Mill Creek relicensing could set national precedent
The decade-long process of relicensing the Mill Creek power plant could set a national precedent for Forest Service lands. Under a set of federal rules known as 4(e) conditions, the Forest Service is empowered to determine instream flows for streams managed by the agency across the country. Recently, however, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which has jurisdiction over non-federal hydroelectric facilities, mandated a lesser flow for the creek than the Forest Service set, and the matter has gone into appeal.
In fact, the FERC requirement, which came last April, pleased no one. Parties engaged in seeking a rehearing include the US Forest Service (USFS), California Trout, American Rivers, dam operator Southern California Edison (SCE), and the Mono Lake Committee.
The USFS, California Trout, and American Rivers object to FERC’s failure to uphold the USFS 4(e) conditions—a position that the Committee also signed on to.
The Committee’s primary concern is FERC’s failure to address the issue of the Mill Creek return ditch. The ditch, which returns water to Mill Creek after its passage through the Lundy power plant, was the reason the Mono Lake Committee formally entered the relicensing process back in the fall of 1997 (see Winter 1998 Newsletter). Over the years, the Mill Creek return ditch has not been maintained at its originally approved capacity. The Committee believes it should be refurbished so that unappropriated or unused water leaving the powerhouse can flow back into Mill Creek, helping support restoration of the creek, including valuable riparian bottomlands habitat (see sidebar). Due to the ditch’s degradation, that excess water currently runs down Wilson Creek instead.
The matter might be considered simple if those were the only two issues at hand. But a number of additional parties also are raising objections to FERC’s ruling. These include The Trust for Public Land and Mono County, who are working together to acquire the historic Conway Ranch. The release of water into Mill Creek from the dam, they claim, will infringe on their adjudicated water rights for the property.
New licenses for the SCE power plants on Rush and Lee Vining creeks have already been completed, and the Lundy power plant is the last SCE power plant in the Mono Basin to have its operating license. The relicensing process has already lasted over a decade and with implementation of FERC’s April decision still pending, resolution of all the issues is months, and probably years, away.
Restoration and Mill Creek
The Committee supports restoration of natural habitats and eco-logical processes in the Mono Basin. This type of restoration is underway on Rush, Lee Vining, Parker, and Walker creeks, thanks to the 1994 Water Board decision and continued work by supervising scientists, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Committee, and others.
On Mill Creek, a stream that has been partially dewatered due to irrigation and hydropower diversions, restoration means restoring flows to the stream either through releases from Lundy dam or through returning unused or unallocated water through the Mill Creek return ditch. A good Mill Creek restoration program would strive to rewater the stream sufficiently to achieve a multichanneled bottomland, self sustaining fishery, and year-round fresh-water conditions at the mouth of Mill Creek.
With many competing interests involved, how restoration might be accomplished is far from clear. Progress will depend on continued discussions and research. One thing is certain: any reallocation of water from existing uses back to Mill Creek must be consistent with environmental review and appropriate protection of habitats currently benefiting from Mill Creek water.
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