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This is the kind of thing.....

940 views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  afecko 
#1 ·
......we should be taking advantage of.

I talked to several "connected" folks about SMUD FERC re-licensing issues two to three years ago, and was told we (FOTR, etc) were involved and trying to sqeeze SMUD for some goodies (parking area at Loon, outhouses at Spider and Buck, etc). At the time, my wife was working on FERC issues for a regulatory agency and could have pushed the matter. I was told it was "being taken care of."

Did we ever get anything out of SMUD from this process?

RELICENSING:
Editorial: Bears, bucks and hydro; SMUD shouldn't short Sierra stewardship
Sacramento Bee – 8/10/06


The Sacramento Municipal Utility District has a series of Sierra reservoirs and hydroelectric facilities known as the "Staircase of Power." It is the jewel of the SMUD system, given how it is both a cheap and precious source of peak power on hot summer days and how the reservoirs provide camping and boating for tens of thousands of visitors each year.

For SMUD, a regulatory moment has come along that happens only twice a century. At that time, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reviews and renews the license to operate these facilities. SMUD is at a crucial juncture in this approval process, and if not careful, it may stray from its mission to balance all the public values of being a good steward of this resource.

A long list of governments, from the National Park Service to the state Water Resources Control Board to the state Department of Fish and Game, has a different vision from SMUD's in how to operate this system. Some of the differences are very complicated, such as how much water to release downstream for fish and how much to release into tunnels for electricity production.

But here is an example of how SMUD is negotiating on an issue that rests at the gut of stewardship: bears.

When SMUD built this system more than 40 years ago (Loon Lake, Icehouse Reservoir, etc.), it agreed to build campgrounds on surrounding land. The campgrounds sit on U.S. Forest Service land. At the time, the facilities were state of the art. At the moment, many violate federal regulations (the Americans with Disabilities Act) and an unwritten code of how to respect wildlife.

The bears are a case in point. Many of these campgrounds do not have bear lockers so that campers can safely store food and bears don't grow accustomed to a diet courtesy of Costco. An appetite for humans' food can be deadly for the bear. At state campgrounds, bear lockers in bear country have been in place for years. SMUD could have, but hasn't, done the same at the campgrounds.

To bring these campgrounds up to modern standards (picnic benches tall enough for wheelchairs to fit under, more flush toilets, more bear lockers, etc.) would cost an unknown amount of money, but a lot. The Forest Service and the other agencies are asking SMUD to make these changes in exchange for permission to keep producing the hydroelectric power. But SMUD isn't making the promise. Instead, it is proposing to maximize its capital expenditures on the campgrounds to approximately $250,000 a year. That remodeling budget isn't a prescription for getting much done quickly.

So the future of the bears and the handicapped in the Sierra campgrounds is up for negotiation. Not very public-minded, is it?

Hydroelectric power can have a hypnotizing quality on a utility, rendering it nearly blind to the other public values on the landscape. SMUD must be careful to avoid hydro hypnosis. The goal here should not be to maximize hydro production, but to properly balance all the public needs in the Sierra and be happy with what electricity this magnificent system can sustainably produce. #

http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/14292701p-15131999c.html
 
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#2 ·
Andy, I attended the monthly Rubicon Oversight Committee (ROC) meeting this morning and we discussed an update for this very issue.

Supervisor Sweeney has been handling the SMUD stuff through his office, and reports high confidence that a short list of things will get handled by SMUD, in addition to a significant cash transfer. As I understand it, the cash is fairly specifically defined, but what they have to do... that's the sticky-politicky part. The trick is to get as much done by SMUD or their agents, while touching as few of the dollars as possible, all with the intent of maximizing the benefit to the actual resource. Just about every other agency under the sun is playing the same poker game, FWIW.

As with most things political, it is tough to guarantee results, but I have confidence in Jack Sweeney, and am hopeful that he's getting a good balance of money and services from the relicensing process, and further that he'll turn to FOTR when needed to use volunteer hours to stretch any monies out for best impact.

