LIHI Certificate #69 - (FERC No. (1927) North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project, North Umpqua River, Oregon

Portland, Maine - (March 24, 2011) - The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) announced today that the Institute’s Governing Board determined that the North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project meets the LIHI Certification Criteria.  In reaching its decision to certify the North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project, the Low Impact  Hydropower Institute’s Governing Board reviewed the application for certification, as well as the Application Reviewer’s report.  The Board’s vote to certify the North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project was unanimous and the Board approves certification for the North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project for five-years with the following project specific conditions: 

 1. The applicant shall implement an ODEQ-directed timetable to characterize pH in the tailrace discharge of the Lemolo 2 powerhouse within one year of LIHI certification. Upon completion of that monitoring, the applicant shall obtain and provide to LIHI a letter from ODEQ that states whether the reach in question complies with state water quality standards for pH. In the event that the ODEQ finds the project continues to be a contributor to the 303(d)-listed impairment for pH in the vicinity of the project, LIHI reserves the right to suspend or revoke certification.

 2. The applicant shall implement ODEQ-directed resampling for dissolved oxygen in the Soda Springs bypass reach after the completion of the Soda Springs fish passage construction. The applicant shall obtain and provide to LIHI a letter from ODEQ that states whether the reach in question complies with state water quality standards for dissolved oxygen. In the event that the ODEQ finds the project to be a contributor to dissolved oxygen impairment in the subject reach, LIHI reserves the right to suspend or revoke certification.

The effective certification date for the North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project is December 7, 2009 and will expire on December 7, 2014. During the time the Project is certified, you may market the North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project facilities as LIHI certified.

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Portland, Maine (December 7, 2009) – The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) announced today that PacifiCorp Energy ("PacifiCorp" or "Applicant") has submitted an application for certification of the North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project ("Project") which is located on the North Umpqua River and two of its tributaries: Fish Creek and Clearwater River, Oregon.

The project was relicensed for a 35-year term by FERC on November 18, 2003. A Settlement Agreement dated June 13, 2001 was adopted by the license. The Settlement Agreement was collaboratively developed with regulatory agencies that have jurisdiction over the natural resources in the watershed.

The North Umpqua Project is located in south-central Oregon on the west side of the Cascade mountain range in Douglas County, about 60 miles (97 km) east of Roseburg. The Project is located on the North Umpqua River and two of its tributaries, Clearwater River and Fish Creek.

The headwaters of the North Umpqua River are located at an elevation of over 1,830 m on the western slope of the High Cascade Mountain Range near Maidu Lake. Over 20% of the North Umpqua River watershed lies above 1700 m and the river drains about 470 square miles before joining the South Umpqua River west of Roseburg. Both the North and South Umpqua Rivers have a rugged topography with steep canyons and rapid elevation changes, and both have been heavily influenced by volcanic activity. The drainages of the North and South Umpqua Rivers together make up about 2/3 of the greater Basin drainage, and each river is about 170 km long. The mainstem Umpqua River flows in a northwesterly direction another 180 km to the ocean. Together, the three rivers form one of the longest coastal basins in Oregon, approximately 340 km in length, with a drainage area of over 12,200 sq. km. In 1988 the United States Congress designated approximately 33 miles (53 km) of the North Umpqua River as part of the National Wild and Scenic River program.

Project Description

The North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project was constructed between 1947 and 1956. It consists of a series of dams and canals that divert water to the following eight developments, each has a powerhouse and a dam:

Lemolo No. 1 - The Lemolo No. 1 Development is the furthest upstream development in the North Umpqua project. Lemolo No. 1 includes a 120-foot-high, 885-foot-long rockfill diversion dam with concrete facing. It has a 33-foot-long gated, ogee-crested spillway section and a 67-foot-long ungated, ogee-crested concrete spillway section equipped with 3-foot-high flashboards. The dam impounds a 419-acre reservoir, known as Lemolo Lake, with a total storage of 11,752 acre-feet. 16,310 feet of gunite lined and concrete canal and flumes extend from the Lemolo dam to the concrete penstock intake and forebay, which has a trashrack and 15.9-foot-wide Taintor gate. The steel penstock is 7,338-feet-long with a diameter ranging from 9.7 to 7.0 feet at the powerhouse. The powerhouse is located on the North Umpqua River at the mouth of Warm Springs Creek, 4.5 miles downstream of the dam at Lemolo Lake. The reinforced concrete powerhouse contains a single vertical shaft Francise-type turbine-generator with a rated capacity of 29,000 kilowatts (kW). Storage in Lemolo Lake is used to control floods, increase power generation when demand is high in the late fall, and augment flows in the river downstream of the eight developments.

