OR

Iron Gate P-2082


General information

Waterway  Klamath River
Current status   Active license 
Type of facility Conventional Hydro
Type of permit FERC License

FERC information

FERC docket # P-2082
FERC project name Klamath
Other projects with this FERC number
Permit issued 1/23/54
Permit expiration 2/24/06

Ownership and operation

Owner PacifiCorp
Owner type Investor-Owned Utility
Year first online (conventional hydro) 1962
Transmission or distribution system owner PacifiCorp

Power and generating capacity

Number of units 1
Total capacity from hydraulic turbine-generator units within each plant 18.0 MW
Average annual net hydropower generation 103,588.4 MWH

Iron Gate Dam

Klamath Hydropower Project Facts

Year built: 1918 and later

Capacity: 160 megawatts

Generation provided: 1% of PacifiCorp demand

Miles of habitat blocked: 350

Fish species affected: coho, chinook, steelhead, lamprey

Klamath Hydropower Project Consists of:

  1. Keno Dam, a 24-ft non-hydro dam that smoothes return flows from the Bureau’s Klamath Irrigation Project.
  2. JC Boyle Dam, a 60-ft high dam and 90 MW powerhouse that dewaters 4.3 miles of river.
  3. Copco 1 Dam, a 120 ft-high dam and 20 MW powerhouse.
  4. Copco 2 Dam, a 25 ft-high dam and 27 MW powerhouse that dewaters 1.4 miles of river.
  5. Iron Gate Dam, a 162 ft dam and 18 MW powerhouse.
  6. Fall Creek Dam, a small diversion dam and 2.2 MW powerhouse on a tributary to the Klamath.

The Klamath River begins in a high arid basin ringed by the volcanic peaks of the Cascade Range in Oregon and flows for over 250 miles to the Pacific south of Crescent City in California.

Much of the wetland habitat of the Upper Klamath Basin was converted to irrigated agriculture, but remaining habitat in National Wildlife Refuges still attracts a majority of migrating birds on the Pacific Flyway.

Downstream of the Upper Klamath Lake, the river plunges into a canyon where PacifiCorp operates five mainstem dams, two in Oregon and three in California. In between two of these dams is a Wild and Scenic stretch that is well-known for its fishing and whitewater rafting.

Since the first dam was constructed in 1918, salmon and steelhead have been prevented from reaching more than 350 miles of historic spawning and rearing habitat in the upper basin.

Iron Gate dam blocks 200-250 mi. of historic salmon and steelhead spawning habitat.Type of proceeding: HybridThreatened/endangered: Coho salmonRecreational values: Whitewater below JC Boyle dam and powerhouseOther values: Yurok reservation on lower 44 mi. of river. 70% of the reservation is without electricity- tribal culture and economy depends on healthy fish populations.

 

Milestones

FERC will issue final EIS 04-23-2007
CA and OR 401 application deadlines 03-29-2007
FERC Section 10j meeting, 9am – 5pm, Hilton Garden Inn, Redding, CA 12-14-2006
FERC Section 10j meeting, 9am – 5pm, Red Lion Inn, Redding, CA 12-12-2006
Comments due on draft EIS. 11-24-2006
Draft EIS meeting 7 – 10 PM, Red Lion hotel, Eureka, CA 11-16-2006
Draft EIS meeting, 9 AM – 12, Yreka Community Theater, Yreka, CA; and 7 – 10 PM, Yreka Community Theater, Yreka, CA 11-15-2006
Draft EIS meeting 9 – 12, Shiloh Inn, Klamath Falls, OR 11-14-2006
USFWS requests formal consultation as required by section 7 of the ESA 10-05-2006
FERC files draft EIS 09-25-2006
Trial type hearing conducted week of 8/21/06 and concluded 8/25/06. Judges decision expected by 9/21/06 08-25-2006
Pacificorp submits request for trial hearing to dispute issues of material fact on section 18 prescriptions 04-28-2006
Reply comments due on recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions 04-12-2006
PacifiCorp files CA and OR 401 applications 03-29-2006
NMFS and DOI submit preliminary terms and conditions 03-27-2006
REA notice issued 12-28-2005
FERC issues Scoping Document 1 04-16-2004
PacifiCorp files final license application 02-26-2004
FERC Section 10j meeting, 9am – 5pm, Hilton Garden Inn, Redding, CA 12-13-2006
FERC issues Scoping Document 2 05-17-2005
Settlement Signed 01-17-2008
Draft EIS by DOI 09-21-2011

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