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Lets hope its finally dead!!! ( aerialpursuitflyfishing.com)
Citing a host of environmental concerns raised by IRU and its allies, the federal government yesterday recommended denial of an application seeking to build a 109-foot-tall hydroelectric dam on the Bear River in southeast Idaho.
In its draft environmental study the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects (FERC) recommended denial of the Bear River Narrows Hydroelectric Project specifically because it would inflict a host of environmental damages.
“Since 2002 IRU and our allies have fought to protect a unique resource that’s prized for its recreational values,” said IRU Conservation Director Kevin Lewis. “To date millions of dollars have been spent restoring portions of the Bear River, and this dam would have destroyed one of the river’s last free-flowing stretches.”
Moreover, yesterday’s news follows a 2012 decision by the Idaho Department of Water Resources to deny a water right that would be needed to construct the new dam. Despite losing its request for a water right, which effectively blocked the dam proposal, the Twin Lakes Canal Co. applied in November 2013 to FERC for a necessary federal license to build the project anyway.
The draft FERC environmental impact statement recommends denial of the dam for the following reasons, all of which were raised by IRU and its allies:
• The dam would inundate a 4.5-mile reach of the Bear River that is suitable for Wild and Scenic river protections, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
• It would have destroyed critical habitat for the imperiled Boneville cutthroat trout.
• Up to 48 additional sensitive species would be significantly and negatively impacted.
• Conservation land designated by PacifiCorp in a critical 2002 settlement about Bear River operations would be lost.
• Fifty-five acres of land inventoried by the Bureau of Land Management as Research Natural Area or Areas of Critical Environmental Concern would be lost.
• The overall aesthetics of the Oneida Narrows area would be negatively impacted by a hyrdo project.
This week’s win for the Bear River is the result of work by numerous people and organizations including IRU, Rocky Mountain Power, Trout Unlimited, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Franklin County Fish and Game Association and many concerned local residents.
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I'm all for this, but it's interesting how this was spun...
Last free flowing section... What about the miles and miles of free flowing bear in upper UT and part of it in WY?
Inundated land, wild and scenic... That section of river, though very scenic is far from wild, unless you count the parties at the campground at the bend.
The Boneville cutty... Seriously? A new dam there would create a great tail water fishery that would likely be very hard to beat.
I would love to see the list of areas of Crtical Enviromwntal Concern... I believe this was asked for in the past but could never be produced.
Again, I a, glad this was shot down. I doubt it will be the last time it will be in court again, this has been going on since I was a kid, but I do hope they keep the narrows the way they are
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"The Boneville cutty... Seriously? A new dam there would create a great tail water fishery that would likely be very hard to beat."
Every thing below the mouth of the river is all private and no trespassing. there is a low bridge on the old road that you can not get a drift boat under so not much fishing would be done unless you used an inflatable. Twin lakes can say they will mitigate fishing below the dam-- paying off private land owners- well that another. Plus they intended on building a dam with a regulated release tower so it would just be from water released from the top just like rocky mountain powers dam 6 miles up the river.
www.aerialpursuitflyfsihing.com
I kinda know about it since I was the guy that did the fish population work on it. Here we are shocking fish to count.
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I'm still irritated with them for shutting down all watercraft access to their reservoirs, so I'm happy to see this got shot down. Who needs yet another reservoir that nobody can use?
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Yes everything below the mouth is private, but can't you access rivers from public areas and wade up stream below the high water mark in ID? Just like in UT? Oh wait, not like in UT
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you could do that but its pretty limited. Mink creek and a couple spots where the road is next to the river would provide access. A kayak or a pontoon boat are good way through there though. even a stand up paddle board works well
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I'm kind of with you on your thought of shooting down Twin Lakes canal company. Don't think they need more control over the water in that area. Besides that area is amazing for all the fun stuff you can do there, hate to see it screwed up. Later J
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They've done other things over the years that I've found questionable. It's a shame that their reservoirs tend to have the best bass fishing because I'm definitely not a fan of their tactics. I'm still debating on whether or not I want to spend money on an Idaho license next year. I guess I'll wait and see what the new year brings.
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Yup they don't make me want the out of state license very bad next year. Maybe you'll have to hit Hyrum, Mantua and Cutler or Newton a little more. Heard of some great fish out of Hyrum this year. Later J
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I've always been curious about Hyrum, I've seen pics of some very nice bass out of there. My only concern with it is being a float tube angler it seems access is limited and that the best bass areas are at the inlet end which would be quite the journey. I'm also worried that with no ski boats allowed on most Idaho waters that the Utah waters are going to be even more crowded. Hopefully we get a good snow pack this winter and that will help some of the lakes out.
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[quote gstott]I'm still irritated with them for shutting down all watercraft access to their reservoirs, so I'm happy to see this got shot down. Who needs yet another reservoir that nobody can use?[/quote]
I was of the understanding that the waters were only closed to certain types of boat, or those in excess of a certain horsepower. Have they further tightened those restrictions? I didn't find anything about such restrictions on google.
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The other canal company restricted the reservoirs to fishing boats with 10hp or smaller motors. It was announced in the Preston Citizen that as of September 7th, all Twin Lakes Canal Company reservoirs would be shut down to any kind of water craft. I'm beginning to wonder about the accuracy of the story though. Looking at the canal company's website, it mentions the closure, but it says because the inspection station is shut down for the season, no watercraft are allowed on the lakes. That to me implies that it's referring to Twin Lakes only as Condie and Winder never had an inspection station. Furthermore, I went to Winder to have a look the other day and found no signs posted anywhere about access restrictions. I think I'll call the canal company tomorrow and see if I can get to the bottom of it.
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Hopefully now that a dam is not going to flood the canyon they will finally pave or at least put dust preventer on the road.
I fish that river and reservoir a bunch but get so tired of the dust and mud. All that dust can't be good for the environment.
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We don't need no more stinking dams, milk comes from the store.
What we need is more nuclear power.
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Float tubes on Hyrum would be a little scary to get to where you may want to fish for bass, especially during the summer ski season, but I like your later posts that sound like maybe everything won't be closed off up north... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't all shutdown... Later J
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I'm cautiously optimistic. I'll still probably keep buying an Idaho license even if they are closed. Oneida is worth it all by itself. I've caught around 50 smallmouth in an afternoon the last couple of times I've gone up there. There's some good river trout fishing to be had too.
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Their talking about the inspection station at the Idaho/Utah boarder checking boats coming from Utah.
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Isnt this crazy. we havent built a major dam in this country since the 70s but the population has increased significantly since then. We have states like California that pulled their dams and now gets their water from other states like Utah from the colorado river. Why does Utah even allow this. We are forced to provide them water with our dams. Hydroelectric power is one of the cleanest and most environmental friendly sources of energy but everybody is worried about some flooded land and displaced trout. Wake up people. if we dont build more dams we wont be able to produce enough energy, store enough water for drinking water and producing food with our population increasing exponentially.
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They kept talking about the stations at Glendale and Twin shutting down when the money ran out, so I figured that's what they were talking about. That makes sense that it's the one at the state line. However, it was never required to have float tubes inspected, so I would hope that their use wouldn't be limited.
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