First Draft Study Report 1999 Aesthetic Resources Assessment Lake Chelan Hydroelectric Project FERC No. 637 October 1999 Prepared by: Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County Wenatchee, Washington and Duke Engineering & Services, Inc. Bothell, Washington First Draft Study Report 1999 Aesthetic Resources Assessment Lake Chelan Hydroelectric Project FERC No. 637 Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 BACKGROUND..................................................................................................... 1 1.2 CONSULTATION PROCESS AND STUDY PLAN DEVELOPMENT.............. 4 1.2.1 Forest Service Landscape Aesthetics Handbook ........................................ 4 1.2.2 Goals and Objectives................................................................................... 6 1.3 STUDY METHODOLOGY ................................................................................... 6 1.4 STUDY AREA........................................................................................................ 8 2 LAKE CHELAN VIEWSHEDS ...................................................................................... 9 2.1 VIEWS OF THE UPPER LAKE FROM THE WATER...................................... 16 2.2 VIEWS OF THE LOWER LAKE FROM THE WATER .................................... 25 2.3 VIEWS OF THE LOWER LAKE FROM THE LAND ....................................... 29 3 THE CHELAN RIVER GORGE................................................................................... 42 3.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................. 42 3.2 VIDEOTAPING LOCATIONS ............................................................................ 43 4 SUMMARY...................................................................................................................... 49 Aesthetic Resources Assessmenti Lake Chelan Project First Draft - October 1999 FERC No. 637 First Draft Study Report 1999 Aesthetic Resources Assessment Lake Chelan Hydroelectric Project FERC No. 637 List of Figures 1 Viewsheds in Upper Lake Chelan......................................................................................... 12 2 Viewsheds from the South Shore in Lower Lake Chelan ..................................................... 13 3 Viewsheds from the North Shore in Lower Lake Chelan ..................................................... 14 4 Videotaping Locations in the Gorge ..................................................................................... 43 Aesthetic Resources Assessmentii Lake Chelan Project First Draft - October 1999 FERC No. 637 First Draft Study Report 1999 Aesthetic Resources Assessment Lake Chelan Hydroelectric Project FERC No. 637 List of Tables 1 Dates and Water Levels for Still Photography on Lake Chelan.............................................. 7 2 Flow Releases Videotaped in Gorge ....................................................................................... 7 3 List of Viewsheds Photographed on Lake Chelan ................................................................ 11 Aesthetic Resources Assessmentiii Lake Chelan Project First Draft - October 1999 FERC No. 637 Section 1 Introduction 1.1 BACKGROUND Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County (Chelan PUD) owns and operates the Lake Chelan Hydroelectric Project (FERC No. 637) located on the Chelan River in Chelan, Washington. The original license was granted for the present Lake Chelan Project Hydroelectric (the Project) in May 1926 by the Federal Power Commission, now Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). On May 12, 1981, FERC granted Chelan PUD a new 30-year license for the Project, retroactive to 1974 when the original 50-year license expired. That license expires on March 31, 2004. Chelan PUD is in the process of relicensing the Project. The FERC relicensing process is based on laws and regulations that require years of extensive planning, including environmental studies, agency consensus, and public involvement. Chelan PUD has requested and received approval from the FERC to employ an Alternative Relicensing Process for the Project, as allowed under FERC’s Final Rule issued on October 29, 1997 (Docket No. RM95-16-000; Order No. 596). The Alternative Relicensing Process proposed by Chelan PUD is intended to expedite the licensing process by combining the pre-filing consultation and environmental review processes into a single process, and by improving and facilitating communications among the participants in the licensing process. Numerous studies are being conducted as part of the relicensing efforts. As part of the relicensing efforts, still photography and video were collected to characterize the aesthetic resources in the project area. This draft report presents the results of that effort and a summary of the study results will be included in the Report on Land Management and Aesthetics section of the Lake Chelan FERC license application. 