Upper American River Project (UARP) Relicensing, Including a New Pumped-storage Development
17 Documents in Project
Summary
SCH Number
2008052009
Lead Agency
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Document Title
Upper American River Project (UARP) Relicensing, Including a New Pumped-storage Development
Document Type
FIN - Final Document
Received
Present Land Use
Nearly all of the existing UARP is located within the Eldorado National Forest. The proposed Iowa Hill Pumped-storage Development would be constructed on lands that are currently undeveloped.
General Plan: Upper reservoir - National Resource and Rural Residential; electrical switchyard and tunnel portal - Natural Resource; transmission line - Natural Resource and Rural Residential.
Zoning: Upper reservoir - Timberland Preserve Zone (TPZ), Estate Residential (RE-10), and Residential Agricultural 40-acre minimum (RA-40); electrical switchyard and tunnel portal - RA-40; transmission line - TPZ, RE-10, and RA-40.
Document Description
The proposed project - a hydroelectric relicensing proceeding currently pending before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) - consists of eight developments; seven of which are existing developments (Loon Lake, Robbs Peak, Jones Fork, Union Valley, Jaybird, Camino, and Slab Creek/White Rock), and one of which would be a new development - Iowa Hill Pumped-storage Development.
The existing UARP developments, constructed by SMUD from 1959 through 1985 under the initial FERC license, consists of 11 reservoirs that can impound over 425,000 acre-feet of water, eight powerhouses that can generate up to 688 megawatts of power, 11 transmission lines that have a combined length of approximately 177 miles, approximately 28 miles of power tunnels/penstocks, one 1.9-mile-long canal, and approximately 700 developed campsites. The new Iowa Hill Pumped-storage Development consists of: (1) the Iowa Hill Reservoir, a new off-stream rock-filled earthen dike of varying height (depending on natural terrain) with a geotextile liner on the reservoir floor and inner walls; (2) the Iowa Hill Tunnel, a new underground water conduit extending from Iowa Hill Reservoir to Slab Creek Reservoir; (3) the Iowa Hill Powerhouse, a new underground powerhouse along the Iowa Hill Tunnel that would have the capacity to generate up to 400 megawatts of power; (4) a new switchyard; and (5) a new two-mile-long 230-kilovolt transmission tie-line that would connect the new switchyard to an existing UARP transmission line.
Contact Information
Name
David Hanson
Agency Name
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Coordinates
Cities
Placerville
Counties
El Dorado, Sacramento
Cross Streets
Rubicon R., Silver Ck, South Fork American River, lines running E to W from Loon Lake Powerhouse
Zip
95667, 709
Total Acres
9,150 & 283
Parcel #
Many
Waterways
Rubicon River, Silver Creek, and South Fork American River
Township
11N
Range
12E
Section
19,20,
Base
MDB&M
Other Location Info
City/Nearest Community: Camino
Other Information
Sections: 28-30
Notice of Completion
State Review Period Start
State Review Period End
State Reviewing Agencies
Cal Fire, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, North Central Region 2 (CDFW), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Energy Commission, California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Sacramento Region 5 (RWQCB), Department of Toxic Substances Control, Office of Historic Preservation, Resources Agency, Department of Water Resources, California Department of Transportation, District 3 (DOT)
State Reviewing Agency Comments
Department of Water Resources, California Department of Transportation, District 3 (DOT)
Development Types
Power:Hydroelectric (plus 400 MW pumped-storage)(Megawatts 688 MW)
Local Actions
SWRCB Water Quality Certification & SMUD Board Adoption
Project Issues
Aesthetics, Biological Resources, Geology/Soils, Growth Inducement, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Noise, Public Services, Transportation, Wildfire
Disclaimer: The document was originally posted before CEQAnet had the capability to host attachments for the public. To obtain the original attachments for this document, please contact the lead agency at the contact information listed above. You may also contact the OPR via email at state.clearinghouse@opr.ca.gov or via phone at (916) 445-0613.