PG&E Proposal Impacts 500 Miles of CA Rivers
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) operates 22 hydropower projects on 500 river miles across California that American Whitewater has spent nearly 30 years of work to protect and restore. This includes whitewater reaches on the North Fork Feather, the Pit, the McCloud, Butte Creek, Fordyce, the South Yuba, the Bear, the Eel, the Mokelumne, the San Joaquin and the North Fork Kings. Now, in an application before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), PG&E is proposing to transfer all non-nuclear assets including these 22 hydropower projects to a new and separate subsidiary, Pacific Generation LLC (PacGen).
Analysis of the new Clean Water Act Section 401 Rule
On September 5, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an Order that reaffirms the California State Water Board’s authority to enforce a “water quality certification” for new hydropower licenses granted to projects such as the Upper...
Presidential Memorandum directs federal agencies to restore healthy and abundant salmon populations across the Columbia River Basin
Today, the Biden Administration released a Presidential Memorandum directing federal agencies to use all of their authority to restore healthy and abundant wild salmon, steelhead and other native fish populations across the Columbia River Basin and to review and...
The Possible Impacts of the EPA Redefining “Waters of the United States” on the Yuba Watershed
Enacted in 1972, the Clean Water Act established a nationwide approach to improving the quality of our nation’s lakes, rivers, streams, and other water bodies. One of its features is that it prohibits the discharge of pollutants from a point source into “navigable waters” unless otherwise authorized under the Act. “Navigable waters” are defined in the Act as “the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.”