River sturgeon report could be last step in Lake Murray dam receiving new federal license
A years-long push to extend an electric utility’s license of the Lake Murray dam may be nearing an end after a key environmental agency gave operations the go-ahead.
The National Marine Fisheries Service issued what’s called a “biological opinion” Feb. 28 about whether operations of the Dominion Energy-operated hydropower dam negatively effect the area’s shortnose sturgeon population.
The agency’s study concludes that extending the license “will have no effect on any distinct population segment of Atlantic sturgeon,” and that license “is likely to adversely affect, but is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of shortnose sturgeon.”
The findings could allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to complete the process of issuing a multi-decade license for the hydroelectric project on the Saluda River, something Dominion and its predecessor, South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., have been seeking for more than a decade.
“We are waiting for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a new license for Saluda Hydroelectric Project,” Dominion spokesman Matt Long said. “If approved, the license will guide operations and management of Lake Murray and other related resources.”
While the report concludes that damming along the Congaree and Saluda rivers has restricted movement of the sturgeon to their historical spawning grounds and reduced the species’ population, sampling by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources shows the sturgeon population has been stable in the affected area for the past 10 years.
The shortnose sturgeon still exists 75 years after the dam created “adverse” environmental issues, the report states, and conditions should improve with proposed changes.
“Therefore, while some relatively minor changes to how the shortnose sturgeon used the action area are possible, ... we do not expect that change would have a meaningful impact on the range of shortnose sturgeon rangewide,” the agency concludes.
The report highlights that the planned removal of the Granby Lock and Dam on the Congaree River, part of a separate license settlement with Santee Cooper, will improve mobility of the sturgeon population to spawning grounds upstream.
Approval for a new license was expected, said Bill Stangler with the Congaree Riverkeeper organization, especially since SCE&G reached an extensive settlement agreement on its operations as far back as 2009 with a list of interested stakeholders, including DNR, the Coastal Conservation League and the Lake Murray Chamber of Commerce.
“Because there’s a settlement agreement where all the parties signed off, FERC looks at that and takes it into consideration,” Stangler said. “A lot of this stuff gets incorporated into this license. It would be stunning if they didn’t issue one for an existing facility. We have seen challenges to other licenses, but those didn’t have settlement agreements.”
Federal regulators could issue a new license with a term of 30 to 50 years, possibly by the end of the year. Dominion has asked for the maximum 50-year license.
This story was originally published March 21, 2023 at 11:54 AM.
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