1.1.1 Project Description The Project is located approximately 32 miles north of the City of Wenatchee on the Chelan River. The 4.1-mile-long Chelan River flows from the lower end of the 50.4-mile-long Lake Chelan to the Columbia River. The project consists of a 40-foot-high concrete gravity dam, a 2.2-mile-long concrete-lined tunnel and steel penstock, a powerhouse located at the confluence of the Chelan and Columbia Rivers, and a switchyard. The powerhouse contains two Francis- type turbines each rated at 34,000 hp at 1,100 cfs and a net head of 377 feet. A detailed description of the project facilities can be found in the Initial Consultation Document issued on October 5, 1998. The Project reservoir (Lake Chelan) is operated between a maximum water surface elevation of 1,100 feet (MSL) and 1,079 feet to meet a variety of needs, including power generation, fish and wildlife conservation, recreation, water supply, and flood control. The normal maximum surface elevation is at 1,098 feet, which assures the fullest possible utilization of the reservoir for generation of electricity while meeting flood control needs, irrigation requirements and Aesthetic Resources Assessment1 Lake Chelan Project First Draft - October 1999 FERC No. 637 Section 1 Introduction environmental uses of Lake Chelan. The reservoir has 677,400 acre-feet of usable storage above 1,079 feet, of which 65,000 acre-feet is set aside for irrigation and domestic water uses. Annual regulation of Lake Chelan is heavily dependent on yearly weather conditions. Chelan PUD uses annual snowpack surveys of the Chelan drainage basin system, along with information collected from four snowpack monitoring telemetry sites to determine runoff forecasts. Chelan PUD has been conducting these surveys since 1955. The forecasts are an important factor in assuring that the expected volume of runoff is equal to the volume available in storage. The forecasts are made available to the public and local news media. Over the years, these forecasts have proven to be within five percent of the observed actual inflow. Typically, Lake Chelan begins to refill during April and May, as warmer temperatures melt the lower snowpack areas and stream flows into the lake increase. Lake Chelan is regulated to remain between elevations 1,098 and 1,100 feet from July 1 through September 30 each year. During October, the elevation begins to drop as streamflows into the lake decline. From October through April, water is released through the power tunnel for power generation, exceeding the amount of water entering the lake from inflows. The lowest annual lake elevation generally occurs during March or April. The average drawdown of the lake over the past 43 years of operation has been to about 1,084.2 feet. The lake refills again during April and May as the spring runoff exceeds the amount of water needed for power generation. Since the project was originally licensed in 1926, the lake has never been drawn down to the minimum allowable elevation (1,079 feet). The lowest drawdown on record was 1,079.7 feet in 1970. That occurrence coincides with the lowest annual precipitation on record. 1.1.2 Recreation and Aesthetic Overview Recreation has been an integral part of the Chelan Basin since Euroamericans first entered the basin. President Grover Cleveland established the first “Forest Preserve” over the Chelan area on February 22, 1887. This area constituted one division (the Chelan Division) of the Washington Forest Preserve. Steam boats had already begun to travel the lake waters by 1889, providing tourists with a means to travel uplake to Lucerne and Stehekin. Packers and guides accompanied sportsmen on hunting and fishing expeditions in the uplake valleys. Hikers and horseback riders traveled in great numbers to the mines in Horseshoe basin between the 1890s and early 1900s, and Railroad Creek had become a popular camping, hunting, and recreation destination by this time as well. A variety of hostelries sprung up in the basin at Stehekin, Bridge Creek, Rainbow Falls, Moore’s Point, Meadow Creek, and Lucerne. These upper basin facilities were destination spots, where visitors would come to stay for weeks and months at a time. In 1906, there was a strong movement to preserve the beauty of Lake Chelan by creating a National Park, but mining, grazing, and other timber interests remained strong, and it would not be until 62 years later that a park would be established with a final reshuffling of jurisdictions.