Duke Power, in agreement with state resource agencies, has created a new minimum flow in Queens Creek as part of efforts to renew the federal operating license for Queens Creek Hydroelectric Project in Macon County.

The new flow is one-and-a-half miles upstream from the confluence with the Nantahala River near Topton.

Duke Power has also begun projects at Queens reservoir to enhance public recreation. Duke spokesman Fred Alexander said the projects that should be completed by this summer include a handicapped-accessible fishing pier, picnic tables and a tote ‘n’ float public launch area.

The increased flow in Queens Creek and the enhanced facilities are stipulations of a relicensing agreement currently being reviewed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Duke applied for relicensing of Queens Creek in September 1999. As of October of this year, Queens Creek is operating on an annual license pending an official ruling by FERC. Alexander said he feels the delay is due to a backlog of relicensing applications created by a court case 25 to 30 years ago that changed FERC regulations. Previous to the case, hydroelectric projects on tributaries of navigable rivers (like the one on Queens Creek) were not subject to the relicensing process.

While North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission have entered into a settled agreement with Duke, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service and Forest Service declined to sign the agreement.

Mark Cantrell, USFWS technical advisor on FERC projects in WNC, said annual contracts were all too common across the Southeast. “About 75 percent of the projects currently licensed across the region are under annual licenses. And some have been operating under annual licenses for 20 years.”

Ron McKittrick of FERC’s Atlanta office said he would not comment on the status of the settlement agreement or the differences between Duke and the federal agencies because an official FERC ruling was imminent.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News