Don Thompson The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO
(AP) – A million visitors a year who enjoy one of the Sierra Nevada’s most
popular recreation areas will soon see improvements under an agreement between
land use agencies and two power providers.
Water levels will be left higher in streams, rivers and lakes in the Crystal Basin Recreation Area west of Lake Tahoe, aiding fishermen, boaters, whitewater rafters, fish and other wildlife.
Campers and boaters will see better facilities in an area east of Sacramento that often is crowded to capacity on summer weekends. And hikers will have more trails to get away from the crowds.
The improvements are part of a pact between the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., fishing and boating organizations, whitewater rafters, environmental groups and government agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and state and federal fish and wildlife departments.
"We have come up with an agreement that met the needs of all those interests," Beth Paulson, hydroelectric coordinator for the Eldorado National Forest, said Friday.
SMUD will make the improvements as a condition of being able to continue using the public land to generate hydroelectricity under a pending 50-year license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The Sacramento-based utility operates 11 dams and eight power plants in the national forest. PG&E operates the Chili Bar Dam that is part of the re-licensing agreement but provides just seven megawatts of electricity.
Water levels will be increased next year, and campgrounds, picnic areas, boat launches, roads and trails will be improved over the next 20 years under the tentative agreement. The groups have a February deadline for a final agreement.
"We believe that we successfully bridged our differences and have found a balanced solution that accounts for energy requirements, local grid reliability, environmental needs and recreational opportunities," SMUD’s Assistant General Manager Jim Shetler said in a statement.
The utility’s license to operate its 688-megawatt hydroelectric system expires in July, and the deadline for a renewal agreement was Friday. The system now generates enough power for about 180,000 homes, though some of that will be lost as more water is left in area waterways.
The agreement reached Thursday lets SMUD also seek licensing of its proposed 400-megawatt Iowa Hill Pumped Storage Development project. Water would be pumped uphill when power is cheaper, then used to generate electricity during peak demand periods.
That project has had neighbors objecting in the popular Apple Hill area northeast of Placerville.
