Lake Murray / Saluda Hydro-electric Plant
RELICENSING UPDATE

A RESPONSE FROM TROUT UNLIMITED
to the Public Notice from SC DHEC of Oct. 26, 2009

Project 516-459 / South Carolina Electric & Gas
(SCE&G or utility company)

From
Malcolm Leaphart (Conservation/FERC Coordinator, SC TU Council)
and Mike Waddell (President, Saluda River Chapter of TU)

________________________________________________________________________________________

SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC)
Bureau of Water - Mark Giffin
2600 Bull Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Re - Public Notice Number FERC-516-459 2009

In response to the Public Notice from SC DHEC of October 26, 2009, Trout Unlimited (TU) submits the following comments for the Saluda River Chapter and SC Council.

-- TU requests that a public hearing be held to allow for additional comments before approvals from citizens and groups not directly involved as participatory stakeholders in the relicensing meetings of the past few years. As noted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in TU's comments of September 28, 2009 in response to the South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) Settlement Agreement (SA), the agreement represents what SCE&G is offering to do, with sign on from a limited number of groups that in no way represents the broad spectrum of citizens affected.  More input is needed to ensure that any water quality plans for the renewed FERC project license are truly representative of the community's wishes for the future of the lower Saluda River (LSR), especially with the new parks and greenways and the embrace by the midlands of the river as part of the 'Three Rivers' initiatives, especially those of the River Alliance in Columbia.  

-- The following DISSOLVED OXYGEN comments are offered to SC DHEC for consideration for 401 certification from the TU comments to FERC of September 29, 2009.  See the FERC website or go to the link below for the Saluda River Trout Unlimited chapter website for the full comments:
http://saludatu.org/news/www/articles.cfm?fo=Articles&method=story&RecordID=540 .

DISSOLVED OXYGEN

The current and planned use of air injection by upgrading turbine runners is inadequate for meeting state dissolved oxygen standards year round; and, the timetable for making needed venting or turbine improvements is much too drawn out, especially for a problem known and documented for over 20 years. Unless the license prohibits generations during the months of lethal dissolved oxygen levels at the intakes in the lake, oxygen injection should be required as has proved the only dependable year round solution around the country; and, implementation should be immediate.

Also, the effects of nitrogen super-saturation were not documented which is not acceptable as that condition kills fish and is a key reason why air venting is not a viable method for meeting state dissolved standards 365/24/7. The stakeholders were simply told without any discussions to depend on new technologies being developed in the coming years which would eliminate the need for the proven liquid oxygen injection method.

No consideration is given to the dissolved oxygen needs for successful trout reproduction in the lower Saluda River. EPA recognizes 6.0 mg/l as the lower limit for trout. The utility company lobbied extensively for lower limits, including with funded studies  conducted in the spring only when low dissolved oxygen levels are not a problem. The resulting lowered standards even further weakened the previous site-specific 5.0 mg/l minimum, and is for adult trout only, not trout fry or fingerlings. Trout Unlimited considers the current state dissolved oxygen standards inadequate in light of EPA and known trout fisheries requirements.  Instead of embracing the concept that the utility company had altered the warmwater river environment with the dam to coldwater habitat, and working to foster reproduction by coldwater species, the efforts to date and as planned will only help to barely keep alive year round adult trout. That is perpetuation of the current 'deficient habitat' of nearly 80 years, with significant, but marginal improvements for the adult trout to give them a better chance during the low dissolved oxygen months in the late summer and fall. 

The adaptive plan does not propose higher dissolved oxygen levels than the state standards if coldwater fish (trout) cannot reproduce and thrive in this artificially created coldwater tailrace fishery, even after nearly a decade of improved conditions and studies as proposed in the settlement agreement. SCE&G should be required in their “Trout Monitoring Plan” to conduct studies such as was done on the Smith River in Virginia to determine the suitability of possible trout reproduction and a reproducing trout population, and to provide the needed conditions. An example is the “Influences of Fluctuating Releases on Stream Fishes in the Smith River Below the Philpot Dam”, by D.J Orth et al., 2004, submitted to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. If the proposed plan is adopted, then once it is established that trout are not reproducing in the Saluda River by SC DNR, the license should specify that the higher EPA limit for trout of 6.0 mg/l be required for the remainder of the license term.

