Water Resources Project Experience

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge Dam Modifications

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Dam Safety program identified dam safety deficiencies at four water storage projects on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. The consequences of dam failure included an estimated loss-of-life of up to 11 people in a refuge staff residential area located about 2 miles downstream from one of the dams. Steigers Corporation staff investigated several alternatives to correct the dam safety deficiencies, including dam removal, and conducted National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance for the dam safety modifications. Field studies included vegetation and wetlands investigations and historical assessment of the dams for National Register eligibility. Primary issues were impacts to public recreation, wetlands, and fisheries. Wetland evaluations included an assessment of the potential for creation of new wetlands. NEPA compliance tasks included agency consultation with respect to data sources and permitting requirements, assessment of impacts and comparison of alternatives, and production of draft Environmental Assessments (EAs). We were also responsible for modifying one of the draft EAs to include additional alternatives.

NEPA Project Management - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Steigers staff was responsible for project management and supervision on a contract to prepare National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) and Environmental Assessments (EAs) for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Office of Hydropower Licensing. We performed NEPA compliance activities for upward of 20 applications for initial licenses, new licenses, license amendments, and license surrenders between 1993 and 1996. As the FERC's contractor staff, we were involved in all aspects of license application evaluation from initial application adequacy review to writing draft and final EAs and EISs to drafting FERC license orders.

These NEPA assessments addressed numerous and varied issues related to these water resources, including:

• run-of-river versus peaking operations
• bypassed reach minimum instream flow effects on water temperature and fish habitat
• aesthetic flows over waterfalls, supplemental flows for fisheries and whitewater boating
• effects of fluctuating lake levels on residents, recreationists, and wetlands
• stream aggradation, sediment flushing, and ramping rates
• backwater effects on upstream flooding
• restoration of anadromous fisheries, fish passage, and tailrace barriers
• mitigation of fish entrainment losses, including compensatory mitigation, fish screening facilities, and settlement agreements
• impacts on threatened and endangered species
• Native American traditional cultural properties
• programmatic agreements for compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act
• provision of recreation access and facilities
• land exchanges, land trust donations, consistency with comprehensive plans
• cumulative impacts of multiple-development projects
• project decommissioning.
  

Hydropower Licensing Projects

The Steigers Corporation licensing team provided concurrent, ongoing program management and comprehensive environmental and engineering services for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licensing of five hydroelectric projects in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The projects involve both initial licensing and relicensing and include multiple developments. We conducted environmental assessments, operational studies, mitigation planning, flood analyses, dam safety investigations, agency negotiations, and license application preparation. Based on its satisfaction with the license application effort, Upper Peninsula Power Company engaged Steigers Corporation to provide post-filing environmental and licensing support for the projects.

For these projects, we supervised the design and implementation of a diverse array of studies to evaluate project impacts on fisheries, wildlife, water quality, recreation, and cultural resources. We also conducted recreation resource use analyses, scenic resource evaluations, and cultural resource assessments using local historians and archaeologists to determine the potential eligibility of project facilities for listing on the National Register.

Comprehensive water quality studies were conducted at each project to support Section 401 certification. Fisheries and wildlife studies included habitat evaluations, population surveys, threatened and endangered species surveys, and fish entrainment and turbine mortality studies. We also investigated potential impacts to reservoir-margin wetlands from fluctuating water levels and reservoir drawdowns. Our fisheries investigations, in particular, were instrumental in allowing the projects to be licensed without requiring the construction of fish protection facilities and without the imposition of costly constraints on project operations.

Additional Steigers Corporation staff water resources project experience: