NC Paddlers Needed to Meet with FERC

On December 7th Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Staff will visit the Nantahala River, and on December 9th will visit the West Fork of the Tuckasegee and Dillsboro Dam.  The purpose of these visits will be to tour the Duke Power facilities and the areas effected by those facilities (ie the reservoirs and rivers), and to hold public scoping meetings.  In the scoping meetings the FERC staff will listen to the public’s concerns, ideas, and opinions about these projects and their past and future management. 

Paddlers who recreate on the Nantahala or Tuckasegee, or that are looking forward to paddling the Class 4 Nanty Cascades and West Fork Tuck, should attend these meetings. 

As you are probably aware, American Whitewater and many other organizations and agencies signed a comprehensive settlement agreement in late 2003 that sent a clear message to the FERC regarding how we want to see these rivers managed.  While a very strong document, the Settlement Agreement does have its opponents that will be asking the FERC to disregard it, and the FERC will have to at least consider doing so.  American Whitewater worked very hard for roughly three years to reach this settlement, and we feel that it fairly and meaningfully mitigates the Duke Power projects’ impacts.  We stand behind that agreement, and hope that paddlers will consider telling the FERC that they too feel the agreement meets their basic interests. 

In addition to supporting the Settlement Agreement as a whole, the Settlement Agreement proposes several important and contentious issues that we hope paddlers will consider voicing their support for.  These are as follows:

• Recreational Releases on the Nantahala and Tuckaseegee.
• Recreational Releases on the West Fork of the Tuckaseegee, and Cascades of the Nantahala
• Removal of Dillsboro Dam
• Significant funding for riparian restoration and protection
• Access areas on all river reaches, including a multi-use put-in trail on the West Fork of the Tuckasegee, from Lake Glenville to the base of High Falls. 

Please consider supporting our efforts on these great rivers by attending these meetings and sharing your support with the FERC.    

FERC has posted information regarding the site visits and scoping meetings on their website at the following two web addresses: 

http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=10279476

http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=10279479

You can read the Settlement Agreements for the Nantahala and Tuckasegee at:

http://www.nantahalapower.com/nantahala/lakes/hydroelectric/consensusagreements/

The following are the details regarding the scoping meetings:

Nantahala Site Visit

Date:  Tuesday, December 7, 2004

            Time:  9:00 AM – 12:00 PM (EST)

Place:  Nantahala Power Plant

               Address:  27656 Wayah Road; Topton, NC 28781

               Nantahala Public Scoping Meeting

Date:               Tuesday December 7, 2004

Time:              6:00 PM – 9:00 PM (EST)

Place:             Southwestern Community College (Old Almond School)

Address:         60 Almond School Road; Bryson City, NC 28713