West Coast Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Licensed Hydroelectric Projects: Willamette River Basin

Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project

Willamette River Basin; McKenzie River, Lane and Linn Counties, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

The Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project blocked upstream and downstream passage for ESA-listed fish. The three-dam (Trail Bridge, Smith and Carmen) power project decreased stream flows.

Licensee: Eugene Water & Electric Board

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

• Upper Willamette River Chinook

FERC Relicensing Status

The parties signed a settlement agreement in October 2008. FERC issued an environmental assessment in 2009, generally adopting the settlement agreement measures in the proposed action. NOAA Fisheries issued a biological opinion in May 2011. FERC has not yet issued a license because of questions about project activity (primarily gravel placement and habitat restoration) in a designated Wild and Scenic River.

Designation of critical habitat for spotted owl by US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2012 has prompted further delay in order to complete consultation on this species. Improvements expected in the new license include construction of upstream and downstream fish passage facilities at Trail Bridge Dam, implementing year-round minimum flow releases into the McKenzie and Smith Rivers, and habitat enhancements. On May 17, 2019, FERC issued a new project license. The new project license includes measures to improve habitat, and upstream and downstream passage.

Resources

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• FERC eLibrary: Docket #P-2242

City of Albany Hydroelectric Project

Willamette River Basin; South Santiam River, Linn County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

The City of Albany Hydroelectric Project affected stream flow and passage for ESA-listed fish. The licensee put in place a new system for gauging streamflow to help the city meet minimum flow requirements, made improvements to fish ladders, and added a fish screen to the diversion intake.

Licensee: City of Albany

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

• Upper Willamette River Chinook
• Upper Willamette River Steelhead

FERC Relicensing Status

FERC issued a license in 1998. NOAA Fisheries completed a biological opinion on the construction of new fish facilities in 2004. The licensee constructed new fish ladders and screens in 2005-06. The licensee, City of Albany agreed to a revised operational compliance monitoring plan in 2011.

Resources

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• FERC eLibrary: Docket #P-11509

Clackamas River Hydroelectric Project

Willamette River Basin; Clackamas River, Clackamas County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

Prior to relicensing in 2010, this project's works, including, the Oak Grove powerhouse, North Fork Dam and powerhouse, River Mill Dam and powerhouse and Faraday Dam and powerhouse affected stream flow, water quality, habitat, and passage for ESA-listed fish.

Licensee: Portland General Electric

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

• Upper Willamette River Chinook
• Lower Columbia River Chinook
• Lower Columbia River Steelhead
• Lower Columbia River Coho

FERC Relicensing Status

Portland General Electric (PGE), NOAA Fisheries, and many other Parties reached a settlement in 2006. The settlement agreement provided numerous protection, mitigation, and enhancement measures for fisheries and other resources. Fisheries measures include passage, increased flows, habitat enhancements, hatchery funding, monitoring, and funding for anadromous fish projects. The project license expired in 2006 and PGE operated under yearly licenses, until FERC issued a new license in 2010. NOAA Fisheries Biological Opinion was completed on September 3, 2010.

Thanks to Portland General Electric’s (PGE) cooperation with NOAA Fisheries and other state and federal agencies’ biologists and engineers, both upstream and downstream anadromous fish passage facilities have been constructed. The goal of PGE’s ongoing monitoring of juvenile fish facilities, the continued effort to meet the project passage standards, is to show that PGE safely passes juvenile fish at these facilities at a high survival rate. PGE has spent more than $90 million since 2006 to modernize and improve passage systems on the Clackamas that salmon and steelhead use to migrate past our dams.

Resources

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• FERC eLibrary: Docket #P-2195

Dorena Lake Hydroelectric Project

Willamette River Basin; Row River, Coast Fork Willamette River, Lane County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

The Dorena Lake Hydro Project is a 8.3 MW project that was retrofit onto the Dorena Dam near the city of Cottage Grove, in Lane County, Oregon. Dorena Dam was constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1949 for flood control, irrigation, navigation, fisheries, water quality, and recreation. The is was Dorena Lake Hydroelectric Project substantially completed in 2014, and was the first non-federal hydropower development within the Portland District in more than 20 years.

Licensee: Riverbank Power (formerly Symbiotics LLC)

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

• Upper Willamette River Chinook

FERC Relicensing Status

NOAA Fisheries issued a biological opinion in August 2008. FERC granted a 40-year hydropower license in late 2008. The applicant was directed to install a tailrace barrier to prevent fish injury or death from new hydropower generation, ensure that the river is not dewatered, and monitor streamflow and water quality downstream from the dam.

