City concerned with effect of hydro plant on lake

By: JOSE CARVAJAL - Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 26, 2006 10:48 PM PDT ∞

LAKE ELSINORE ---- A hydroelectric power plant planned for the hills southwest of the city could have detrimental effects on the lake and the local economy, as well as the environment and recreation in the area, city officials said Wednesday,

Responding to a recently published federal report examining the potential environmental effects of the project, Mayor Bob Magee said the city has a series of concerns as to what the plant would do to the quality of the water in the lake and how it would affect water levels.

The city also has questions about the potential visual effect of a 30-mile transmission line associated with the power plant, he said, and what the project as a whole would mean to wildlife in the area.

The federal report, which was published in February by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, doesn't provide enough answers to the city's questions, Magee said.

"I was frankly disappointed in the lack of detail with respect to water quality and environmental issues, specifically the impact on fish and bird life," he said.

The federal commission is considering an application by the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and its partner on the project, The Nevada Hydro Co., of Vista, for a license to build the plant and transmission line.

As part of its process, the commission spent months studying various aspects of the proposal and compiled a 600-page report detailing the environmental effects of the project. After publishing the report in February, the commission gave interested parties an opportunity to respond and set a deadline for this past Tuesday.

The city, along with the county, the local school district, private citizens and environmental groups all took the opportunity to weigh in.

In their response, county officials called the report insufficient and asked for more studies to be conducted. In theirs, Lake Elsinore Unified School District officials express concerns that the plant's powerhouse could have serious negative effects on one of its elementary schools.

On Tuesday, the city filed its response with the commission. In an 11-page letter, city attorney Barbara Leibold detailed a laundry list of the city's concerns.

Construction of the project would require a three-year reduction of the lake's water level below 1,240 feet above sea level, thus rendering the city-owned Seaport Boat Launch unusable, Leibold says in the letter. Dropping the water level below that mark ---- 10 feet below its current level ---- should be prevented or a plan offsetting the negative effects on recreation it would cause should be drawn up.

Elsinore Valley board President Phil Williams responded to that Wednesday and said that nowhere in the federal report does it say the lake level would be dropped below 1,240 feet.

"I don't know where that came from," he said. "That's news to me."

Though the report suggests the water could be drawn to as low as the 1,236-foot level, Williams said he hasn't seen any plans for the project that call for that.

"We're not planning on drawing the lake down," he said.

Williams agreed with many of the city's arguments, however.

For instance, he agreed that the water district and Nevada Hydro should conduct an annual information campaign to inform people as to the particulars of the project, which is a massive undertaking.

He also said he agrees with the city's concerns about a proposal by federal administrators that the transmission line would be built part way up the hill rather than near the top. Williams said the mid-slope alignment still poses a threat to hang gliders that the federal agency was trying to avoid.

"I agree totally," he said. "That's a problem from even the district's standpoint. We've always told the hang gliders we'd do everything we could to protect them. That doesn't do that."

As to the city calling for more studies to look at everything from the effect the plant would have on wildlife to what it would do to the local economy, Williams agreed that those questions need to be answered.

"It's a 600-page report that has raised a lot of questions," he said. "I think it's important for them to see exactly what the effects are going to be to them."

Contact staff writer Jose Carvajal at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or jcarvajal@californian.com.

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