KR3 Damages The River Environment
Just one of the many objective parameters showing the damage KR3 commits to the river environment
ISSUE: All the data shows that KR3’s diversion of water out of the river at Fairview Dam harms the North Fork Kern river ecology, from fish and frogs to bugs and bushes.
OUR TAKE: The minimum instream flow — “MIF” or “fish flow” — below Fairview Dam should be much higher to ensure the health of the river environment in the 16 mile dewatered reach below Fairview Dam.
DETAILS:
The current fish flow regime is 100 cfs or less 83% of the time
The current fish flow regime drops to a mere 40 cfs for four months of the year, every year
The current fish flow regime kills the fish below Fairview Dam (see chart above)
The current fish flow regime is so low as to threaten human health and river aesthetics
The current fish flow regime repeatedly fails to meet state water quality standards for temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and other parameters critical to river health:
(ABOVE=Above Fairview Dam, BELOW=Below Fairview Dam, TEMP=Temperature (C), D.O.=Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L), COND=Conductivity (µS/cm), FLOW=Average Daily Flow (cfs))
Our Proposal: Our river and the people who love it deserve the best contemporary science has to offer on the issue of minimum flows. The scientists at UC Davis have established the California Environmental Flows Framework (“CEFF”) to get past the numerous and often confounding individual measurements of river health and instead holistically evaluate what minimum flows are required for a healthy river. We, along with the Kern River Fly Fishers’ Council, have proposed a study to conduct a functional flows framework analysis for our river under the standards of the CEFF.
Edison’s Response: Edison states that data informing a minimum flow analysis exists. But that data is piecemeal, mostly seasonal, and incomplete given the several dozens of parameters that measure river health.
How to Help: Tell FERC (click the link for instructions):
What hydroproject is at issue (P-2290);
Who you are;
How much you love the North Fork Kern;
That you are concerned for the health of this river due to inadequate minimum flows from the KR3 hydroproject; and
You want them to conduct the Kern River Boaters’ Environmental Flows Study Proposal pursuant to the CEFF.
The Extra Mile: Tell other managing agencies the same thing (click the links for instructions):
Go Deeper: Read KRB’s Environmental Flows Study Proposal. Read KRB’s Environmental Flows Whitepaper. Visit the UC Davis CEFF website. View KRB’s slideshow on the river environment. Read KRB’s full set of comments to Edison’s PAD.