-- Note that only an adult trout fishery is planned for in the new license plans and with the current state classification and standards. The premise that coldwater fish should be able to reproduce in a coldwater river has been rejected by SCE&G simply to hold down costs of maintaining the aquatic environment altered by the utility company's Lake Murray dam. Repeated refusals during the FERC meetings to adopt the goal of improving the 'deficient habitat' as it is described in the DNR regulations to allow for trout reproduction is short-sighted and poor natural resource management. SC DHEC should not support that short-sightedness, but should require that the WQ standards embrace the potential the river holds, not the current deficit condition as the utility company plans. The community will suffer both with the lowered water quality and the marginal, adult trout fishery that could easily be improved to a world class trout fishery with several year classes of fish that would significantly benefit the area's economy as the study in 2009 by SC DNR documented.

-- The lowering of the dissolved oxygen standards from the 5.0 mg/l site specific minimum level should be reconsidered to embrace the concept that coldwater species should be able to successfully reproduce in a coldwater river. Additional studies with SC DNR should be done for trout growth and survival (if any) in the critical fall months when anoxic water is released. Only after those months are adequately considered for fisheries needs and standards or classifications revised accordingly, should a 401 certification for a 35-50 year FERC license be given.

-- On November 11 & 12, 2009 the dissolved oxygen levels in the lower Saluda River dropped to 1.1 mg/l as reported by USGS gauges along with the readings of the high flows that produced the violation. SCE&G could have released surface water through their floodgates since the lake was near capacity and not available for flood control instead of through the generators which moved the low dissolved oxygen water from the intakes to the river. That course of action could have reduced or possibly  totally eliminated the resulting reduced levels of dissolved oxygen below state standards without water temperature complications because of the time of year; but, the utility company chose not to do so, with no financial penalties from SC DHEC! Trout sink when they die, so even though a massive fish kill was not witnessed, the 'science' indicates that probably all of the 2-3 year classes of those fish and others  were lost in a scenario that has been repeated for nearly 80 years each fall.  This degradation has also continued since the mid 1990's when SC DHEC first requested that SCE&G meet water quality standards, likely due to the lack of financial penalties, and also due to a waiver of water quality standards during the dam remediation work when nearly zero dissolved oxygen levels were recorded. 

-- Of alarming concern is the drawn out time table that could potentially total more than 3 decades for resolving the problem of lethal dissolved oxygen levels in the lower Saluda River in the critical late summer and fall months before 'lake turnover'. This problem was first documented scientifically in 1988 by Dr. McKellar, USC, in his Oxygen Dynamics study jointly paid for by SC DHEC, SC DNR, and TU.  Insistence on meeting the then state standard of 5.0 mg/l minimum levels of dissolved oxygen by SC DHEC was not forthcoming until the mid 1990's despite the wide acceptance of the study. The solution chosen by SCE&G of turbine venting over the more costlier and surer oxygen injection was allowed by SC DHEC to be undertaken at an unreasonably slow pace, lasting over a decade and still failing to meet state standards, with no financial penalties for the lethal releases with known deadly effects on aquatic life. To allow another decade or more for a solution that should already be in place is very objectionable, especially since the agreement plans offered by SCE&G do not contain the details for the proposed turbine runners, and does not provide for firm requirements if the runners do not do the job even after all 5 turbines are re-worked over a 10 year period from the license’s effective date.

-- Before certifying 401 plans of SCE&G after public hearings, upgrading of the classification and standards to ensure not only year round survival of trout, but also reproduction, should be done so as to NOT perpetuate a ‘deficient habitat’ for another 50 years as currently proposed in the SCE&G Settlement Agreement. SC DHEC should require detailed plans for a proven solution, such as oxygen injection, with a timetable of no more than 3 years to complete needed renovations for the Saluda hydro. If venting however is allowed, use of the spillways for lake level management, including flood control, must be required in the fall months when the levels are less than 4.0 mg/l at the intakes so that the generators are not used beyond their capacity to maintain state standards. And of course, any certification given should include provisions to require that SC DHEC levy the maximum fines allowed by state law for non-compliance violations.

Submitted for Trout Unlimited on December 18, 2009 by:

Malcolm Leaphart
Conservation/FERC Coordinator, SC TU Council
115 Conrad Circle
Columbia, SC 29212

Michael Waddell
President, Saluda River Chapter
249 Frostwood Drive
Columbia, SC 29212