Shoreline Management Plan Background

Most of you know that on June 21, 2005, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC, issued an order approving the Settlement Agreement and issued a 50 year joint license to Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to operate the Pelton Roundbutte Hydroelectric Project.

The settlement agreement is a lengthy document with many requirements for the licensees to plan for and manage various things within the project area. Some of those requirements are for the licensees to develop several management plans. Such plans include the Erosion Managment Plan, the Recreational Resources Management Plan, the Terrestrial Resources Management Plan, the Cultural Resources Management Plan, the Shoreline Management Plan, and many more management plans. Most of these plans have been submitted to and approved by FERC.

On July 19, 2006, a notice was published in the Madras Pioneer regarding the submission to FERC of the Shoreline Management Plan by the co-licensees. The comment period was to close on July 31. Several letters of comment and protest were sent to FERC and with the comment period closing on July 31, there wasn't much time to address issues. FERC then extended the comment period until August 31.

The board of directors of the association felt it was important to seek legal advice regarding the SMP. We consulted with an attorney who advised us that we should have council file a motion to intervene in order to protect our legal standing. The attorney filed the motion to intervene on August 31, on behalf of Three Rivers.

At the same time other private property owners had attorneys file motions to intervene as well. There were at least 15 other motions to intervene and over 100 protest letters.

Faced with the overwhelming negative response, PGE and CTWS withdrew the submitted SMP on October 2, 2006. On October 12, FERC granted an extension of time for the licensees to submit a Shoreline Management Plan until July 15, 2007.

In January and February of this year the co-licensee's held three public meetings to identify the issues and allow public comment. They hired a meeting facilitator to conduct the meetings and summarize the issues. From those meetings the facilitators developed a list of 4 major areas of concern. Each topic has many sub-issues. The main topics are

#1. The Shoreline Management Working Group Process, #2. The Scope of the Shoreline Management Plan, #3. Treatment of Existing Structures, #4. Permitting and Enforcement Process.

The original Shoreline Management Plan Working Group consisted of eight persons representing all the large agencies such as BIA, BLM, USFS, ODF&W, OPRD, Jefferson County, and Warm Springs. This group did not have representatives for any private property owners of the shoreline at Lake Billy Chinook.

The joint licensees have agreed to include 4 or so additional representatives in the working group to represent private and commercial property owners and will ask the Oregon State Marine Board to send a representative to the working group as well.

The Three Rivers Landowners Association's board of directors has selected Don Colfels to be the representative to the working group representing the land owners association.

Don has attended almost all of the meetings and knows the subject very well.

The licensees have scheduled five meetings for the working group in March and April and hope to have a new document that everyone can agree on by mid-May. If anyone has a specific issue they feel must be addressed by the working group they should email the information to Don.