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Icicle Work Group's EIS Draws Fire

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Icicle Work Group's EIS Draws Fire The Newsletter of the Alpine Lakes Protection Society (ALPS) 2019 Issue No. 1 Karl Forsgaard Icicle Work Group’s EIS draws fire by Karl Forsgaard As previously reported, submitted a comment letter on the Icicle Work Group (IWG) behalf of 31 organizations. IWG Also in this issue: released a Draft Programmatic received about 10,000 comments USFS action regarding Environmental Impact on the DPEIS, possibly more. Enchantments overuse ..............4 Statement in May 2018 for water Most of the comments were management projects in the generated by email alerts sent by Tide turning against low Icicle Creek watershed, seeking five conservation organizations power hydro ...............................5 to construct dams and related — Wilderness Watch, Sierra Club, structures on seven lakes in Washington Wild, Washington State poised to implement the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Trails Association and The faulty recreation plan ................6 (Alpine 2018 issue No. 1). In Wilderness Society — and these July 2018, ALPS wrote and alerts included content developed Yakima Plan authorization by ALPS. passes Congress in omnibus bill ...............................................11 Excavator at Eightmile Lake On January 3, 2019, the IWG dam, wrapped in a tarp to co-leads (State Dept. of Ecology Planning begins for Middle and Chelan County) issued a Final Fork Snoqualie Wild and ‘winterize’ it, in November Scenic Corriddor ......................11 2018. Continued on page 2 ALPINE 1 Eightmile Lake aerial photo (Icicle FPEIS fig. 2-38) showing proposed enlargement of the lake (labeled “Historic High Water”), plus current and proposed maximum drawdown (”Low Water”). IWG’s EIS draws fire its Enchantment Basin; the tribal be resolved, including federal treaty rights of the Yakama Nation wilderness law and state water Continued from page 1 and Colville Confederated Tribes; law. These legal issues will Programmatic EIS (FPEIS). It was and valid, prior existing water determine which projects can and mostly unchanged from the draft rights in the Wenatchee River basin cannot be built. Failing to address version. The co-leads selected for agriculture. these fundamental issues before Alternative 1 (the Base Package) as The coalition letter notes that any further public funding is spent the Preferred Alternative. Release the FPEIS fails to meaningfully on implementation is wasteful of the FPEIS was covered in the consider construction constraints and irresponsible. Because IWG Wenatchee World and the Seattle and environmental impacts relies on interrelated projects to Times. The FPEIS immediately flowing from federal wilderness accomplish common goals, later drew criticism from both inside law. This omission is wasteful invalidation of an individual and outside IWG. An IWG and irresponsible, and renders project may require IWG to revise member initiated an IWG dispute the FPEIS useless for subsequent all of the other projects in IWG’s resolution process about the FPEIS, environmental review of projects Preferred Alternative. which is still underway. in wilderness. The FPEIS also Like the draft version, the FPEIS Defects in Final fails to present an adequate water fails to meaningfully consider Programmatic EIS conservation plan, and fails to fundamental land use restrictions account for the Icicle Peshastin imposed and values sought to be In February 2019, ALPS wrote Irrigation District’s relinquishment protected by federal wilderness and submitted a letter to IWG of some of its water rights. law. This omission violates on behalf of 34 organizations The FPEIS fails to recognize environmental laws and renders regarding defects in the FPEIS. that fundamental legal issues the FPEIS useless for subsequent The coalition reiterated its concern may not be resolved the way the environmental review of projects and respect for wilderness values, FPEIS implicitly asserts they will on or near designated wilderness the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and lands. Indeed, a U.S. Forest Service 2 ALPINE official wrote: “The [Draft] PEIS The IWG co-leads’ purported IWG made a significant is silent on Wilderness effects, so “response” is nonresponsive. investment in working with there’s no opportunity to tier from The issue here is not whether the University of Washington’s or use their analysis.” The same wilderness impacts are “new Climate Impacts Group, but is true of the Final PEIS, since it information,” but whether they incorporates very little of its changed so little from the draft were incorrectly omitted from the analysis and long-term projections version. draft EIS. The reality, of course, into the Icicle FPEIS’s forecast is that the proposal’s impacts to All federal agencies enforce for future drought conditions. wilderness plans and values have Furthermore, the IWG co-leads the Wilderness Act. Congress been known to federal agencies for has designated wilderness on affirmed that the Icicle FPEIS a long time. As the Forest Service focuses on addressing water needs lands managed by other federal states, they