Lemolo No. 2 - The Lemolo No. 2 diversion dam is approximately 190 feet downstream of the Lemolo No. 1 powerhouse. This concrete gravity dam is 350-feet long, 25-feet-high and is un-gated and ogee- crested with flashboards. It impounds a 1.4-acre pond with no active reservoir storage. Water is drawn through a concrete intake structure equipped with fish screens, fish bypass, trashrack, Taintor gate and side channel spillway. The 69,503 feet of canal and flumes (Figure 2.2-3) extend from the diversion dam to a 24.2-acre earthen forebay. The forebay has a total maximum storage capacity of 230.6 acre-feet. A 3,975-foot-long steel penstock with diameter ranging from 10.5 to 7.3 feet leads to the powerhouse. The reinforced concrete powerhouse contains a single vertical shaft Francis-type turbine-generator with a rated capacity of 33,000 kW. The Lemolo No. 2 powerhouse is approximately 3,500 feet upstream of Toketee Lake.

Clearwater No. 1 - The Clearwater No. 1 Development is the uppermost development on the Clearwater River, which has its confluence with the North Umpqua River near the Toketee dam. The Clearwater No. 1 diversion dam is located approximately 8.1 miles upstream of Toketee Lake. An earthfill dam, the Clearwater No. 1 dam is 17-feet-high, 1,426-feert-long and includes a 102-foot-long, un-gated concrete spillway with flashboards. It impounds 11.8-acre Stump Lake, which has a maximum storage capacity of 30.2 acre-feet. The accompanying concrete intake structure is equipped with a trashrack, timber gate and side channel spillway. The 13,037 miles of canal and flumes extend from Stump Lake dam to a 16.3-acre clay-lined excavated forebay and gated concrete intake structure. The forebay has a total maximum storage capacity of 120.8 acre-feet. A 4,863-foot-long penstock with diameter ranging from 6.7 to 5.0 feet leads to the powerhouse. The reinforced concrete powerhouse contains a single vertical shaft Francis-type turbine- generator with a rated capacity of 15,000 kW. The powerhouse discharges directly into the Clearwater No. 2 diversion.

Clearwater No. 2 - Located 140 feet downstream from the Clearwater No. 1 powerhouse on the Clearwater River, the Clearwater No. 2 Development diversion dam is an 18-foot-high, 157-foot-long structure. The Clearwater No. 2 dam is made out of concrete and contains a concrete spillway section and an intake with a trashrack. The dam impounds a 1.2-acre settling pond with no active storage. The 31,235 feet of canal and flumes extend from the diversion dam to an 8.6-acre clay-lined excavated forebay and gated intake structure. The forebay has a total maximum storage capacity of 70.7 acre-feet. A 1,169-foot-long steel penstock with diameter ranging from 7.2 to 6.3 feet carries water to the powerhouse (Figure 2.2-2). The reinforced concrete powerhouse is located on the North Umpqua River at Toketee Lake. It contains a single vertical shaft Francis-type turbine-generator with a rated capacity of 26,000 kW.

Toketee - The Toketee Development, located at the confluence of the Clearwater and North Umpqua Rivers, includes a 58-foot-high 1,381 earthfill embankment dam on the North Umpqua River. The dam has a 310-foot-long concrete spillway section and it impounds a 96.9-acre reservoir known as Toketee Lake (Figure 2.2-2). The reservoir has a total maximum storage capacity of 1,051 acre-feet. The 6,994 feet of wood-stave pipe and concrete-lined and unlined tunnel extend from Toketee dam to the penstock. The penstock consists of a 1,067-foot-long steel conduit that splits into three approximately 158-footlong sections near its downstream end. The powerhouse contains three equal sized, vertical shaft Francis-type turbine-generators that have a combined installed capacity of 42,500 kW. The powerhouse is located on the North Umpqua River approximately two miles downstream of Toketee Lake, which serves as the forebay for the development and provides active storage to regulate flow through the powerhouse.

