98-19454. Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Notice of Technical Workshop on Action Alternatives, Water Rights, and Water Balance Modeling

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 140 (Wednesday, July 22, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39284-39285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19454]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 77-110]


Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Notice of Technical Workshop on 
Action Alternatives, Water Rights, and Water Balance Modeling

July 16, 1998.
    On May 5, 1998, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) issued notice of a site visit and scoping meetings 
pursuant to the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 
in support of the Commission's decision on a proposed amendment to the 
license for the Potter Valley Project (PVP; FERC No. 77-110). The 
proposed amendment involves changes in the minimum flow requirements at 
the project, consisting of increased releases to the Eel River, which 
would result in overall decreased diversions to the Russian River. The 
PVP is licensed to Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and is 
located in Lake and Mendocino counties. California.
    The purpose of this notice is to advise all parties of a technical 
workshop that will be held to obtain additional information on the 
proposed amendment, its relationship to existing water rights, and 
available modeling approaches to evaluate water balances between the 
two river basins. This technical workshop will be held at the Ukiah 
Valley Conference Center, 200 S. School Street, Ukiah, California, on 
August 11, 1998, from 9 am to 5 pm. All interested parties are invited 
to attend.
    Three subjects will be covered at the workshop: (1) PG&E's recently 
completed Implementation Plan associated with the proposed license 
amendment; (2) existing water rights in the Eel and Russian rivers; and 
(3) comparison of three alternative water balance models that have been 
identified in filings for this proceeding. The first half of the 
workshop will consist of presentations by staff from PG&E, speaking on 
their Implementation Plan, and by staff from the California State Water 
Resources Control Board, speaking on water rights issues. The second 
half of the workshop will consist of presentations by the three parties 
offering different water balance models: PG&E, the Round Valley Tribes, 
and the Sonoma County Water Agency, followed by discussion of the 
models. The goals of these discussions are to understand the relative 
differences among the models and to attempt to achieve consensus on the 
best available

[[Page 39285]]

water balance model for application to the PVP EIS.

    For additional information on this workshop. please contact the 
FERC Project Manager, Dr. John M. Mudre at [phone].
David P. Boergers,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-19454 Filed 7-21-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M