Application for New License TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 8.0 Environmental Effects of the Proposed Action ..................................................... 8-1 8.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 8-1 LIST OF TABLES Table 8.1-1. Resource Areas Potentially Affected by Project Operation and Maintenance under the Proposed Action .............................. 8-5 LIST OF ACRONYMS CFR Code of Federal Regulations FERC or Commission Federal Energy Regulatory Commission PAD Pre-Application Document Project Kaweah Project O&M operation and maintenance SCE Southern California Edison Company SD Supporting Document TSP Technical Study Plan TSR Technical Study Report Southern California Edison Company 8-i Kaweah Project, FERC Project No. 298 Application for New License This Page Intentionally Left Blank 8-ii Southern California Edison Company Kaweah Project, FERC Project No. 298 Application for New License 8.0 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF THE PROPOSED ACTION 8.1 INTRODUCTION This section follows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC or Commission) content requirements at Title 18 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §5.18(b)(5)(ii)(B), which specify that “the applicant must present the results of its studies conducted under the approved study plan by resource area and use the data generated by the studies to evaluate the beneficial and adverse environmental effects of its proposed project. This section must also include, if applicable, a description of any anticipated continuing environmental impacts of continued operation of the project, and the incremental impact of proposed new development of projects works or changes in project operation. This analysis must be based on the information filed in the Pre- Application Document (PAD) provided for in §5.6, developed under the applicant’s approved study plan, and other appropriate information, and otherwise developed or obtained by the Applicant.” In addition, as required under §5.18(b), this section follows the Commission’s “Preparing Environmental Documents: Guidelines for Applicants, Contractors, and Staff.” This environmental analysis is based on information included in Southern California Edison Company’s (SCE) PAD for the Kaweah Project (Project); Section 7 – Affected Environment of the License Application; Technical Study Reports (TSR; Supporting Document A [SD A]); and supplemental analysis and modeling completed in Sections 8.2–8.15 of the License Application. The following subsections include an analysis (by resource area) of ongoing and new environmental effects (beneficial and adverse) of continued operation and maintenance of the Project under the Proposed Action (Section 4). Table 8.1-1 identifies resource areas potentially affected by Project operations and maintenance under the Proposed Action. In the evaluation of incremental effects, environmental conditions under the Proposed Action were compared to the baseline environmental condition1 in the No- Action Alternative. The effects determination for each resource area considers new environmental measures, management and monitoring plans, and programs included under the Proposed Action. The following effects determinations were used in the analysis: No Effect – Implementation of the Proposed Action will continue to protect and maintain a resource. Negligible Effect – Implementation of the Proposed Action will have a negligible effect to a resource or the implementation of new environmental measures, plans, and/or programs reduces the effect to a negligible level. 1 The baseline environmental condition are those that would exist for each resource area if the Project were continued to be operated and maintained according to the current FERC license. Southern California Edison Company 8-1 Kaweah Project, FERC Project No. 298 Application for New License Adverse Effect – Implementation of the Proposed Action will have a significant effect to a resource that may be reduced, but not to a negligible level, through implementation of new environmental measures, plans, and/or programs. Beneficial Effect (Enhancement) – Implementation of the Proposed Action including new environmental measures, plans, and/or programs benefits the resource. This section is organized as follows: 8.1 – Introduction 8.2 – Water Use and Hydrology Environmental Effects 8.3 – Water Quality Environmental Effects 8.4 – Fish and Aquatic Resources Environmental Effects 8.5 – Botanical and Wildlife Resources Environmental Effects 8.6 – Geology and Soils Environmental Effects 8.7 – Geomorphology Environmental Effects 8.8 – Riparian Resources Environmental Effects 8.9 – Land Use Environmental Effects 8.10 – Recreation Resources Environmental Effects 8.11 – Aesthetic Resources