[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 5, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24143-24144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-11219]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Notice of Technical Workshop on 
Water Balance Modeling

[Project No. 77-110]
April 29, 1999.
    In February, 1999, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in 
support of the Commission's decision on a proposed

[[Page 24144]]

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.
    Analysis of the impacts of the proposed alternative, as well as two 
additional action alternatives and the no-action alternatives relied 
heavily on a hydrological water balance model developed to provide a 
consistent analytical framework for predicting the impacts of the four 
alternatives. Comments received to date on the DEIS indicate 
disagreement among the parties on how the model should be parametrized 
to best represent the different alternatives.
    The purpose of this notice is to advise all parties of a technical 
workshop that will focus on improving the assessment modeling 
approaches for impact assessment and attempting to reach consensus on 
areas of disagreement. This technical workshop will be held at the 
Flamingo Hotel and Conference Center, 2777 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa, 
California, on June 2-3, 1999, from 9 am to 4 pm. A block of rooms is 
being held at a special rate for workshop attendees until May 24, 1999. 
For reservations, call (800) 848-8300. While the workshop will be 
focused on obtaining technical information from the parties whose 
alternatives are considered in the DEIS, all interested parties are 
welcome to attend.
    More specifically, the objectives of the workshop include: (1) 
reaching consensus on appropriate data inputs, outputs, and 
representation of alternatives for the water balance models and habitat 
evaluation models: (2) defining any new alternatives that may now be 
appropriate for consideration in this proceeding, including how these 
should be represented quantitatively in the water balance modeling; and 
(3) obtaining additional information applicable to the EIS assessment.
    As a result of previous technical meetings and the DEIS, the 
parties to this proceeding already have access to the models and data 
needed for water balance assessment. Commission staff requests that the 
parties that have flow proposals in this proceeding (i.e., PG&E, Sonoma 
County Water Agency, and the Round Valley Indian Tribes), and their 
representatives, prepare for this workshop so that they can participate 
with substantial information on data inputs and modeling approaches. 
Furthermore, any parties that have additional information relevant to 
this proceeding, such as water temperature monitoring reports or data, 
are advised that they should bring such information to this workshop 
and make it available to Commission staff, so that it can be 
incorporated into the assessment.
    The workshop will be conducted in an interactive format, whereby 
the water balance models can be run and re-run in an iterative manner 
to evaluate assessment results during the workshop. Our intent is to 
make the modeling results as accessible as possible so that future 
applications of the modeling are acceptable to as many parties as 
possible.
    For additional information on this workshop, please contact the 
FERC Project Manager, Dr. John M. Mudre at (202) 219-1208.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-11219 Filed 5-4-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M