Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan Sacramento Municipal Utility District Hydro License Implementation • October 2016 Upper American River Project FERC Project No. 2101 Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan October 2016 This page intentionally left blank. Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project FERC Project No. 2101 Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan October 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 2.0 METHODS............................................................................................................ 4 2.1 Existing Information ................................................................................... 4 2.2 Key Contact Interviews .............................................................................. 4 2.3 Geographic Information System Map......................................................... 5 2.4 Consultation ............................................................................................... 5 3.0 EXISTING BOATING CONDITIONS .................................................................... 5 3.1 Boating Facilities ........................................................................................ 6 3.1.1 Sunset Boat Launch ........................................................................ 6 3.1.2 Yellowjacket Boat Launch ............................................................... 6 3.1.3 West Point Boat Launch .................................................................. 6 3.2 Reservoir Levels ........................................................................................ 6 3.3 Boat Density .............................................................................................. 8 3.4 Interviews ................................................................................................. 10 3.5 Navigational Hazards ............................................................................... 11 3.6 Boating Accidents and User Conflicts ...................................................... 12 3.7 Boating and Wildlife ................................................................................. 14 3.8 Jurisdiction for Water Surface Management ............................................ 15 3.8.1 SMUD ........................................................................................... 15 3.8.2 Eldorado National Forest .............................................................. 16 3.8.3 State of California .......................................................................... 16 3.8.4 El Dorado County Sheriff .............................................................. 16 3.9 Union Valley Reservoir Management Plan Map ...................................... 18 4.0 WATER SURFACE MANAGEMENT .................................................................. 18 4.1 Designated Swimming Area at Fashoda Day Use Area .......................... 18 4.2 Buoys near Project Infrastructure ............................................................ 18 4.3 Areas with Discretionary Boating Speed Limits ....................................... 18 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project i FERC Project No. 2101 Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan October 2016 4.4 No Boating near Dam .............................................................................. 19 4.5 Signage .................................................................................................... 19 4.6 Coordination with El Dorado County Sheriff ............................................. 19 5.0 PLAN IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................. 20 5.1 Buoys and Signage .................................................................................. 20 5.2 Operation and Maintenance ..................................................................... 20 5.3 Monitoring and Plan Revision .................................................................. 20 6.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 21 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project ii FERC Project No. 2101 Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan October 2016 TABLES Table 3.2-1. Lake levels and reservoir surface area. .................................................. 7 Table 3.3-1. Peak boating use on Union Valley Reservoir. ......................................... 8 Table 3.3-2. Sample observations of boats on Union Valley Reservoir and parking area occupancy. ...................................................................................... 9 Table 4.1-1. Signs at boat launches. ......................................................................... 19 FIGURES Figure 1.0-1. UARP reservoirs in the Crystal Basin. ..................................................... 2 Figure 1.0-2. Recreational facilities at Union Valley Reservoir. .................................... 3 Figure 3.2-1. Union Valley Reservoir elevation, surface area, and storage curve. ....... 7 Figure 3.5-1. Google Earth images of peninsula near Wolf Point Campground at different water levels. ............................................................................ 13 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project iii FERC Project No. 2101 Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan October 2016 APPENDICES Appendix A—Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan Map Appendix B—Union Valley Boating Plan Interviews ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Cal Boating California State Parks, Division of Boating and Waterways ENF Eldorado National Forest FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Forest Service United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service GIS geographic information system License FERC License for the Upper American River Project mph miles per hour msl mean sea level Plan Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan Project Upper American River Project (FERC Project No. 2101) or UARP reservoir Union Valley Reservoir SMUD Sacramento Municipal Utility District or Licensee UARP Upper American River Project (FERC Project No. 2101) or Project Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project iv FERC Project No. 2101 Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan October 2016 1.0 INTRODUCTION Union Valley Reservoir (reservoir) is a water storage reservoir that is part of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) system for operating the Upper American River Project (UARP or Project), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Project No. 2101. Union Valley Reservoir is located in the Crystal Basin near Ice House and Loon Lake Reservoirs on Silver Creek, a tributary of the South Fork of the American River (Figures 1.0-1 and 1.0-2). The reservoir’s water elevation ranges from a maximum of 4,870 feet mean sea level (msl) at full pool (2,850 surface acres) down to the Project’s winter pool elevation of about 4,820 feet msl. Union Valley Reservoir is entirely within the FERC Project boundary, which provides a minimum horizontal distance from the high-water edge of about 200 feet. The majority of the shoreline is steep with a few submerged shallow areas or areas with rocky outcroppings. However, the inlets of the lake are relatively shallow, including the area from Yellowjacket Boat Launch to Robbs Powerhouse and the cove west of Camino Campground. Submerged obstacles, such as rocky outcroppings, and large areas of shallow water may pose hazards to boaters at low water levels in these areas. The Project License, issued by FERC on July 23, 2014 (License), incorporates conditions that are consistent with a Settlement Agreement between SMUD and stakeholders (FERC 2014). U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) 4(e) condition no. 45 (see Appendix B of the License) requires SMUD to develop a Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan (Plan). The Plan is required to address reservoir surface hazards including user conflicts between differing types of watercraft, human and wildlife conflicts, marking or removal of manmade underwater hazards, speed limits, and the need for marker buoys. The purpose of the Plan is to formulate a policy for managing boating use on the reservoir and providing public access to Union Valley Reservoir in a manner that: 1) is consistent with the Project’s primary purpose of power generation; 2) balances present and future boating use with the need to provide a safe, enjoyable, and environmentally sensitive recreation experience; and 3) considers SMUD’s scope of authority relative to reservoir surface management. Upon Eldorado National Forest (ENF) approval of the plan, SMUD will submit the plan to FERC for approval and will begin implementing plan measures as soon as the plan is approved by FERC. Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project 1 FERC Project No. 2101 Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan October 2016 Figure 1.0-1. UARP reservoirs in the Crystal Basin. Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project 2 FERC Project No. 2101 Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan October 2016 Source: SMUD (2004a) Figure 1.0-2. Recreational facilities at Union Valley Reservoir. Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project 3 FERC Project No. 2101 Union Valley Reservoir Boating Management Plan October 2016 The scope of this Plan includes