Environmental Effects 8.12 – Cultural Resources Environmental Effects 8.13 – Tribal Resources Environmental Effects 8.14 – Socioeconomic Environmental Effects 8-2 Southern California Edison Company Kaweah Project, FERC Project No. 298 Application for New License TABLES Southern California Edison Company 8-3 Kaweah Project, FERC Project No. 298 Application for New License This Page Intentionally Left Blank 8-4 Southern California Edison Company Kaweah Project, FERC Project No. 298 Application for New License Table 8.1-1. Resource Areas Potentially Affected by Project Operation and Maintenance under the Proposed Action Resource Areas Potentially Affected historic/Historic) - otanical and Wildlife Proposed Action Water Use and Hydrology Water Quality Fish and Aquatic B Geology and Soils Geomorphology Riparian Land Use Recreation Aesthetics (Visual/Noise) Cultural (Pre Tribal Socioeconomics FERC Project FERC Project boundary (modified) X X Boundary Minimum instream flow releases (modified) X X X X X X X X X Ramping rates (modified) X X X X X X X Project Operations Forebay spills (ongoing) X X X X X X X Draining of flowline and forebay during Project X X X X X X outages1 (ongoing) Powerhouse maintenance (ongoing) X X Flowline maintenance Repair of flumes, canals, and support X X X X structures (ongoing) Project Repair of wildlife bridges and escape ramps Maintenance X (ongoing) Removal of algae and large woody debris X (ongoing) Vegetation management2 (modified) X X X X X X X Southern California Edison Company 8-5 Kaweah Project, FERC Project No. 298 Application for New License Resource Areas Potentially Affected historic/Historic) - otanical and Wildlife Proposed Action Water Use and Hydrology Water Quality Fish and Aquatic B Geology and Soils Geomorphology Riparian Land Use Recreation Aesthetics (Visual/Noise) Cultural (Pre Tribal Socioeconomics Pest management (ongoing) X Sediment management Sediment removal/flushing at Kaweah No. 1 X X X X X Sandbox (ongoing) Sediment removal/flushing at Kaweah No. 1 X X X X X X Forebay Tank (ongoing) Sediment removal/flushing at Kaweah No. 2 X X X X X X Forebay (ongoing) Project Sediment removal at Kaweah No. 2 Maintenance X X X X X Diversion Intake (ongoing) (continued) Sediment removal at Kaweah No. 3 X X X X X X Forebay (ongoing) Road and trail maintenance (modified) X X X X X X X X Transmission, power, and communication line maintenance Pole maintenance and replacement X X X (ongoing) Vegetation clearance (ongoing) X X X X X X X 8-6 Southern California Edison Company Kaweah Project, FERC Project No. 298 Application for New License Resource Areas Potentially Affected historic/Historic) - otanical and Wildlife Proposed Action Water Use and Hydrology Water Quality Fish and Aquatic B Geology and Soils Geomorphology Riparian Land Use Recreation Aesthetics (Visual/Noise) Cultural (Pre Tribal Socioeconomics Addition of trash receptacle and Porta-Potty at Kaweah No. 2 Powerhouse River Access X X X X Recreation Parking Area (new) Enhancements Dissemination of real-time flow information on a X publicly-accessible website (new) Environmental Environmental Training Program X X X X X Programs 1 Project outage could occur as part of annual maintenance activities or due to the lack of available water for generation. 2 This includes vegetation management at all Project facilities with the exception of transmission, power, and communication lines. Southern California Edison Company 8-7 Kaweah Project, FERC Project No. 298 Application for New License TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 8.2 Water Use and Hydrology Environmental Effects ....................................... 8.2-1 8.2.1 Hydrology ........................................................................................ 8.2-1 8.2.1.1 Minimum Instream Flows .......................................... 8.2-1 8.2.1.2 Ramping Rates ......................................................... 8.2-2 8.2.1.3 Forebays/Forebay Tank Spills .................................. 8.2-3 8.2.1.4 Powerhouses ............................................................ 8.2-3 8.2.2 Beneficial Uses and Existing Water Rights ...................................... 8.2-3 8.2.2.1 Beneficial Uses ......................................................... 8.2-4 8.2.2.2 Existing Water Rights ................................................ 8.2-4 8.2.3 Existing Operating and Water Delivery Agreements ........................ 8.2-4 8.2.4 Consumptive Water Deliveries and Power Generation .................... 8.2-4 8.2.4.1 Consumptive Water Deliveries .................................. 8.2-4 8.2.4.2 Power Generation ..................................................... 8.2-5 8.2.5 Stream Gaging Stations .................................................................