The Save Lake Tapps Coalition disbanded in September 2007, after 8 year of community service.  The effort of this coalition is now focused in the Lake Tapps Community Council under a new charter.  All funds remaining in the SLTC account were transferred to the Lake Tapps Community Council.  This website is maintained by a the past secretary of the former Save Lake Tapps Coalition as a method of community education and awareness.  The Save Lake Tapps Coalition was formed on March 8, 1999 in response to an announcement in the media advising that Lake Tapps may be drained as a result of a possible involuntary abandonment of the White River Hydroelectric Project by Puget Sound Energy.  The Coalition was a non-profit community organization consisting of motivated, concerned people who live, use, or own property around our beloved Lake Tapps.   If you have web content concerning the interest of the lake, please forward to: valdez4726@comcast.net

Lake Tapps Community Council General Information Hotline - a community service number:   (253) 891-5460

Police Related Problems on the Lake?  

If Emergency Call:  911

If Non-Emergency Call:  (253) 798-4721 Option '1'

To leave a message on the Pierce County Sheriff Boating Hotline Call:  (253) 798-3300

June 24, 2000

Text By John Farrell

In 1997 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a license to Puget Sound Energy (PSE). The conditions in this license made the project uneconomic.

Two Federal Laws contributed significantly to this problem:

1. The Federal Power Act: this opened transmission lines up to any wholesale provider producing energy. This meant that the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) when considering rate changes needed to compare costs to the cheapest wholesale market. Since the White River Power Project produces energy at a higher cost than the wholesale market, the WUTC may not allow those costs to be passed on to ratepayers. To make this worse, conditions in the license would add another thirty million in capitol costs to the project.
2. The Endangered Species Act: this act resulted in the listing of White River Salmon and threatened. To protect the fish, both in rearing and migration, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), along with US Fish & Wildlife and our State Fish & Wildlife, are asking that less water be diverted into Lake Tapps making less water available for producing power.

In summary, the license requires a 30 million dollar investment and will have less water to generate income. Since the ratepayers won’t pay for it, and PSE’s shareholders don’t want to pay for it -- we have a problem.

WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT?

Under the leadership of Doug Sutherland and Jan Schabro Pierce County initiated the Lake Tapps Task Force. Represented on the Task Force are Homeowner Associations, Save Lake Tapps Coalition, Friends of Lake Tapps, The cities of Bonney Lake, Buckley, Sumner, Auburn, and Enumclaw, our state senator and representatives, state and federal wildlife agencies, State Dept of Ecology, Puget Sound Energy, and others who have a stake in this process.

The Task Force is structured into 5 committees: administrative, legislative, Biology, Water/Public Works, and Economics and Options. The work in those committees has resulted in the following options being worked on at this time.

1. Water Rights/Potable Water -- The focus of this component is to seek opportunities for potable use of Lake Tapps water. The unique situation is that our reservoir not only works well for storing water for powering turbines; it also works for storing water for human consumption. PSE is asking for a water right of 100 cubic feet per second. This compares to the 2000 cubic feet per second that the project is entitled to use to generate power. This component would allow the project become financially viable but requires heavy investment in a treatment plant at the beginning. So far, this option has not run into an impossible barrier and we are hoping that we can accomplish this for the project.
2. Ramping Rates -- Ramping deals with fluctuations in the river as the water leaves the power plant. In some projects, turning off the water coming from the turbines too quickly strands fish in the river downstream of the tailrace. Studies on the White River Project, however, indicate that this is not a significant problem with this project. Therefore we are asking that ramping restrictions be eased for the project resulting in a more efficient use of the turbines.

 

3. Past License Fee Forgiveness -- the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has already agreed to do this at a cost saving of about 1.2 million to the project.
4. Negotiated Minimum In stream Flows -- There are many biological opinions on whether more flows or less flows are needed to optimize rearing and migrating patterns of the White River Chinook Salmon. Due to the listing of this salmon, the National Marine Fisheries Service will determine the flow regime. What we have accomplished is that all sides, including PSE, state Fish & Wildlife, Federal Fish & Wildlife, and outside consultants have had a thorough discussion based upon fulfilling the needs of the salmon. We pleased that the federal agencies have committed to listening to all sides of this issue. A biological opinion will be forthcoming from NMFS in the next few weeks and the economic affect of the flow regime will be known.

