- The Kern River No. 3 Hydroelectric Project is operated by SCE and is currently in the re-licensing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
- As part of that re-licensing process, SCE asked for kayakers to participate in a study on July 12 and 13.
- Kayakers on July 13 boated a sixteen mile stretch of the Upper Kern River when there was 250 CFS of water flowing through that section.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Dylan Warburg started his Saturday morning with a three-hour trip from his home in Pasadena to Kernville – a trip he felt was important to make.
“Trying to get SCE to give more natural flows, especially in the spring, April, May, and June because right now during dry years we may not get any days or maybe one or two here or there, but no consistent time where we can use this stretch,” Warburg said.
Warburg and other boaters were asked by Southern California Edison (SCE) to provide feedback as part of a flow study that took place on Friday July 12 and Saturday July 13.
Boaters went down a 16-mile stretch of the Upper Kern River that sits below the Fairview Dam and above the Kern River No. 3 (KR3) powerhouse.
“It’s one of several studies that we’re conducting as part of our overall relicensing of the Kern River No. 3 hydroelectric project that SCE operates and manages,” said Gabriela Ornelas, spokesperson for Southern California Edison.
Under their current license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, SCE is allowed to divert up to 600 Cubic-feet-per-second (CFS) of water at the dam - lowering flows on a 16-mile stretch of the river between the dam and powerhouse. SCE is obligated to keep a minimum flow of 40 CFS in this stretch during the winter and 130 CFS in the summer.
“We feel that this current license was written thirty years ago, and recreation has changed, and the population of Southern California has changed,” said Liz Duxbury, President of Kern River Boaters, a local group that advocates for the interests of whitewater recreation on the Kern.
Duxbury and several other members of the organization participated in this study, as well as a similar study held by SCE in April.
The idea is to get feedback from boaters who have sailed this section at different flow levels.
“The previous studies have been at 450, 550, and up to 850 I believe,” Duxbury said.
When the boaters sailed off on July 13, the flow below the dam was at 250 CFS, which seen as low to boat this section.
Duxbury says under its current operating license, SCE dictated any flow under 700 CFS renders this section of the river un-boatable.
Duxbury says these studies proved boaters can still recreate at levels much lower.
“Currently SCE, in their license, cuts the line at 700, and everything under 700 is not a valuable flow.”
The terms that the KR3 hydroelectric project functions under were dictated roughly 30 years ago.
Duxberry says times have changed and with more solar energy, there is room for SCE to leave more natural water in the river during the day without impacting the energy supply.
“There’s only a couple of days any given year year where the plant will take a little bit less water out of the river, and they call that the recreation bubble. The terms they have on this are very complicated. We would like to see that simplified to be a schedule that everyone can understand.”
Warburg said he felt it was important to be part of the study, to show SCE that there are many boaters invested in the future of the 16-mile stretch of the river impacted by the hydroelectric project, but is not sure if his feedback will ultimately impact the re-licensing.
“We’ve had meetings where we have heard that they are planning on revising the license, but then we have heard from others from SCE that they’re seeking to re-license under the identical rules that they currently follow.”
Gabriela Ornelas, Spokesperson for Southern California Edison said they are conducting studies, but are also seeking to re-license under the same terms they’ve been operating under for the past 30 years.
“Recreational boaters are one group of folks that we work closely with, and we want that input,” Ornelas said, “All of that information helps inform that re-licensing. With our re-licensing application, we are pursuing to continue with the current operations as they are. So that is what we are including in our re-licensing application.”
The Kern River Boaters have worked to come up with their own recreation proposal.
You can find that on their website.
Warburg says that while he’s not sure his participation in the study will make an impact -
“All we can do is kinda try.”
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