Low Impact Hydropower Institute

34 Providence Street

Portland, Maine 04103

MEMORANDUM

To: LIHI Governing Board

From: Fred Ayer

Date: January 11, 2007

Subject: Addendum to Raystown Hydroelectric Project

Review for Low Impact Hydropower Certification

Fish Passage and Restoration Plan

At the December conference call the LIHI Board reviewed the Raystown Project Low Impact Certification Application, and asked for additional information on the anadromous restoration and the need for fish passage. I obtained this information by researching Anadromous Restoration documents and the FERC Raystown license order, and contacted the USFWS, and the Applicant. To understand the Raystown Project context in the overall restoration it’s helpful to look at the whole Susquehanna River Anadromous restoration history and projected future.

Background –With the construction of four major hydroelectric facilities on the lower Susquehanna River in the early 1900s – Conowingo, Holtwood, Safe Harbor, and York Haven – American Shad were prevented from returning upstream to their spawning grounds.

Licenses for the four Susquehanna River hydroelectric facilities came up for renewal in the early 1970s. Participants in the FERC license proceedings have included the utility applicants; PPRP, the lead agency for the State of Maryland with regard to FERC licensing of Maryland’s hydroelectric resources; the State of Pennsylvania; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS); and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The ultimate goal of all parties is the restoration of anadromous fish populations to the entire Susquehanna River drainage system.

One of the first steps in shad restoration in the Susquehanna was trap-and-transport. Adult shad were trapped below the Conowingo Dam, and then released in upstream spawning areas. This has been done every year since 1972, and shad catches continue to increase.

In 1976, the Susquehanna River Anadromous Fish Restoration Committee was organized to not only supervise shad restoration, but offer the funding necessary. These include state fishery agencies from Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and the four hydro dams.

Perhaps the most significant development in the Susquehanna restoration was a 1988 settlement on fish passage at Conowingo reached by PECO Energy, which operates the hydroelectric plant at Conowingo, and the resource agencies. In accordance with this agreement, a permanent east side fish lift was completed in the spring of 1991, in time for the spring shad run. The following is a list of significant milestones in the restoration program from 1950. I have included this information because there is a high probability that we will have other projects in this drainage come before us and I think it will be helpful if we understand the total Susquehanna River basin’s role in the restoration plan.

1950: Appropriation for 6-year USFWS study of status of Atlantic coast shad fisheries

1952: Walburg study, transport of adult shad from Chesapeake Bay to upper Susquehanna River

1958 – 1960: Whitney study on feasibility of passing shad and other species over Conowingo Dam

1962: Bell and Holmes feasibility study for installing fish passage at the four lower-river hydro dams

1963 – 1966: Carlson study to determine biological suitability of Susquehanna River for shad restoration

1970: Settlement agreement to construct and operate a fish trap at Conowingo Dam for 5 years; funding for collection of 50 million shad eggs per year; formation of SRAFRC

1972: Conowingo trap (the West Lift) goes into operation

Mid-1970’s: Relicensing of four lower-river projects begins; recommendations for fish passage; Van Dyke shad hatchery established

1978: Gilbert Associates fishway conceptual design study at Conowingo

1979: Harza fishway conceptual design study at Holtwood, Safe Harbor, York Haven

1980: FERC issues four licenses, orders hearing to address fish passage issue

1980: MD closes shad fishery, begins annual population estimates

1981: SRAFRC sets restoration goals: 3 million shad, 20 million river herring

1984: Settlement agreement by Holtwood, Safe Harbor, & York Haven licensees; provides funding for 10-year program to demonstrate if self-sustaining populations could be restored

1989: Conowingo licensee agrees to construct permanent fish lift; agencies request upstream licensees to begin conceptual designs

1990 – 1991: Acres fishway conceptual design study at Holtwood, Safe Harbor, York Haven

1991: New Conowingo East Lift goes into operation, initially trap and truck

1992: Upstream licensees agree to construct permanent fish facilities

1997: New lifts in operation at Holtwood and Safe Harbor

2000: Vertical slot ladder in operation at York Haven

In the May 2002 document, Alosid Management and Restoration Plan for the Susquehanna River Basin, the stated Goal of the restoration program is:

By 2025, produce self-sustaining annual populations of 2 million American shad and 5 million river herring, reproducing in the free-flowing Susquehanna River above York Haven Dam and in suitable tributaries, and provide 500,000 angling days annually throughout the Basin for these species.

Starting in the early 1970s, settlement agreements have been and continue to be a key component of the restoration program.

The Raystown FERC license order contains the following article concerning fish passage.

Article 15. The Licensee shall. For the conservation and development of fish and wildlife resources, construct, maintain, and operate, or arrange for the construction, maintenance, and operation of such reasonable facilities, and comply with such reasonable modifications of the project structures and operation, as may be ordered by the Commission upon its own motion or upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior or the fish and wildlife agency or agencies of any state in which the project or a part thereof is located, after notice and opportunity for hearing.

I found this interesting in that the project the LIHI Board is considering is the Alleghany Electric Cooperative’s William F. Matson Generating Station which is located at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Raystown Dam. What’s interesting is that it appears that this license article affords Interior and the state leverage to require the licensee to construct fish passage at a Corps dam. In discussions with the Applicant’s consultant they agreed with that premise and also recognize that if the Board certifies this project, it would be AEC’s position that a fish passage prescription would be a change in conditions that would be reported to LIHI.

I spoke with Larry Miller, USFWS, about the progress of the restoration program and our Low Impact Certification process. Larry said that he did not envision fish passage being required in the upper reaches of the drainage in the near term and surely not within a five year period. Speaking particularly about eels, he said that one of the lower Susquehanna River projects would need to have eel passage and this was not expected before the FERC relicensing of the project which was 10 plus years in the future. Larry and I discussed the LIHI Low Impact Certification Program and what would happen if the restoration program were accelerated and conditions changed prior to the re-certification of the Raystown Project. I told him about the Annual Compliance affidavits required of all LIHI certificate holders. We also discussed the Army Corps’ responsibility for fish passage and I asked Larry if he was aware of any agreements that had been reached regarding fish passage with the Corps and Interior. Larry was not aware of any agreements.

Since AEC’s FERC license has a fish passage article, and it appears clear that AEC understands and accepts their responsibilities regarding fish passage, and that the restoration program is not likely to require fish passage within the initial certification term, I continue to recommend certification of this facility. We might add a reminder in the certification decision that AEC be required to update us on the status of the restoration effort as it pertains to the Raystown Project.