Hydropower relicensing may be a bureaucratic boondoggle of colossal proportions, but one local group has launched itself into this regulatory wasteland and committed itself to going the distance.

The Tuckasegee River Cooperative Stakeholder Team met earlier this month at the Duke Power/Nantahala Area offices in Franklin. The group has been in place for about a year. It is a project of the National Resources Leadership Initiative (NRLI), a joint venture of North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. The team is facilitated by Steve Reed, planner for the N.C. Division of Water Quality; Don Rayno, planner for the N.C. Division of Water Resources; and Michelle Suverkrubbe, the planner for the town of Cary.

The mission of the Tuckasegee team is to identify issues and interests related to the East Fork, West Fork, and Dillsboro hydroelectric projects which include seven reservoirs and six powerhouses located in the Tuckasegee River basin of Western North Carolina. The team plans to create a set of consensus recommendations for the relicensing of these projects.

The Tuckasegee team plans to have this accomplished by Feb. 1, 2003. Duke plans to have its relicensing application for Dillsboro submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by mid 2003 and applications for East Fork and West Fork by mid 2004.

The Tuckasegee Stakeholders Team represents a diverse group of individuals and entities with converging and conflicting interests regarding the outcome of the relicensing. Members of the team include representatives from local government, the U.S. Forest Service, Trout Unlimited, N.C. Wildlife Resources, the Western North Carolina Alliance, private boaters, Friends of Lake Glenville, Duke Power, various business interests and concerned individuals. While not proposed as a formal part of the FERC relicensing program, the Tuckasegee Stakeholders Team is supported by Duke Power/Nanatahala Area. In a previous stakeholders meeting, Ron McKittrick of FERC told team members that issues they could build consensus on would help expedite relicensing and would likely be a part of the final licensing agreement.

After a painstaking year of defining and organizing issues to be addressed, data is beginning to come in. Jennifer Huff of Duke Power and archaeologist Deborah Joy of Legacy Research Associates presented a report on phase I of Duke’s archaeological survey. The study found no significant archaeological sites along East Fork, including the shorelines of Bear Creek and Wolf Creek reservoirs. Phase I of the West Fork is scheduled for December of this year.

Jason Walls, a team member and economic development director for Swain County, told the group that he and others were working on a study of the economic impact of tourism generated by the Tuckasegee and Nantahala rivers in Swain and Jackson counties. Walls said it is important that FERC understands the economic impact these rivers have on the region. The report will be presented at the next stakeholders meeting.

A recreational instream flow study along the Tuckasegee will be conducted on July 2 and 3. The project, coordinated by Bunny Johns, will compare recreational experiences provided by different flow levels. Paddlers in rafts, duckys, kayaks, and canoes will experience two releases each day and evaluate each one. Johns is still seeking volunteers, especially canoeists, to participate in the study. Participants must commit to both days. To volunteer contact Johns at 828.488.8539.

While the first year was tedious, team members hope a template has been put in place which will allow them to analyze data that will be pouring in. Duke has over 30 studies designed to guide the relicensing project. Final reports from all these studies are expected between December 2001 and November 2002.

Although facilitators Reed, Rayno, and Suverkrubbe have finished their one-year practicum, NRLI directors are committed to supporting and facilitating the Tuckasegee Stakeholders Team through the February 2003 date spelled out in their charter. As for team members, responses on NRLI’s facilitator/meeting evaluation leave no doubt that most are committed to being a part of the relicensing process.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News