[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 18, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48504-48505]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22533]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2299-082]


Notice of Amended Application Tendered for Filing With the 
Commission and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Licensing and 
Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments; Turlock Irrigation 
District and Modesto Irrigation District, California

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 2299-082.
    c. Date Filed: October 11, 2017.
    d. Applicant: Turlock Irrigation District and Modesto Irrigation 
District, California.
    e. Name of Project: Don Pedro Hydropower Project.
    f. Location: The Don Pedro Project is located on the Tuolumne River 
in Tuolumne County, California. Portions of the project occupy public 
lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 79 (a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contacts: Steve Boyd, Turlock Irrigation District, 333 
East Canal Drive, Turlock, California 95381-0949, (209) 883-8300; and 
Anna Brathwaite, Modesto Irrigation District, P.O. Box 4060, Modesto, 
CA 95352, (209) 526-7384.
    i. FERC Contact: Jim Hastreiter at (503) 552-2760 or 
[email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. The Project Description:

Don Pedro Dam and Reservoir

    The primary project feature is Don Pedro Dam, a 1,900-foot-long and 
580-foot-high zoned earth and rockfill structure. The top of the dam is 
at elevation 855 feet mean sea level (msl).
    Don Pedro Reservoir extends upstream for approximately 24 miles at 
the normal maximum water surface elevation of 830 feet (msl). The 
surface area of the reservoir at the 830-foot elevation is 
approximately 12,960 acres and the gross storage capacity is 2,030,000 
acre-feet.

Don Pedro Spillway

    Don Pedro Spillway is divided into two sections, one gated and one 
ungated, located immediately adjacent to one another in a saddle area 
west of the main dam. The gated spillway section is 135-feet-long, with 
a permanent crest elevation of 800 feet, and includes three radial 
gates each 45 feet wide by 30 feet high. The ungated spillway is an 
ogee section 995 feet long with a crest elevation of 830 feet msl and a 
top of abutment elevation of 855 feet msl. The spillway capacity at a 
reservoir water level of 850 feet msl is 472,500 cubic feet per second 
(cfs). Flow releases over the ungated ogee-crest section of the 
spillway have occurred only once since project construction, in early 
January 1997. Flows at the spillway are released to Gasburg Creek, 
which in turn flows into Twin Gulch, and then back into the Tuolumne 
River approximately 1.5 miles downstream of the main dam.

Outlet Works

    The project facilities include a set of outlet works located at the 
left (east) abutment of the main dam. The outlet works consist of three 
individual gate housings, each containing two 4-feet-by-5-feet slide 
gates. The outlet works are situated in a 3,500-foot-long concrete 
lined tunnel that originally served as the water diversion tunnel 
during project construction. The inlet to the tunnel has an invert 
elevation of 342 feet msl and the outlet, which is located 
approximately 400 feet downstream of the powerhouse, has an invert of 
310 feet. At a reservoir water surface elevation of 830 feet msl, the 
total hydraulic capacity of the outlet works is 7,500 cfs.

Power Intake and Tunnel

    Flows are delivered from the reservoir to the powerhouse via a 
2,960-foot-long power tunnel located in the left (east) abutment of the 
main dam. The tunnel transitions from an 18-foot 6-inch concrete-lined 
section to a 16-foot steel-lined section. Emergency closure can be 
provided by a 21-foot-high by 12-foot-wide fixed-wheel gate that is 
operated from a chamber at the top of the gate shaft. Flows from the 
power tunnel are delivered to the four-unit powerhouse and a hollow-jet 
control valve in the powerhouse.

Powerhouse

    Located immediately downstream of the main dam, the Don Pedro 
powerhouse contains four turbine-generator units and a 72-inch hollow 
jet valve. The reinforced-concrete powerhouse is 171 feet long, 110 
feet high and 148 feet wide. It houses four Francis turbine generator 
units with a nameplate capacity of 168 megawatts (MW) and a maximum 
output at optimum conditions of approximately 203 MW. Combined 
hydraulic capacity of the four units under maximum head is 
approximately 5,500 cfs.
    The powerhouse also contains a 72-inch hollow jet valve located in 
the east end of the powerhouse with a centerline elevation at discharge 
of 299 feet msl. The hydraulic capacity of the hollow jet valve is 
3,000 cfs. While turbine Units 1 through 3 discharge directly to the 
river channel, Unit 4 discharges to the outlet works tunnel 
approximately 250 feet upstream of the tunnel outlet. Water to Unit 4 
is delivered through a bifurcation from the hollow jet valve pipe. With 
Unit 4 in operation, the hollow-jet valve capacity is reduced from 
3,000 cfs to 800 cfs. The powerhouse tailwater during turbine operation 
varies from a low elevation of about 298 feet msl to a high elevation 
of about 303 feet msl under normal operating conditions. The tailwater 
elevation at the outlet works tunnel is approximately 300 feet msl.

Switchyard

    The project switchyard is located atop the powerhouse at elevation 
340 feet msl. The switchyard provides power delivery and electrical 
protection to the Districts' transmission systems. The switchyard 
includes isolated phase buses, circuit breakers, and four transformers 
that raise the 13.8 kilovolt (kV) generator voltage to 69 kV 
transmission voltage.

[[Page 48505]]

Gasburg Creek Dike

    Don Pedro dam spillway discharges into Gasburg Creek. Gasburg Creek 
dike is located near the downstream end of the spillway, and directs 
flows from Gasburg Creek into Twin Gulch where spillway discharges join 
the Tuolumne River approximately 1.5 miles downstream of the Don Pedro 
powerhouse. Gasburg Creek dike consists of an impervious earth and 
rockfill dam approximately 75 feet in height, with a slide-gate 
controlled 18-inch-diameter conduit. The top of Gasburg Creek dike is 
at elevation 725 feet msl.

Dikes A, B, and C

    The project includes three small embankments--Dikes A, B, and C--
constructed in low saddles on the reservoir rim with top elevations of 
855 feet msl. Dike A is located between the main dam and spillway. 
Dikes B and C are located east of the main dam.

Recreation Facilities

    The project has three developed recreation areas, Fleming Meadows, 
Blue Oaks, and Moccasin Point. Primitive and semi-primitive lakeshore 
camping occurs on much of the rest of its shores. The project provides 
both floating and shoreline restrooms in addition to those at the 
developed recreation areas. Facilities also include hazard marking, 
regulatory buoy lines, and other open water-based features including 
houseboat marinas and a marked water-ski slalom course.
    l. Locations of the Application: A copy of the application is 
available for review at the Commission in the Public Reference Room or 
may be viewed on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov using 
the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three 
digits in the docket number field to access the document. For 
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). A copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at 
the address in item (h) above.
    m. You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    n. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the 
schedule may be made as appropriate.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Milestone                           Target date
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Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for     October 2017.
 Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary       December 2017.
 terms and conditions, and fishway
 prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft Environmental        July 2018.
 Impact Statement (EIS).
Comments on Draft EIS......................  September 2018.
Modified Terms and Conditions..............  November 2018.
Commission Issues Final EIS................  February 2019.
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    o. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the Notice 
of Ready for Environmental Analysis.

    Dated: October 12, 2017.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-22533 Filed 10-17-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P