 

5. Public or Local Ownership -- the idea here was that if local citizens were going to be taxed to support the White River Project there be savings if a public entity owned the project. The reasoning was that a public project would not have to pay a return on investment to shareholders, would save on federal income tax, and would be able to finance the project at a low interest rate. Upon further study the following problems were discovered:
1. The debt would be in excess of 80 million. This is more debt that Pierce County has.
2. Debt payments would be high in the beginning of the loan causing the project to have negative cash flow. This is due to the high risk of the project to potential investors.
6. Power Value Optimization During Summer -- we will be polling the community to see what level of fluctuation would be acceptable during the summer months so that PSE could sell more power during rate fluctuations during the summer. There are times when rates are very high and the project could make windfall profits if allowed to use several inches of the lake for this purpose.
7. Talirace Barrier Modification or Elimination -- this deals with the propensity of fish to stray (trying to swim up the tailrace) before swimming up the bypassed reach of the river. The original barrier had a cost of about 3 million dollars. We are asking that cheaper means be used, since it has not been proven that this is a significant problem in the river. The money could better be spent in other areas benefiting fish.
8. Wildlife Mitigation Conditions -- this has been the most difficult option. There is an estimated 10 million dollars of timber that could be harvested on the approximate 3000 acres adjacent to the bypassed reach of the White River. In 1992 PSE and State Fish & Wildlife reached an agreement that this land would be set aside as a wildlife buffer/preserve and that PSE manage these wildlife lands. The Task Force would like to revisit this agreement and try and work out a 20 year plan to harvest this timber without doing significant damage to this preserve. The question revolves around an equitable settlement to provide for mitigation and enhancement of the White River Project.

 

9. Viable Lake for Extended Periods -- Preserving and enhancing Lake Tapps as a community and regional asset is an important component and ranked high even though lake viability itself does not contribute to the financial solution. Citizen groups on the task force are studying the possibility of a lake management entity to enter into the FERC agreement to assure a long term agreement. This long term agreement would provide protection to the homeowners and would replace the "gentleman’s agreement" that currently defines lake levels.
10. Boat Management and Recreation Plan – this would be a component that could be included in the lake management entity. This would give citizens greater control over boat traffic and safety on the lake.
11. Hatchery Operations -- Puget Sound Energy paid for the Muckleshoot Hatchery as the result of an agreement in 1986. Currently, however, there is a disagreement among PSE and the Muckleshoots as to who should pay for continued maintenance of this hatchery. Since these fish are listed and are an important part of the recovery process the Task Force is hopeful that agreement can be reached though this collaborative process.
12. Corps of Engineers: The Corps of Engineers has two interests in the White River Hydro Project. The most important is the fish trap located at the diversion dam. The Corps is responsible to move fish from the fish trap to the upper watershed since fish are unable to pass through Mud Mountain Dam. The fish ladder is an works well with and depends on the diversion dam. If the project were to go away, the Corps would have to invest a great deal of money to create a structure to allow the continued operation of the fish trap. Secondly, the Corps in 1995 and 1996 used some of the capacity of Lake Tapps Reservoir to take some of the flood pressure off the White River. The Corps has worked very hard in the collaborative process and has provided ½ the funds for the upcoming public survey.
13. State purchase the lake bottom -- while this would be a help, as it would retire some of the capitol out of the White River Project with the proceeds, we have not made much progress on this option. The next step is to establish a value for the lake bottom. The reasoning is that the state owns the lake bottom on all the lakes in the state and Lake Tapps is said to be the 4^th busiest recreational lake in the state.

The quick answer is: WE DON’T KNOW! (YET)

There are two main scenarios:

1. The Lake Tapps Task Force is successful enough with the above listed components that we have conditions that allow PSE to accept the license. In this scenario, the citizens should form a Lake Management Entity to be involved in the FERC license and negotiate terms that are favorable, predictable, and long term. Items would be extended lake levels, boating safety, quality of the water, wildlife in and around the lake, and other issues important to people who live on the lake and the people of the community and state who use the lake. The cost to homeowners affect would be none or small and this "entity" would be fairly small -- 2000 to 5000 homes.
2. This second scenario is a little more serious. If the Task Force is unsuccessful in helping to create conditions that allow for an economic license, a much larger community will have to be involved in the solution. It is suggested that homes in the fire districts, school districts, and others (who would be affected should the property tax burden be shifted from lakeside homes to all the homes in these districts) would be participating in this lake management entity -- this would be estimated at about 15000 to 20000 homes. It is impossible to say at this time what the tax amounts would be; obviously larger for those homes who receive the most benefit and smaller for the homes who receive the least benefits.

Support the efforts of the Task Force any way you can. There are several organizations you can join. Visit our website SAVELAKETAPPS.COM to learn how you can become a member. We use our funds to communicate to the community. Thank you!

Save Lake Tapps Coalition
© 1999