composite (TRC) protocol for BMI sampling. In 2022, CDFW audited PG&E’s BMI sampling methodology and recommended discontinuing use of the TRC protocol. The TRC protocol was required by the California Stream Bioassessment Procedure, the former standard BMI monitoring program. The program was replaced by the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP). The SWAMP Reach Wide Benthos protocol, which is required by the Fish and BMI Plan approved on March 6, 2020, and retained in the revised Fish and BMI Plan, includes riffle sampling such that use of the TRC protocol is unnecessary. Approval State Water Board staff have reviewed the revised Fish and BMI Plan and find that it complies with Condition 9 of the Project certification. The revised Fish and BMI Plan is hereby approved. PG&E shall file this approval with the Federal Energy Regulatory Document Accession #: 20240416-5254 Filed Date: 04/16/2024 Mr. Sky Ramirez-Doble - 3 - April 15, 2024 Commission. Any future revisions shall be submitted to the Deputy Director for review and consideration of approval. If you have questions regarding this letter, please contact Jessica Dyke, Project Manager, by email to: Jessica.Dyke@waterboards.ca.gov or by phone call to: (916) 341-5448. Written correspondence or inquiries should be mailed to: State Water Resources Control Board Division of Water Rights – Water Quality Certification Program Attn: Jessica Dyke P.O. Box 2000 Sacramento, CA 95812-2000 Sincerely, Erik Ekdahl, Deputy Director Division of Water Rights ec: Ms. Debbie-Ann Reese, Acting Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Via e-file to Docket for P-2107 Dawn Alvarez, Regional Hydropower Assistance United States Forest Service Dawn.Alvarez@usda.gov Erika Brenzovich, Recreation & Lands Program Manager United States Forest Service Erika.Brenzovich@usda.gov Leigh Bartoo, Fish and Wildlife Biologist United States Fish and Wildlife Service Aondrea_Bartoo@fws.gov Beth Lawson, Senior Hydraulic Engineer California Department of Fish and Wildlife Beth.Lawson@wildlife.ca.gov Michael Maher, Region 2 FERC Coordinator California Department of Fish and Wildlife Michael.Maher@wildlife.ca.gov Tracey Ferguson, Planning Director Plumas County traceyferguson@countyofplumas.com Document Accession #: 20240416-5254 Filed Date: 04/16/2024 Mr. Sky Ramirez-Doble - 4 - April 15, 2024 Kamie Loeser, Director of Water and Resource Conservation Butte County KLoeser@buttecounty.net Dave Steindorf, California Hydropower Specialist American Whitewater Dave@americanwhitewater.org Chris Shutes, FERC Projects Director California Sportfishing Protection Alliance blancapaloma@msn.com Document Accession #: 20240416-5254 Filed Date: 04/16/2024 Document Content(s) 2024_Rev Poe Fish and BMI Plan approval.pdf ...............................1Document Accession #: 20240416-5254 Filed Date: 04/16/2024