Questions are being raised by several Auburn-area residents about a proposal to build a hydroelectric generation facility at the North Fork Dam at\u00a0Lake\u00a0Clementine.<\/p>\n
Speakers at a public session Monday on the privately funded project wanted to know about its effect on downstream recreation, potential drops in scenic flows over the dam and other potential impacts.<\/p>\n
About 25 people attended the session at theCanyon\u00a0View\u00a0Community Center, \u00a0and the number of questions spurred the project proponent to schedule a special meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 26 to provide an overview of the project and address queries.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s session was a public one but meant to concentrate on comments by government agencies and stakeholder groups about study plans by Los Angeles-based\u00a0 American Renewables and Kruger Energy of Canada.<\/p>\n
Project manager Dan Parker agreed to the question-and-answer session after a request for a separate meeting in the evening to allow Monday\u2019s session with government agencies to move forward on time. The location for the Aug. 26 meeting has yet to be determined.<\/p>\n
Answering a question Monday from Helga White of Auburn, Parker said that esthetic flows over and environmental flows to aid wildlife and plant life downstream would take precedent over power-generation flows. The picturesque dam was built in 1939 to hold back mining debris but allow river flows downstream.<\/p>\n
The proposed 15-megawatt power-generation facility \u2013 designed to produce electricity to serve 3,000 households \u2013 is to be operated on a \u201crun-of-the-river\u201d basis. It would take advantage of higher flows in the rainy season and go offline in late July, August and September, when flows along the\u00a0North Fork\u00a0American\u00a0River\u00a0are low.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t get our water first,\u201d Parker said. \u201cWe get our water last.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Garabedian of the Friends of the\u00a0North Fork\u00a0asked whether a survey was being planned \u2013 \u201cnot just conversations\u201d \u2013 on canyon users\u2019 reaction to the project. He was told a survey was planned on recreational use.<\/p>\n
The original survey, conducted in 2006 by State Parks in the Auburn State Recreation Area, \u201cdidn\u2019t show interest in this type of development or development of any kind, as I recall,\u201d Garabedian said.<\/p>\n
More at AunurnJournal.com<\/a> >>><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Questions are being raised by several Auburn-area residents about a proposal to build a hydroelectric generation facility at the North Fork Dam at\u00a0Lake\u00a0Clementine. Speakers at a public session Monday on the privately funded project wanted to know about its effect on downstream recreation, potential drops in scenic flows over the dam and other potential impacts. … Continue reading Questions Surfacing On Lake Clementine Hydro Project<\/span>