Key Concerns

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Water Levels + Quality​

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• The Bear River upstream of the existing reservoir will be affected by water level fluctuations which would reverse river flow and current - disturbing all upriver wildlife, fish, and shoreline populations. According to the PacifiCorp Initial Consultation Document (ICD) revised October 2023 the mean monthly river flow is 500-1000cfs. The facility will pump 2127 ac-ft of water out of the Reservoir at 2550cfs over 10 hours. This will result in a 5-6 ft drop of the water level over the same 10 hours. During this time the Bear River entering the Reservoir will actually reverse and will flow upstream. Over the next 13 or so hours the project will suck the same amount of water out of the Reservoir. This will cause the Bear River just above the Reservoir to either be very shallow or very narrow with fast current resulting in erosion, sediment deposition and increased turbidity.

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• The existing Oneida Narrows reservoir will experience a rise and drop of 5-6 ft every 10 hours - creating a silt heavy disruption of water quality, water temperature, and shoreline health and accessibility. Fishing, hunting, boating, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming and more will be drastically impeded in most areas due to an unpredictable and volatile shoreline stability. Fluctuating water levels are a danger to recreational use. During the morning License Amendment Joint Meeting on October 25 the Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Project Schoharie Creek in New York was referenced as similar to the Oneida Reservoir. In fact, it was constructed in 1973 as a PSH. It appears to have little recreational use. It has signs warning all boats to stay 600 feet from the power house and lower dam and is only 1300 feet to the bank across from the powerhouse. Wading and bathing is prohibited. Life jackets are required.

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• Water temps for salmonids are already exceeded in the summer. When the water in the Reservoir is lowered and ground is exposed the sunlight will heat it and the heat will be transferred to the water when the level rises. The same is true of the upper reservoir. Also, the pumps/turbines have to generate a lot of heat that will then be transferred to the water.

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• The Bear River downstream of the existing reservoir will be equally affected by water quality, water temperature, construction impacts and more. Importantly, increased water volume storage will reduce water volumes that arrive at the Great Salt Lake.

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• Water quality has to be affected by the rapidly changing currents and churning. The ICD said “turbidity tends to be higher closer to the inflows of the Bear River and lower near the dam”. The currents caused by the tremendous volume of water quickly leaving or entering the reservoir has to stir up sediment and increase turbidity. PSH projects have also been shown to increase water deoxygenation. Water quality has not been addressed relative to temperature and deoxgenation. Turbidity changes are still unknown.

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• Pacificorp should conduct a diligent groundwater and thermal spring analysis of this region in order to fully understand the effects of this project on the groundwater system. 

  • Groundwater takes centuries to accumulate and can be rapidly depleted if not understood properly. Pacificorp must ensure this project will not impact groundwater sources, which are vital to agriculture, industry, and small businesses in the region. 

  • Similarly, groundwater systems are connected across large spatial scales, and the impact of this project to groundwater supplies could have ramifications on distant communities and ecologies, including Great Salt Lake. 

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• The project will drastically increase the turbidity of the water in the Oneida Narrows, which feeds the Bear River downstream. Increased sediment can negatively impact agriculture and irrigation processes in a number of ways:

  • Turbid water can deposit significant amounts of sediment into irrigation pipes and canals, which can impact their efficiency, decrease the amount of water flowing through the systems, and create an unnecessary burden on farmers to maintain systems impacted by sediment deposits

  • Sediment can also affect the land's productivity by decreasing soil fertility and choking out crops that get irrigated with water containing high sediment levels. 

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Extensive Construction 

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• Upper proposed reservoir area will affected by construction and drastically reduce recreational access to already limited public sections of the Bear River.

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• How will the narrow roads that access the Oneida Reservoir be impacted during and after construction? Will traffic be routed through the north entrance and who will manage and maintain that road, monitor traffic, and remediate losses to private and commercial land owners?

