Pine Creek Mine Hydroelectric Project
2 Documents in Project
Summary
SCH Number
2020069038
Lead Agency
State Water Resources Control Board
Document Title
Pine Creek Mine Hydroelectric Project
Document Type
NOD - Notice of Determination
Received
Posted
8/27/2020
Document Description
The proposed Project is located in northwestern Inyo County, northwest of the City of Bishop. The Project site is upstream of the confluence of Morgan Creek and Pine Creek and accessed via Pine Creek Road. The Pine Creek Mine facilities and operations are presently inactive. The Project would include installation of a hydroelectric turbine within the Easy-Go Adit, about 2,480 linear feet underground. The water source for the Project is water draining from the underground mine workings. When the Easy-Go Adit was opened in the 1960's, miners encountered a significant amount of water. The water percolates through fissures, fractures, and boreholes formed during the mining activities. The quantity of water draining into the adit varies seasonally, ranging from about 7-14 cubic feet per second (cfs) seasonally as an indirect function of snowmelt. Average inflow is estimated to be about 10 cfs. The Project would utilize an existing concrete plug in the mine to store up to 200 acre-feet of water, creating a gross head of up to 1,320 feet for power generation. The Project would include construction an 18-inch-diameter, 120-foot-long steel penstock to connect the existing piping and plug features to the proposed 1,500-kilowatt Pelton turbine generator. Water exiting the turbine would discharge into a V-shaped granite channel within the adit and flow down-gradient to the intake for the existing exempt hydroelectric facility (FERC Project No. 13163) and mine water discharge system, located below the adit. The water would then be routed through that existing facility's existing penstock and turbine and discharged into the existing pond (Pond 6), from which it would flow over that pond's concrete spillway and into Morgan Creek, shortly above its confluence with Pine Creek.
Contact Information
Name
Philip Meyer
Agency Name
State Water Resources Control Board
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Name
Agency Name
Pine Creek Mine, LLC
Contact Types
Project Applicant
Location
Counties
Inyo
Other Location Info
Inyo County above the confluence of Morgan Creek and Pine Creek
Notice of Determination
Approving Agency
State Water Resources Control Board
Approving Agency Role
Lead Agency
Approved On
Determinations
(1) The project will have a significant impact on the environment
No
(2a) An Environmental Impact Report was prepared for this project pursuant to the provisions of CEQA
No
(2b) A Mitigated or a Negative Declaration was prepared for this project pursuant to the provisions of CEQA
Yes
(2c) An other document type was prepared for this project pursuant to the provisions of CEQA
No
(3) Mitigated measures were made a condition of the approval of the project
No
(4) A mitigation reporting or monitoring plan was adopted for this project
No
(5) A Statement of Overriding Considerations was adopted for this project
No
(6) Findings were made pursuant to the provisions of CEQA
No
Attachments
Environmental Document
Notice of Determination
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