Williams Hydroelectric Project FERC Project No
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ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR HYDROPOWER LICENSE Williams Hydroelectric Project FERC Project No. 2335-039 Maine Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of Energy Projects Division of Hydropower Licensing 888 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20426 November 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... i LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ iii ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................ v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................... vii 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 APPLICATION .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 PURPOSE OF ACTION AND NEED FOR POWER ......................................... 1 1.2.1 Purpose of Action .......................................................................................... 1 1.2.2 Need for Power .............................................................................................. 3 1.3 STATUTORY AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS ................................. 3 1.3.1 Federal Power Act ......................................................................................... 3 1.3.2 Clean Water Act ............................................................................................ 4 1.3.3 Endangered Species Act ................................................................................ 5 1.3.4 Coastal Zone Management Act ..................................................................... 5 1.3.5 National Historic Preservation Act ............................................................... 6 1.4 PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT ................................................................ 6 1.4.1 Scoping .......................................................................................................... 6 1.4.2 Interventions .................................................................................................. 7 1.4.3 Comments on the Application ....................................................................... 7 2.0 PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES ................................................. 8 2.1 NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE ............................................................................ 8 2.1.1 Existing Project Facilities .............................................................................. 8 2.1.2 Project Safety .............................................................................................. 10 2.1.3 Existing Project Operation .......................................................................... 10 2.2 APPLICANT’S PROPOSAL ............................................................................. 11 2.2.1 Proposed Operation and Environmental Measures ..................................... 11 2.2.2 Mandatory Conditions ................................................................................. 12 2.3 STAFF ALTERNATIVE .................................................................................... 12 2.4 ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED BUT ELIMINATED FROM DETAILED ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................ 13 2.4.1 Issuing Non-power License ......................................................................... 13 2.4.2 Federal Government Takeover of the Project ............................................. 13 2.4.3 Retiring the Project ...................................................................................... 13 3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS ..................................................................... 14 3.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE KENNEBEC RIVER BASIN ............... 14 3.2 SCOPE OF CUMULATIVE EFFECTS ANALYSIS ........................................ 15 3.2.1 Geographic Scope ........................................................................................ 15 3.2.2 Temporal Scope ........................................................................................... 16 3.3 PROPOSED ACTION AND ACTION ALTERNATIVES ............................... 16 3.3.1 Aquatic Resources ....................................................................................... 16 i 3.3.2 Terrestrial Resources ................................................................................... 47 3.3.3 Threatened and Endangered Species ........................................................... 52 3.3.4 Land Use and Recreation ............................................................................ 55 3.3.5 Cultural Resources ...................................................................................... 61 4.0 DEVELOPMENTAL ANALYSIS .................................................................... 64 4.1 POWER AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT .......................... 65 4.2 COMPARISON OF ALTERNATIVES ............................................................. 66 4.2.1 No-Action Alternative ................................................................................. 67 4.2.2 White Pine Hydro’s Proposal ...................................................................... 67 4.2.3 Staff Alternative .......................................................................................... 68 4.3 COST OF ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES .................................................. 69 5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................. 74 5.1 COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AND RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVE ................................................................................................ 74 5.1.1 Additional Measures Recommended by Staff ............................................. 75 5.1.2 Measures Not Recommended ...................................................................... 79 5.1.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 80 5.2 UNAVOIDABLE ADVERSE IMPACTS ......................................................... 81 5.3 SUMMARY OF SECTION 10(j) RECOMMENDATIONS ............................. 81 5.4 CONSISTENCY WITH COMPREHENSIVE PLANS ..................................... 83 6.0 FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT .................................................... 84 7.0 LITERATURE CITED ....................................................................................... 85 8.0 LIST OF PREPARERS ...................................................................................... 90 APPENDIX A .................................................................................................................. A-1 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of the Williams Project and other dams in the Kennebec River Basin (Source: staff). ............................................................................................................ 2 Figure 2. Williams Project site plan (Source: license application, as modified by staff). .. 9 Figure 3. Hourly discharge data for the Wyman and Williams Projects in 2012 (Source: staff analysis of operation data provided in White Pine Hydro's April 29, 2016, filing). ........................................................................................................................ 18 Figure 4. Areas sampled in the impoundment during the electrofishing surveys. The tributaries sampled during the survey are not shown (Source: Figure 2.2-1 from White Pine Hydro’s initial study report (ISR) filed June 23, 2014).......................... 21 Figure 5. Areas sampled downstream of the project dam during the electrofishing surveys. The tributaries sampled during the survey are not shown (Source: ISR Figure 2.2-2, filed June 23, 2014). ............................................................................ 22 Figure 6. Annual returns of adult Atlantic salmon to U.S. rivers. "Natural" fish were spawned in rivers, and "hatchery" fish were produced in hatcheries and stocked as part of restoration programs. "ISW" and "2SW" indicate how many winters the fish spent in the ocean before returning to spawn (Source: USASAC, 2015). ............... 25 Figure 7. Locations salmonids occupied during the telemetry study (Source: ISR Figure 2.2-55, filed June 23, 2014). ...................................................................................... 29 Figure 8. Down ramping rate frequency based on the 2007 through 2012 operation data (Source: staff analysis of project operation data filed April 29, 2016). ................... 39 Figure 9. Monthly mean number of times down ramping rates exceeded 0.2 fph based on the 2007 through 2012 operation data. Due to missing data, the mean for July through December was based on data from five years (2008 was excluded) (Source: staff analysis of project operation data filed April 29, 2016). ................................... 39 Figure 10. Comparison of re-regulated flow in the Kennebec River at Madison (USGS gage no. 1047150) to unregulated flow in the Carrabassett River (USGS gage no. 1047000) from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2014. .......................................... 43 Figure 11. Kennebec River and overflow channel downstream of the Williams Project. The figure shows the transect and centerline streambed elevation (i.e., “longitudinal cross