Author Archives: Chris Shutes

CSPA and allied conservation groups in the Foothills Water Network have filed comments in the relicensing of the Yuba River Development Project.  Yuba County Water Agency’s (YCWA) project is currently in the relicensing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. … Continue reading →

CSPA and allies have filed comments on major documents in the relicensing of the Don Pedro Project on the Tuolumne River.  In comments on the Updated Study Report and the Draft License Application, CSPA and nine other Conservation Groups dispute … Continue reading →

In  a significant victory for CSPA and conservation allies, Turlock Irrigation District (TID) and Modesto Irrigation District (MID) have begun the process to get a hydropower license for TID’s powerhouse at La Grange Dam.  This process may require a study … Continue reading →

CSPA and eight allied conservation groups have opposed a requested delay in the licensing of the unlicensed La Grange Powerhouse and Dam on the Tuolumne River.  On December 20, owners of the dam, Modesto Irrigation District and Turlock Irrigation District, … Continue reading →

Operators of hydroelectric projects licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have filed Draft License Applications for hydroelectric projects on two major Central Valley rim dams.  A FERC notice requiring recommendations, terms and conditions for a third such project is … Continue reading →

Many owners of hydroelectric projects use jurisdictional uncertainty to avoid improving conditions for fish. Operators of power projects that also deliver water for irrigation or drinking water deny responsibility for streamflows if they can peg a reach of stream to … Continue reading →

CSPA and the Foothills Water Network coalition filed 100 pages of comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the FERC relicensing of the Yuba-Bear and Drum-Spaulding hydroelectric projects. The comments, filed August 22, 2013, culminate 5 years of work … Continue reading →

The State Water Resources Control Board has issued a draft Water Quality Certification for the relicensing of the DeSabla – Centerville hydroelectric project on Butte Creek.  The draft Certification requires Pacific Gas & Electric Company to construct a water temperature … Continue reading →

For the past five years, CSPA and allied conservation groups have been stymied in efforts to require study of fish passage in important hydropower relicensings in California. Licensees on the Merced and Tuolumne rivers have argued that their own agricultural … Continue reading →

CSPA and fellow members of the Foothills Water Network coalition have pressed the Forest Service to protect cold water fisheries in the Middle and South Yuba rivers. In a filing with the Forest Service for the Yuba-Bear hydroelectric project and … Continue reading →

CSPA and fellow members of the Foothills Water Network coalition have called for more summer flow in the South Yuba and Middle Yuba rivers to support cold water fisheries. In Comments and Recommendations for the coordinated relicensing of the Yuba-Bear … Continue reading →

A just-completed study that included two seasons of field sampling on the North Fork Feather River and two years of analysis shows no ecosystem-level effect of limited summer whitewater boating releases on aquatic macroinvertebrates (insects). The study was designed by … Continue reading →

The East Bay Municipal Utilities District has thrown in the towel and will no longer pursue a plan to raise Pardee Dam. Pardee Dam, which backs up the Mokelumne River in Amador and Calaveras counties, creates Pardee Reservoir, EBMUD’s largest … Continue reading →

Statement of Chris Shutes, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, on the reality of standard reopeners in hydropower licenses Before the Study Dispute Panel, Yuba River Development Project (P-2246,Yuba County Water Agency) relicensing proceeding before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Sacramento, California, … Continue reading →

CSPA and a coalition of fishing and conservation groups have filed extensive comments on the Proposed Study Plan for the relicensing of the Don Pedro hydroelectric project on the Tuolumne River. The comments by “Conservation Groups” call for modification of … Continue reading →

PG&E operators on the North Fork Feather River have destroyed virtually all of 2011’s viable frog eggs on the NF Feather River below the Poe hydroelectric dam. On June 30, 2011, PG&E operators reduced the flow in the NF Feather … Continue reading →