PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY
AND THE CITY OF SANTA CLARA
Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project
FERC Project No. 619
Draft Erosion Management Plan
January 2018
©2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
and the City of Santa Clara
PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY
AND THE CITY OF SANTA CLARA
Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project
FERC Project No. 619
Draft Erosion Management Plan
January 2018
©2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
and the City of Santa Clara
Draft Erosion Management Plan
Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project
FERC Project No. 619
Draft Erosion Management Plan
TABLE OF CONTENTS
section 1.0Introduction
1.1Background
1.2Purpose of the ErosionManagement Plan
1.3Goal and Objectives of the Erosion Management Plan
1.4Contents of the ErosionManagement Plan
section 2.0Planning Process for Minimization of Erosion and Sedimentation within the Bucks Creek Project Area
2.1Erosion and Sediment Control Planning Process for the Bucks CreekProject
2.2Planned Erosion Control Activities
2.2.1Measures Related to New Construction
2.2.2Measures Related to Routine Maintenance on NFS Land
2.3Emergency Erosion Control Activities
2.4Monitoring of Erosion and Sediment Control Activities4
section 3.0Reporting, Consultation, and Plan Revisions
3.1Reporting and Consultation
3.2Plan Revisions
section 4.0References
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.2-1.Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project Facilities
Figure 2.1-1.Erosion and Sediment Control Plan Process Flow Chart
January 2018Page 1Table of Contents
Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 619
©2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
and the City of Santa Clara
Draft Erosion Management Plan
Definitions of Terms, Acronyms, and Abbreviations
Forthe purposesof this Plan, the followingdefinitions apply:
Term / DefinitionB
BMP / Best Management Practice
C
City / City of Santa Clara
CVRWQCB / Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board
F
FERC / Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
FLA / Final License Application
Forest Service / USDA, Forest Service
N
NFS / National Forest System
O
O&M / operations and maintenance
P
PG&E / Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Plan / Erosion Management Plan
PM&E / Protection, Mitigation, and Enhancement
PNF / Plumas National Forest
Project Roads / Non-general use roads, used primarily for the Project and located within the FERC Project Boundary as defined in the Transportation Management Plan
Project / Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 619
Project Boundary / The boundary defined in the license issued by FERC for the Project outlining the geographic area needed for Project operations and maintenance. For the purposes of the Draft Plan, “FERC Project Boundary” refers to the Proposed FERC Project Boundary described in Section E.6 of the FLA, unless otherwise noted.
R
Resource Agencies / CDFW, Forest Service, and USFWS
S
SWPPP / Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan
U
USACE / United States Army Corps of Engineers
USFWS / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
January 2018Page 1Definitions
Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 619
©2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
and the City of Santa Clara
Draft Erosion Management Plan
section 1.0Introduction
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the City of Santa Clara (City) (collectively the“Licensees”) are filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) this ErosionManagementPlan(Plan) to supplement theirFinal License Application (FLA)for the Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project (Project), FERC Project No. 619. The Licensees are the owners of the Project and hold the current FERC license, which expires on December 31, 2018; PG&E operates the Project. Implementation of the Plan will be guided by the final FERC Project Boundary as defined in the new license or as modified thereafter.
1.1Background
The Project is located on Bucks, Grizzly, and Milk Ranch creeks, which are tributaries to the North Fork Feather River in Plumas County, California (Figure1.2-1). The Project has an installed capacity of 84.8 megawatts and consists of two existing developments (Bucks Creek and Grizzly), which collectively include four reservoirs with a combined usable storage capacity of 108,773acre-feet (Bucks Lake, Lower Bucks Lake, Three Lakes, and Grizzly Forebay), one conduit (Milk Ranch), two tunnels (Grizzly Forebay and Grizzly Powerhouse tunnels), two powerhouses (Bucks Creek and Grizzly powerhouses), and associated equipment and transmission facilitiesand structures, including recreation facilities and Project Roads.[*] Lands within the FERC Project Boundary are a combination of PG&E ownership and NFS lands (managed by Forest Service, as part of the PNF). The Project Area also contains a small area of private land.
1.2Purpose of the ErosionManagement Plan
The purpose of this Plan is to minimize future erosion and sedimentation related to the Project, with special emphasis on NFS land within the FERC Project Boundary. This Plan covers ground-disturbing activities from routineoperations and maintenance (O&M),any emergency situations, and planned projectson lands within the FERC Project Boundary that could produce undesirable erosion or sedimentation delivery to streams or reservoirs. Appropriate sediment management such as recruitment and redistribution of spawning gravels within the stream channel (e.g., for aquatic habitat) is covered by Protection, Mitigation, and Enhancement (PM&E) Measure 6, Channel Maintenance Flows which is described in the FLA.
The Licenseeswill coordinate, to the extent appropriate, the efforts required under this Plan with other Project resource efforts, including implementation of other resource management plans and measures included in the new license.