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• It was said the construction will last 3-4 years. The effects of construction are basically not addressed. A triangular dam 315ft high, 15ft thick at the top, 200ft thick at the bottom, and 2119ft long will require about a million yards of concrete. That is 125,00 concrete trucks. The concrete will likely be made onsite to decrease transportation, but the material still has to be transported to the site. The Narrows road is 7.2 miles long and takes about 20 minutes. There are 2 bridges to cross. The road and bridges were not constructed for that heavy use and will likely degrade the road and bridges. The volume of construction trucks will ruin recreational enjoyment of the river.

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• The grade to the upper reservoir from the lower is about 31% (1200ft over 0.74mi.). A major 2-way road large enough for heavy heavy equipment will be required. Multiple switchbacks would be required. The road will permanently scar the mountain. The road may not even be possible so the concrete may need to be helicoptered to the site. Either way the noise in the Reservoir will make it practically unusuable for 3-4 years.

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Outdoor Recreation & Tourism

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• The early environmental test that lowered the reservoir in Sept 2023 negatively impacted the commercial facility Maple Grove Hot Springs by causing a vacuum that eroded the integrity of the hot springs source pond, draining it completely. To date, no remediation nor compensation has taken place from Pacificorp. Pacificorp must conduct an extensive geological study to understand the impact of rising and lowering water levels on existing hot spring geological formations such as those at Maple Grove Hot Springs.  

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• Shoreline access is not possible when water levels drop 3-4 FT. Will recreational access for individual and watercraft be constructed at existing locations that currently depend on open water access such as Maple Grove Hot Springs, Maple Grove Campground, and all private and public parcels along the current reservoir?

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Impacts to a shrinking Great Salt Lake

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• The Bear River is already over allocated. This project admits to increased water usage but the extent is unknown. Now, more than ever before, a drying Great Salt Lake requires maximum flow to arrive without over allocation due to an additional dam. 

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• We are all a part of one watershed and impacts upstream will undoubtedly have ramifications downstream, all the way to Great Salt Lake. The Great Salt Lake remains on the brink of ecological collapse and it cannot afford to lose any more water through increased consumption or reallocation of water rights. We believe this pump storage facility could impact the lake in several ways:

  • The loss of water via evaporation and transpiration processes will decrease the volume of water traveling down the Bear River to GSL. The Initial consultation Document does not explicitly state how water stored for this project will be used.

  • Will Pacificorp need to request and be granted the ~10,000acre/feet of water stored in the reservoir built for this project?

  • If this water is acquired via water rights, will these shares be leased for consumptive uses downstream because they are not being consumed by the pump storage facility?

  • If this water is acquired via water right purchased from the state, where is the excess water coming from? The Bear River is an over-allocated system, and the “wet” water does not exist to create opportunities for increased consumption. 

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Wildlife

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• Trout spawn in shallow moving water during the cold months. These months are when the Bear River flows are least and any Reservoir water level fluctuations most pronounced. If the water is fluctuating 5-6 feet per day, it is not possible to spawn in shallow water. When the water is high the shallows are much farther upstream. If the fish tried to spawn there it would be dry when the water drops 5-6 feet. If they attempt to spawn in shallow water when the level is down they will be in deeper water with little current.

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• History may have been blind to the social and environmental losses of each new dam. Today, we know better. Entire species, ecosystems, and natural migratory paths of the wildlife upon which we depend will forever be disrupted. Wildlife directly impacted include migratory trumpeter swan, river otter, beaver, turkey, deer, bonneville cutthroat trout, plus endangered species such as the Idaho Rock Squirrel and many more. 

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Settlement Agreement

 

• A Settlement Agreement was entered into November 30, 2003 to protect the river in the Narrows and especially the Bonneville Cutthroat Trout. PacifiCorp, maybe rightly so, seems to pride itself in the ecological preservation of this area. Now, the desire to violate the Settlement Agreement and destroy what has been accomplished over the past 20 years appears to dismantle this effort. 

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• PacifiCorp represented that the detrimental effects to the Narrows would be mitigated elsewhere. Does that mean the Narrows will be ruined but we will actively preserve or even enhance a river area in Oregon or maybe Brazil? That is not really relevant to the 65,000 annual visitors to the Bear River affected area. PacifiCorp entered into the Settlement Agreement and now wants to violate the terms to which it agreed.

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Stay tuned for much more!

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