are missing from the agencies besides the U.S. Forest only for the “short-term,” which PEIS. The omission renders the EIS the co-leads defined as a period Service, such as the National Park deficient and useless. Service, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife of 20 years, which is simply not Service, and the Bureau of Land The FPEIS also fails to account long enough given the proposed Management. All of these agencies for IPID’s relinquishment of some magnitude of public investment have personnel who are familiar of its water rights. This omission in this project. The Preferred violates environmental laws and with the Wilderness Act and who Alternative will not set the Icicle renders the FPEIS useless for know how to recognize impacts basin on the path to climate subsequent review of projects on Wilderness lands they manage, resiliency, as promoted by the involving relinquishment. The as well as impacts on nearby IWG co-leads. At best, it helps FPEIS fails to analyze how much designated wilderness lands agricultural interests and domestic of IPID’s water rights remain managed by a sister agency. Icicle users to have some level of (i.e., how much water is legally projects put forth by any agency reliability for the next 20 years, but available) and fails to analyze the does not go far enough for fish and must acknowledge the gaps, impact of building the dams to omissions, and absence of analysis wildlife and other out-of-stream support that level of service. If interests and uses. of Wilderness Act values and the Eightmile Lake dam is rebuilt, impacts in the FPEIS. it should remain at its current A failure to include updated Our July 2018 comment letter elevation, where it has been since information such as the on the DPEIS said that because of at least 1990, because that elevation IPID Comprehensive Water its deficiencies (including the lack is the largest necessary to support Management Plan or the City of Wilderness impacts analysis), whatever remains of IPID’s of Leavenworth’s Water System Ecology and the County should relinquished water right. Plan, both completed in 2018, or any updated information on withdraw, revise, and re-release The IWG co-leads declined emergency dam and outlet repairs the DPEIS once the deficiencies to revise the DPEIS to correct completed at Eightmile Lake in are addressed. The IWG co-leads the omission of relinquishment 2018 show either a deliberate declined to revise it to correct the analysis, arguing that a deficiencies, explaining as follows: permitting action has not yet exclusion of pertinent information begun, but that is not a valid or a lack of effort in the final stages “Per WAC 197-11-405 a reason for the FPEIS to ignore the of drafting the PEIS. supplemental draft EIS is consequences of relinquishment In our July 2018 comment required if there are substantial here. Environmental laws letter on the DPEIS, we provided changes to the proposal so require reasonable forecasting extensive recommendations on that the proposal is likely of the future, including forecasts ways to obtain new water supply to have significant adverse of future government actions while reducing demands on Icicle environmental impacts; or there related to the proposal. There Creek by increasing conservation is significant new information is too much at stake here not to of water, such as by tightening up indicating, or on, a proposal’s address the water rights issue water delivery and consumption probable significant adverse before proceeding further. As infrastructure in the Leavenworth environmental impacts. New a practical matter, all of the area; demand management information has not been streamflow numbers in the FPEIS efforts; and recalculating future found nor has the proposal will change if it is determined that demand. However, most of our changed in a way that new relinquishment occurred and the recommendations were ignored. A probable significant adverse Eightmile dam will be repaired at voluntary lawn buy-back proposal environmental impacts are its current elevation, not four feet was added, but the FPEIS does not likely.” [Emphasis added.] higher. Continued on page 8 ALPINE 3 USFS action regarding Enchantments overuse February 2019 Many ALPS members have needs of the Enchantments, and EA were discussed. John Allen, the asked for a status update on again imploring for Day Use Deschutes NF Super agreed it was this issue. You may remember permits. The letter included a chart too bad there wasn’t a national representatives from Friends showing Day Use increase at Snow effort at more limited permit areas of the Enchantments (Friends & Colchuck from 2012 to 2016 by a back in the 90s before use was so hereafter) started meeting with factor of 5. high. Now it is an upstream slog Okanagan-Wenatchee USFS reps Greg and Kathi Shannon of to try to curb the damage. Friends in 2014. They met on October Friends, also met with Jason reported on long-distance runners 14, 2016 to address overuse in Fisher, Wilderness specialist for the at this public meeting that made the Enchantments and resulting Deschutes, and Becky Blanchard statements that their group should destruction of landscape and in November 2016.
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