1.3Goal and Objectives of the Erosion Management Plan
The objectives of the Plan are to describe Licensees’ Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Forest ServiceBest Management Practices (BMP) (USDA Forest Service 2011 and 2012) used to control erosion and sedimentation impacts within the FERC Project Boundary during routine operations and maintenance and reconstruction or new construction of Project facilities, including emergency erosion control measures and protocols to control sedimentation during or after severe storm events.
The goal of the Plan is to provide guidelines to meet Plan objectives and to comply with all applicablelaws and regulations, as subject tothe Federal Power Act.
1.4Contents of the ErosionManagement Plan
- Section 1. Introduction. This section includes introductory information, including Project background information and the purpose and goals of the Plan.
- Section 2. Planning Process for Minimization of Erosion and Sedimentation within the Bucks Creek Project Area. This section describes the planning, consultation, permitting, treatment, and monitoring pathways for minimization of site-specific erosion and sedimentation impacts during planned projects or during an emergency.
- Section 3. Reporting, Consultation, and Plan Revisions. This section describes reporting, consultation, and Plan revisions.
- Section 4. References. This section includes the resource documents used to help develop this Plan.
January 2018Page 1Section 1.0
Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 619
©2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
and the City of Santa Clara
Draft Erosion Management Plan
Figure depicts the existing FERC Project Boundary. If the FERC boundary is updated, the plan will be modified as appropriate to reflect the revision..
Figure 1.2-1.Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project Facilities
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January 2018Page 1Section 1.0
Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 619
©2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
and the City of Santa Clara
Draft Erosion Management Plan
section 2.0Planning Process for Minimization of Erosion and Sedimentation within the Bucks Creek Project Area
2.1Erosion and Sediment Control Planning Process for the Bucks CreekProject
Erosion treatment projects are either planned in advance or occur asunforeseen emergency actions. All permanent erosion control[†]/stabilization activities, including emergency activities, may require consultation with theForest Serviceand other regulatory agencies, as appropriate, prior to implementation. An overview of erosion and sediment control planning, consultation, permitting, treatment, and monitoring pathways associated with the Project for lands within the FERC Project Boundary is depicted as a flowchart shown in Figure 2.1-1.
2.2Planned Erosion Control Activities
Planned (non-emergency) erosion control activities fall into one of two categories: 1) those associated with an erosion control element in a specific resource plan included in the new license (e.g., Transportation Management Plan, Integrated Vegetation Management Plan [PG&E and City of Santa Clara 2017a,b]) (Box 7 in Figure 2.1-1); and 2) any Project-related erosion control not addressed by specific resource plans included in the new license (Box 8 in Figure2.11). All non-emergency erosion treatment plans and designs will require consultation with theForest Servicewhen on or affecting NFS land (Box 10 in Figure 2.1-1) prior to implementation.
Erosion treatment activities that require in-water work may be subject to Section 404 and 401 of the Clean Water Act and require permits from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB) for dredge or fill activities (Box 11 in Figure 2.1-1).
Construction work that disturbs a land area greater than 1 acre may be subject to a Statewide General Permit for stormwater discharge associated with construction activity, which may require a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) (Box 16 in Figure 2.1-1). Typically, if the Project is smaller than 1acre of land disturbance, then the Statewide General Permit isnotrequired (Box 14 in Figure 2.1-1).
After the appropriate permits are obtained, and theProject is in compliance with the requirements of such permits, the Licenseeswould implement the erosion treatment (Box 17 in Figure 2.1-1).
**Forest Serviceconsultation applies when on or affecting NFS land.
**Resource agencies may include CVRWQCB, USFWS, USACE, the County Planning Department, and others, as appropriate.
Figure 2.1-1.Erosion and Sediment Control Plan Process Flow Chart
2.2.1Measures Related to New Construction
Temporary erosion prevention and control measures will be implemented duringplanned construction or reconstruction of Project facilities and infrastructure. Such projects include, but are not limited to, reconstruction at dam sites, road reconstruction, and recreation site development, where ground disturbance and/or vegetation removal is expected. The specific temporary erosion control measures will be site-specific, but will include all measures required by the permits,in additional to applicable Forest ServiceBMPs for work on NFS land, and/orLicensees’BMPs[‡]while working on PG&E land. A SWPPP may also be prepared and incorporated, as applicable.
Additionally, non-stormwater BMPs (such as fueling, paving, waste material use and storage, stockpile management, spill control, and waste management BMPs)will be implemented by the Licenseesyear-round for any construction or maintenance activities within the FERC Project Boundary. Measures will be site-specific for each planned project and could extend past the final construction inspection by up to threeyears, if re-vegetation is included for more permanent site stabilization and erosion control (PG&E and City of Santa Clara 2017b).
2.2.2Measures Related to Routine Maintenance on NFS Land
Routine maintenance activities conducted by the Licensees on NFS land will also follow Forest ServicePacific Southwest Region BMPs(R5 FSH 2509.22, USDA Forest Service2011and 2012). These BMPs are designed to minimize soil disturbance and reduce delivery of sediment to water bodies.