I guess what I am saying is that I believe it is still "being taken care of" and have received assurances to that effect... but otherwise have very little specific to report.

Randii
 
#3 · (Edited)
I do have to insert a serious :rolleyes: :shaking: :rolleyes: at this part of the quoted article:
So the future of the bears and the handicapped in the Sierra campgrounds is up for negotiation. Not very public-minded, is it?
Leave it to the Bee to oversimplify a complex process. I'm imagining a circle of bear-traps and carefully-constructed handicap-defeating stairs around the SMUD headquarters, and a maniacally-laughing executive staff watching from the penthouse suites.

Balance will be key -- we need to get a fair shake on some of the commitments SMUD made before relicensing, back when they raised the reservoirs. IMHO, that's less context-dependent with other interests, as SMUD made commitments at that time, where the current FERC relicensing has them working to create a new balance, with new interests today. Certainly there is some relationship between projects from back when and proposals for the future, but IMHO they need to be taken as separately as possible.

Randii
 
#4 ·
randii said:
I guess what I am saying is that I believe it is still "being taken care of" and have received assurances to that effect... but otherwise have very little specific to report.

Randii

Very good news. Having played on both sides of the FERC process (at a regulatory agency and at an entity seeking a new license), I understand the delicate and closed door nature of the negotiations. I'm glad we have Sweeney working on this, as I think he understands the need to squeeze as much as he can out of SMUD.

Thanks for the update!
 
#5 ·
randii said:
I do have to insert a serious :rolleyes: shaking: :rolleyes: at this part of the quoted article:
So the future of the bears and the handicapped in the Sierra campgrounds is up for negotiation. Not very public-minded, is it?
Leave it to the Bee to oversimplify a complex process. I'm imagining a circle of bear-traps and carefully-constructed handicap-defeating stairs around the SMUD headquarters, and a maniacally-laughing executive staff watching from the penthouse suites.

Randii

Actually, I believe SMUD execs are hoping to feed the handicap to the bears, thereby killing two birds with one stone.
 
#6 ·
randii said:
the sticky-politicky part. The trick is to get as much done by SMUD or their agents, while touching as few of the dollars as possible, all with the intent of maximizing the benefit to the actual resource. Just about every other agency under the sun is playing the same poker game, FWIW.

As with most things political, it is tough to guarantee results, but I have confidence in Jack Sweeney, and am hopeful that he's getting a good balance of money and services from the relicensing process, and further that he'll turn to FOTR when needed to use volunteer hours to stretch any monies out for best impact.

Randii
I think I'm starting to get it now. I'm knew to this whole volunteering thing and the underlined portion above kinda puts the puzzle together.

Any way , I'd like to put in a bid to build the bear boxes / picnic tables for them when they are ready. Installed to their specs.

interesting stuff
 
#7 ·
There shouldn't be negotiations for the next license that includes bear boxes and camp ground improvements. Those items should be fullfilled under the last contract.

We, the users of our national forests, should be demanding for items above and beyond the already owed boxes and benches.

This goes for the relocation of the road around Buck. SMUD agreed to rebuild the Rubicon Trail above the new high water mark in order to get the approval to raise the level of the lake. That hasn't happened yet.

We need to stand up and fight for what has already been promised to us!
 
#8 · (Edited)
Simple Man said:
There shouldn't be negotiations for the next license that includes bear boxes and camp ground improvements. Those items should be fullfilled under the last contract.

We, the users of our national forests, should be demanding for items above and beyond the already owed boxes and benches.

This goes for the relocation of the road around Buck. SMUD agreed to rebuild the Rubicon Trail above the new high water mark in order to get the approval to raise the level of the lake. That hasn't happened yet.

We need to stand up and fight for what has already been promised to us!

Precisely. We need to keep stressing this. Unfortunately, I've never seen a Forest Service negotiator EVER do anything for the OHV community in a negotiation. Our one hope in this is El Dorado County.

That's why I love being on the inside of this stuff, I get a chance to try and make positive impacts for resource USERS. Unfortunately, I have limited influence on this one, though I can still make a few calls if it looks like it will be necessary
 
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