Fish Creek - The Fish Creek Development diversion dam is located on Fish Creek, approximately 6 miles upstream of the creek's confluence with the North Umpqua River. The 6.5-foot-high, 133-foot- long concrete dam includes a 30-foot-long, ogee spillway section, a fishway and sluiceway. The dam impounds a 3-acre settling pond with no active storage. The 25,662 feet of canal and flumes extend from the diversion dam to a 9.3-acre clay-lined excavated forebay and gated intake structure. The forebay has a maximum total storage capacity of 110.3 acre-feet and is used to reregulate water from off-peak to peak demand periods. A 2,358-foot-long steel penstock with diameter ranging from 4.5 to 3 feet carries water to the powerhouse. The reinforced concrete powerhouse contains a single vertical shaft impulse-type turbine-generator set with a rated capacity of 11,000 kW. The Fish Creek powerhouse is located on the North Umpqua River between the Toketee powerhouse and the Slide Creek diversion dam.

Slide Creek - The Slide Creek Development includes a diversion dam located on the North Umpqua 900 feet downstream of the Toketee powerhouse. The 30-foot-high, 183-foot-long concrete dam includes a 72 –foot-long, gated concrete ogee spillway section and a gated, concrete intake structure with trashrack. The dam impounds a 2-acre reservoir with a maximum total storage capacity of 43 acre-feet. The 9,653 feet of canal and flumes extend from the dam to a concrete penstock intake structure that includes trashracks and a Taintor gate. The steel penstock that carriers the water to the powerhouse is 374-foot-long and 12 feet in diameter. The reinforced concrete powerhouse contains a single vertical shaft Francis-type turbine-generator with a rated capacity of 18,000 kW. The powerhouse is located on the North Umpqua 1.3 miles upstream of Soda Springs dam.

Soda Springs - The Soda Springs Development includes a diversion dam located on the North Umpqua River about 1.3 miles downstream of the Slide Creek powerhouse. The 309-foot-long, 77-foot-high concrete arch dam includes a 72-foot-long, gated, concrete ogee spillway section. It impounds a 31.5-acre reservoir with a total maximum storage capacity of 411.6 acre-feet. A 2,112-foot-long steel pipe extends from the intake at the diversion dam to an 82-foot-high, 30-foot-diameter surge tank. A 168-foot-long, 12-foot-diameter steel penstock extends from the surge tank to a reinforced concrete powerhouse. The powerhouse has a single vertical shaft Francis-type turbine- generator set with a rated capacity of 11,000 kW. The storage capacity of the Soda Springs reservoir is used to ensure a minimum flow in the North Umpqua downstream of the development.

The project occupies 3,085 acres, including 2,491 acres administered by the Forest Service, 128 acres administered by BLM, and 466 acres of non-federally-owned land. It encompasses a total waterway length of 37.3 miles (21.7 miles of canal, 9.8 miles of flume, and 5.8 miles of penstock and tunnels). The project includes 117.5 miles of transmission line in seven segments, five of which interconnect project generators and two of which deliver project power to PacifiCorp's bulk transmission grid at the Dixonville substation.

Public Comments

We encourage public comments on this application. Specifically, we are interested in knowing whether you think the North Umpqua Project meets our LIHI criteria. Review the program and criteria in greater detail and then review the North Umpqua Project's application. Comments that are directly tied to specific LIHI criteria (flows, water quality, fish passage, etc) will be most helpful, but all comments will be considered.

Comments may be submitted to the Institute by e-mail at info@lowimpacthydro.org with " North Umpqua Project comments" in the subject line; by fax at (206) – 984-3086; or by mail addressed to LIHI, 34 Providence Street, Portland, ME, 04103. Comments must be received at the Institute on or before 5 pm Eastern time on February 7, 2010 to be considered. All comments will be posted to the web site and the applicant will have an opportunity to respond. Any response will also be posted.

Notice of Comments

(February 4, 2010) LIHI received a comment letter from the USFWS. A downloadable pdf for this letter is available at the bottom of this page. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the file entitled: "Signed-LIHI-ltr-2010.pdf"

( February 8, 2010) LIHI received comments from:

Kelly Crispen, University of Montana ("Kelly Crispen NUHP Comments");

Cindy Haws, Umpqua Watersheds ("Umpqua Watersheds ltr to LIHI"); and,

Mary Scurlock, American Rivers, Pacific Rivers Council, Native Fish Society, and the Steamboaters ("PRC-AR-NFS-SB Comments to LIHI on North Umpqua FERC #1927").

( February 9, 2010) LIHI received comments from:

Doug Heiken, Oregon Wild ("Oregon Wild Comments NUHP");

Links to downloadable versions of these comments can be found at the bottom of this page.

Notice: March 25, 2010 - LIHI received a comment letter from the Applicant in response to earlier public comments. This comment letter can be found at the bottom of this page at this link: Pending Appl for Low Impact Hydro Cert.pdf

 

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