GLUE Member’s Meeting Update & SMP Announcement

The agenda has now been established for our gathering at Arrowhead Yacht Club on Saturday morning February 23rd as follows:

Welcome

GLUE History

Shoreline Management Plan Status                                                Rusty Fleming

Legislative Strategy & You                                                    Rep. Doug Cox

Four States Water Alliance Mission                                               Carl Metcalf

Water quality & More                                                           Dr. Darrel Townsend

                                                                                                GRDA Ecosystems

Questions & Answers                                                             Michael Kiefner

                                                                                                GRDA COO

Summary of Issues                                                                  Rusty Fleming

I’m extremely hopeful our meeting will generate an exchange of ideas and what the perception of Grand Lake is within our membership. Our discussion won’t be limited by the agenda above in any way, shape or form. I fully expect a discussion with respect to habitable structures on Grand Lake and what the future might hold. I would courage each of you to tell your fellow Grand Lakers about our meeting and encourage them to attend and participate. Our real strength is in the number of Grand Lakers we represent as a block or interest group. If we pick up some members because of this meeting that fine, but this is not intended as a recruiting mission, but as a way to chart our future.

I’ve currently received 15 reservations and would encourage each of you to take this opportunity to express your views and impact our goals for the future. Let me hear from you and now for a ……………………………………………………………..

News Flash

The Grand River Dan Authority received a directive from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday to move forward with the implementation of the shoreline management plan. I’ll paste the letter in its entirety below, but they have clearly rejected the years delay requested by the resource agencies for further study. The letter calls for the authority to establish their schedule, including a vote of the board of directors, for implementation within 20 days. The lull is over folks and makes our strategy for 2008 extremely important. I hope to see you on Saturday.

Cheers

 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

Washington. I). C. 20426

FEB12 21E

OFFICE OF ENERGI PROJECII Project No. 1494 — Oklahoma

Pensacola Project

 

 

Grand River Dam Authority

Mr. Kevin Easley

Chief Executive Officer

Grand River Dam Authority

P.O. Box 409

Vinita, OK 7430 1-0409

RE: Status Report on Shoreline Management Plan

 

Dear Mr. Easley:

This refers to your January 17, 2008 letter providing us the status of Grand River Dam Authority’s (GRDA) development of a shoreline management plan (SMP) for the Pensacola Project (FERC No. 1494).

Your letter indicates that GRDA has been working on the plan since October 2005. This work has included gathering data and input from interested stakeholders, conducting studies on fish and wildlife habitat and recreation; forming working groups to address key issues; preparing drafts of the plan for stakeholder review; holding several public meetings to receive further stakeholder input; and soliciting comments from resource agencies and tribes. You state that while GRDA has made significant progress toward completion of the plan, it has been delayed as a result of GRDA’s continuing consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Specifically, you state these agencies have recommended that submission of the final plan be delayed one year to allow more time to conduct additional studies. These studies would include more extensive surveys of fish and wildlife habitat values for project lands, and revised/expanded recreation plan and carrying capacity studies. Finally, you state that GRDA is considering the value of these additional studies, but believes that little benefit would be gained by repeating studies that have already been conducted; and you reiterate GRDA’s commitment to developing a quality SMP.

Project No. 1494

As you know, Commission staff have been monitoring your progress in developing the plan since its initiation, and on several occasions have provided GRDA specific guidance on preparation and contents of the SMP. In accordance with the Commission’s published guidance on preparing shoreline management plans. we do not expect a licensee to perform extensive existing condition surveys in developing an SMP and we encourage licensees to use existing, relevant data whenever possible.’ GRDA has already conducted some studies of existing conditions. We believe that GRDA’s development of the plan, in this regard, is consistent with the Commission’s guidance for preparing shoreline management plans. Furthermore, an SMP typically will include provisions for periodically updating the plan throughout the license term based on any new or revised information.

Given this information, and the extensive effort that has already gone into the SMP’s development, we believe it is important that the SMP be filed with the Commission as soon as possible. At this time, we expect GRDA to submit its final SMP for Commission review and approval in the very near future. Please file, within 20 days from the date of this letter, your estimated schedule for doing so.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Jon Cofrancesco at (202) 502-8951.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Fletcher

Chief, Land Resources Branch

Division of Hydropower Administration and Compliance

See Guidance for Shoreline Management Planning at Hydropower Projects dated April 2001. Office of Energy Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.