2.3Emergency Erosion Control Activities
The Licenseeswill be prepared to monitor for unexpected, emergency erosion control events within the FERC Project Boundary that may develop in response to significant events (e.g., storms, earthquakes, wildfires). Erosion control measures may include documenting specific erosion threats, appropriate agency notifications,as needed, and short- and long-term remediation that can be taken to stabilize each site and address public safety.
If erosion control takes place on an emergency basis,then notification to appropriate resource agencies will occur within 3 days (Box 4 in Figure 2.1-1)or as required by FERC license.
2.4Monitoring of Erosion and Sediment Control Activities
Monitoring of erosion and sediment control activities generally includes both implementation monitoring (e.g., was the BMP installed correctly) and post-construction effectiveness monitoring (e.g., did the site revegetate to required standards). Monitoring of erosion and sediment control activities for the Project will follow the parameters of the permit requirements, and/or license implementation plan.[§] If the work is on or affects NFS land, the monitoring will also adhere to the Forest ServiceHandbook (USDA Forest Service 2011 and 2012). The license implementation plans incorporate the Forest ServiceHandbook requirements so there is no anticipated conflict between the implementation plans and the Forest ServiceHandbook requirements. However, if a discrepancy occurs between the specific permits and license implementation plans, the monitoring required in the permit will take priority over the monitoring required in the license implementation plan(s). The Forest Serviceis required to annually audit BMP implementation and effectiveness on NFS land to meet State of California requirements and Forest Servicepolicy. These audit sites are chosen at random and may include sites related to this Project. These audits would be conducted by the Forest Servicein cooperation with the Licensees.
January 2018Page 1Section 2.0
Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 619
©2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
and the City of Santa Clara
Draft Erosion Management Plan
section 3.0Reporting, Consultation, and Plan Revisions
3.1Reporting and Consultation
Each year during the term of the license, the Licenseeswill arrange to meet with the Forest Servicefor an annual meeting to discuss erosion and sediment control on or affecting NFS land within the FERC Project Boundary. The Licenseeswill provide information on any significant erosion features or slope instability (e.g., open slope or management-related landslides) associated with Project facilities and features. Potential remedies for any features with potential for future erosion and sediment delivery will be discussed at the meeting. The information will also be provided to other agencies upon request.
The date of the meeting will be mutually agreed to by the Licenseesand theForest Service, but in general, will be held by March 31, if possible given access conditions relating to snow, roads, etc. This meeting is intended to occur as part of PM&E Measure 2, Annual Forest Service Consultation, described in the FLA. The Licenseeswill maintain a record of the meeting for inspection by FERC.
3.2Plan Revisions
The Licensees, in consultation with the Forest Service, will review, update, and/or revise the Plan, as needed, when significant changes in existing conditions occur. Any updates to the Plan will be prepared in coordination and consultation with the Forest Service. Sixty days will be allowed for the Forest Serviceto provide written comments and recommendations before the Licenseesfile the updated Plan with FERC, including relevant documentation of coordination and consultation with the Forest Service, for FERC’s approval. If the Licenseesdo not adopt a particular recommendation by the Forest Service, the filing will include the reasons for not doing so, based on Project-specific information. The Licenseeswill implement the Plan as approved by FERC.
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January 2018Page 1Section 3.0
Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 619
©2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
and the City of Santa Clara
Draft Erosion Management Plan
section 4.0References
PG&E and the City of Santa Clara. 2017a. Transportation Management Plan. Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 619.
PG&E and the City of Santa Clara. 2017b.Integrated Vegetation Management Plan. Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 619.
USDA, Forest Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service). 2011. Forest Service Handbook – Soil and Water Conservation Handbook (R5 FSH 2509.22), Section 12.2. Accessed online January 4, 2018:
USDA, Forest Service. 2012. National Best Management Practices for Water Quality Management on National Forest System Lands (FS-990a). Volume 1: National Core BMP Technical Guide. April 2012. Accessed online January 4, 2018:
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Bucks Creek Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 619
©2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
and the City of Santa Clara
[*]Project Roadsaredefinedandlistedin the Licensees TransportationManagementPlan (PG&E and City of Santa Clara 2017a).
[†]Permanent erosion control features may include an engineering design/constructed feature to effectively stabilize a feature to minimize future erosion and sediment delivery such as road drainage features, rip-rap, and retaining walls.
[‡]The Licensees’ Construction Stormwater Management Department ensures that appropriate BMPs are implemented and maintained so that potential runoff from construction work areas is managed in a way that eliminates or reduces the potential to negatively impact water quality by contributing sediments and other visible and non-visible pollutants to creeks, streams, wetlands, and estuaries. BMPs include sediment control measures, such as silt fences, sandbag and straw barriers, revegetation of areas after ground-disturbing activities, re-grading slopes to prevent concentrated runoff into water bodies, scheduling activities outside of the rainy season (when possible), and installation of rock revetment structures.
[§]Various implementation plans in the license (e.g., Transportation Management Plan and Integrated Vegetation Management Plan [PG&E and City of Santa Clara 2017a,b]) include specific erosion control-related provisions.