The existing dam is not equipped with fish passage facilities. While some Chinook salmon were present in the Row River historically, NOAA Fisheries concluded that this river did not support an independent population and did not list Chinook under the ESA. However, some individual juvenile and adult Chinook from listed populations (McKenzie and Middle Fork Willamette) use lower reaches of the Coast Fork Willamette. Additionally, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has released hatchery juvenile Chinook into Mosby Creek, a tributary that enters the Coast Fork just below Dorena Dam, and adult fish are likely to return to the base of the dam in future years.

Resources

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• FERC eLibrary: Docket #P-11945

Leaburg-Walterville Hydroelectric Project

Willamette River Basin; McKenzie River, Lane County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

The Leaburg-Walterville Hydroelectric Project was relicensed in 1997, and addressed negative effects of the project on upstream and downstream fish passage, stream flow and water quality for ESA-listed fish. The project comprises two facilities located at different points on the McKenzie River. Both plants are run-of-the-river facilities, using the natural flow and elevation drop of the river to generate electricity. The Leaburg facility has a capacity of 16.7 megawatts. The Walterville plant has a capacity of 8 megawatts.

Licensee: Eugene Water & Electric Board

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

• Upper Willamette River Chinook

FERC Relicensing Status

FERC issued a new 40-year license in 1997. After nearly 15 years of litigation, the parties reached a settlement agreement in 2001 and FERC issued an amended license that same year. NOAA Fisheries completed a biological opinion in 2001. The Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) constructed a new fish ladder and reconstructed an existing fish ladder at Leaburg Dam.

The licensee made significant modifications to the fish screen at Leaburg and built a new state of the art fish screen at Walterville Diversion. EWEB also constructed new tailrace barriers at both projects, implemented new flow requirements, completed fish migration and safety measures, and put in place a habitat improvement plan.

Resources

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• FERC eLibrary: Docket #P-2496

Thompson's Mill Hydroelectric Project

Willamette River Basin; Calapooia River, Linn County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

The Thompson's Mill project blocked passage and affected stream flow and water quality for ESA-listed fish.

Licensee: State of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD)

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

• Upper Willamette River Chinook
• Upper Willamette River Steelhead

FERC Relicensing Status

The State of Oregon removed Sodom and Shearer Dams in 2011. The state park now in place is using the associated mill as an interpretive center. OPRD is designing a closed system to allow water use for mill demonstration while using screened inflow which resolves the potential for fish entrainment. The State will continue to monitor river conditions following dam removal for 10 years.

Resources

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• FERC eLibrary: Docket #P-9169

Willamette Basin Flood Control Project

Willamette River Basin; Willamette River, Lane, Linn & Marion Counties, Oregon

Project Profile & Owner/Operator

The US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, operates 13 dams in the Willamette Basin Flood Control Project, also known as the Willamette Valley Project or Willamette Valley System.

Each dam contributes to a water resource management system that provides flood risk management, hydropower generation, water quality improvement, irrigation, fish and wildlife habitat and recreation for the Willamette River and many of its tributaries.

Owner/Operator: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Bonneville Power Administration & U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as action agencies

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

• Upper Willamette River Chinook Salmon
• Upper Willamette River Steelhead

Project Status

This is a federally owned and operated project.

The Willamette Basin Flood Control Project blocks access to historical habitat and degrades downstream habitat for ESA-listed fish. NOAA Fisheries' 2008 biological opinion covers a 15-year period and requires the three action agencies to carry out a variety of measures to reduce project effects on listed fish. Plans include upstream and downstream fish passage, improved minimum and maximum downstream flows, reduced ramping, habitat restoration, and extensive research and monitoring.

Willamette Falls Hydroelectric Project

Willamette River Basin; Willamette River, Clackamas County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

Prior to relicensing, the Willamette Falls Hydroelectric Project degraded downstream water quality and impeded passage of ESA-listed fish. Willamette Falls is the lowest project in the subbasin and therefore affects every fish that migrates in the system.

Licensee: Portland General Electric

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

• Upper Willamette River Chinook
• Upper Willamette River Steelhead
• Lower Columbia River Steelhead
• Lower Columbia River Coho
• Lower Columbia River Chinook

FERC Relicensing Status

NOAA Fisheries issued a biological opinion in June 2005. FERC issued a new 30-year license in 2005, which included fish protection measures proposed by Portland General Electric (PGE) in a settlement agreement, and supported by NOAA Fisheries in its biop. PGE completed construction of new facilities in 2007.

The improvements included installation of a flow control structure at the falls to safely pass fish downstream, a bypass system in the powerhouse forebay that keeps fish away from turbines, and structural modifications to the forebay to improve fish guidance bypass measures at the powerhouse and falls. Monitoring studies of the new juvenile fish bypass systems shows 98% juvenile fish passage survival.

Resources

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• FERC eLibrary: Docket #P-2233

More Information

• West Coast Non-Federal Dams & Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Licensing