Monday October 28, 2024
SJV Water —
Residents, boaters, anglers and river lovers had their first say on the overall relicensing applicaiton for Southern California Edison’s power plant above Kernville and they uniformly demanded more water be put back into the upper Kern River.
Commenters to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission urged it to reject Edison’s proposed minimum stream flows in its draft license application and adopt a proposal by the Kern River Boaters that uses an analysis of the Kern River done by the California Environmental Flows Framework (CEFF) at University of California, Davis.
It’s time, commenters wrote, for regulators to give back enough water for the Kern River to support native cold-water trout, wash down sediment and provide for more consistent public recreation.
- “The public and the environment cannot tolerate the same level of dewatering that SCE proposes for the next 40 years.” – Olly Gotel.
- “The past license was disastrous for whitewater recreation and wildlife habitat for the Kern River.” – Eugene Hacker
- “If KR3 was evaluated today as a new project, it would be laughed out of the board room due to the massive environmental impact compared to the very small amount of power generation.” – Eric Kroh
The comment period for the draft application closed Oct. 1. Edison is expected to file its final application Nov. 30, which will not be open to public comments. But the public can weigh in, until Dec. 10, on a slew of technical studies done by Edison looking at everything from how the plant affects the aesthetics of the river to its impact on road and trail access points.
Studies will continue for at least the next year then the public will have more formal opportunities to comment when FERC initiates its environmental analysis under NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act. Beyond that, the public can submit comments to FERC at any time through its online portal, at https://www.ferc.gov/how-file-comment using Docket Number P-2290-122.