HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.21.25 Board Correspondence - FW_ Environmental and Recreational Compliance Report submitted in FERC P-619-000 by Pacific Gas and Electric CompanyFrom:Clerk of the Board
To:Clerk of the Board; Connelly, Bill; Cook, Holly; Cook, Robin; Durfee, Peter; Jessee, Meegan; Kimmelshue, Tod; Kitts, Melissa; Krater, Sharleen; Lee, Lewis; Little, Melissa; Pickett, Andy; Ritter, Tami; Stephens, Brad J.; Sweeney, Kathleen; Teeter, Doug;
Zepeda, Elizabeth; Loeser, Kamie
Cc:Nuzum, Danielle
Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: Environmental and Recreational Compliance Report submitted in FERC P-619-000 by Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Date:Monday, November 24, 2025 8:40:18 AM
Please see Board Correspondence -
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Sent: Friday, November 21, 2025 6:45 AM
Subject: Environmental and Recreational Compliance Report submitted in FERC P-619-000 by Pacific Gas and Electric Company
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On 11/21/2025, the following Filing was submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington D.C.:
Filer: Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Docket(s): P-619-000
Lead Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Filing Type: Environmental and Recreational Compliance Report
Description: Pacific Gas and Electric Company submits Fish Stranding and Relocation Report related to the Lower Bucks Spillway Rebuild Project for the Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project under P-619.
To view the document for this Filing, click here https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_num=20251121-
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Power Generation
300 Lakeside Drive
Oakland, CA 94612
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 28209
Oakland, CA 94604
November 20, 2025
Via Electronic Submittal (E-File & Email)
Debbie-Anne Reese, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Division of Hydropower Administration and Compliance
888 First Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20426
Bryan Muro
Bucks Hydro Project Manager, Division of Water Rights
Water Quality Certification Program
P.O. Box 2000; Sacramento, CA 95812-2000.
Bryan.Muro@waterboards.ca.gov
RE: Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 619-CA
Dewatering and Diversion Plan, Lower Bucks Spillway – Fish Stranding and Relocation
Report
Dear Secretary Reese and Bryan Muro:
Attached for your review is the Lower Bucks Spillway Rebuild Project Fish Stranding and Relocation
Report (Enclosure 1), for Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) Bucks Creek Hydroelectric
Project, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) No. 619. FERC issued an Order approving
PG&E’s Dewatering and Diversion Plan under Article 401(B) on September 8, 2023; the order
requires PG&E to file a fish stranding and relocation report with the Commission within 30 days of
concluding spillway project work. Project work concluded on November 11, 2024.
On June 3, 2025, PG&E conducted a fish-out-of-harms way effort in the plunge pool below Lower
Bucks Dam and began dewatering efforts. Five fish were captured and released into Bucks Creek
below the bypass pipe.
For questions about the details of the report, please contact PG&E’s Senior Scientist, Larry Wise, at
(925) 785-8831. For general questions, please contact Jamie Visinoni, senior license coordinator for
PG&E, at (530) 215-6676.
Sincerely
Matthew Joseph
Supervisor, Hydro License Compliance
Enclosure:
1. Fish Stranding and Relocation Report, June 2025
Document Accession #: 20251121-5037 Filed Date: 11/21/2025
ENCLOSURE 1
Document Accession #: 20251121-5037 Filed Date: 11/21/2025
Memorandum:
Date: June 9, 2025 Order No.: 74023903
To: Jaime Visinoni CC: Katherine Layton
Jeff Jukkola From: Larry Wise
RE: Lower Bucks Dam Spillway Rehabilitation – June 3, 2025 Fish out-of-harms-way report.
On June 3, 2025, between 0900and 1230, PG&E conducted a fish out-of-harms-way effort in the
plunge pool below Lower Bucks Dam, Plumas County, CA (coordinates 39.901830 N, -121.228521
W). This effort was required as a condition of the Lower Bucks Dam Spillway Rehabilitation Project
(Project) Water Management Plan, as approved by the State Water Resources Control Board on
March 27, 2024. The plunge pool was dewatered to facilitate the second year of reconstruction of
the Lower Bucks Spillway and to provide a secondary buffer for the capture of debris and runoff
between construction activities and the active channel of Bucks Creek.
At the start of the sampling effort, the plunge pool was approximately 41 feet long and 31 feet wide,
with a maximum depth of approximately 11 feet (Figure 2). Substrate in the plunge pool was
composed of large boulder and bedrock, with a small quantity of cobble and finer sediment. The
northern two thirds of the plunge pool was relatively shallow (1 to 3 feet at the start of the effort),
while the southern third is quite deep (>10 feet), with nearly vertical sides. Water temperature was
9 ᵒC and air temperature was 15 ᵒC wat the start of the survey.
The fish-out-of-harms-way effort was conducted with a single Smith Root LR-20B backpack
electrofishing unit operated by an experienced operator accompanied by one netter. Electrofishing
setting were 350 v/30 hz/15% duty cycle based on a similar effort in this same location in 2023 and
2024. Fish “stunned” by the electrofisher were captured by dip net, placed in buckets and
monitored continuously until being released back into Bucks Creek. Fish were identified to species
and size category (<75 mm, 76-150 mm. 151-225 mm, 225-300 mm, and >300 mm) and released
downstream of where bypass water entered the Bucks Creek (Figure 1).
Prior to the start of electrofishing the pool elevation was reduced using pumps screened with 0.25
inch hardware cloth. There was no surface connection between the plunge pool and Bucks Creek as
flow to Bucks Creek was being provided via a bypass from the low-level outlet of the dam to a point
downstream of the plunge pool. As water continued to be pumped out of the pool, the margins of
the pool were visually monitored for any sign of stranding. Only two fish were observed in the pool
as the water level was drawn down and none were stranded.
Pumps ran continuously to dewater the pool until about 2 to 2.5 feet of water remained in the deep
end of the pool (Figure 3). This area was electrofished in two passes. The first pass captured two
Document Accession #: 20251121-5037 Filed Date: 11/21/2025
brown trout (both 225-300mm) and two rainbow trout (one 150-225 mm and one 225-300 mm).
After letting the pool settle for about 15 minutes, a second pass of electrofishing was made. One
California roach (50mm) was captured on the second pass.
All fish captured were released within 15 minutes to Bucks Creek below where water from the
bypass pipe reentered the stream (coordinates 39.902053 N, -121.228506 W). A total of 5 fish were
collected and released in good condition.
Figure 1. Map of plunge pool and fish release location
Document Accession #: 20251121-5037 Filed Date: 11/21/2025
Figure 2. Plunge pool prior to dewatering June 3, 2025
Document Accession #: 20251121-5037 Filed Date: 11/21/2025
Figure 3. Deep end of Plunge Pool prior to fish rescue.
Document Accession #: 20251121-5037 Filed Date: 11/21/2025
Figure 4. Plunge pool dewatered for 2023 geomorphic assessment.
Document Accession #: 20251121-5037 Filed Date: 11/21/2025
Document Content(s)
PGE20251120_619_LowerBucks_Spillway_Fish_Rpt.pdf .........................1
Document Accession #: 20251121-5037 Filed Date: 11/21/2025