MONTAGUE — Town Administrator Steve Ellis highlighted a discrepancy regarding minimum flow rate regulations across FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.’s agreements in principle during Monday’s Selectboard meeting, sparking conversation regarding what rates are acceptable for recreational purposes.
“What we found when additional agreements in principle became public and were shared is that some agreements have substantial disagreements between them,” Ellis said. “Most specifically, it relates to the flow that would be present below the dam.”
The three FirstLight facilities up for relicensing through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) — a hydro-pump facility at Northfield Mountain and two hydroelectric dams in Turners Falls — have been criticized for their impact on the Connecticut River and surrounding environment.
The Connecticut River Conservancy has said the dams have affected fish migration, and that the changes in river flow have impacted wildlife habitats and caused excessive erosion of the riverbanks. Likewise, the Northfield Mountain facility has also been criticized for its impact on fish populations.
With an agreement in principle in place regarding FirstLight’s hydropower-related flows and fish passage plans, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, National Marine Fisheries Service, The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are negotiating a final settlement agreement, which they hope to sign by June 30.
The conflicting agreements in principle Ellis referenced include one pertaining to flow releases for whitewater boating dated Feb. 14, and one regarding the regulation of bypass flows in a way that would benefit fisheries, dated March 17.
Ellis pointed out that the whitewater agreement denotes a minimum flow rate of 500 cubic feet per second, considered to be the baseline for “boatable flows.” Alternatively, the flows and fish passage agreement denotes a minimum flow rate of 250 cubic feet per second, which the agreement notes is “subject to an inspection of rare plant species in the bypass.” Ellis noted that the Connecticut River Conservancy, a Greenfield-based watershed advocacy group, considers 250 cubic feet per second to be an “inadequate flow to support the health of the river.”
“For some recreational boaters,” Ellis said, “250 might be an appropriate and usable number, but for others, it most definitively is not.”
Connecticut River Conservancy River Steward Andrea Donlon said FirstLight completed a navigability study in conjunction with paddlers in November that revealed a peak flow rate of 545 cubic feet per second. The involved paddlers, she said, called it the “minimal acceptable flow.”
“We were aiming for some higher flows,” Donlon said, “but it turned out that FirstLight’s whole calibration of their flows was way off.”
In terms of prime conditions for river ecology, this figure falls far short of what FirstLight itself deemed appropriate for watershed organisms, according to Donlon.
“I won’t say an exact number,” Donlon said, “but FirstLight’s studies showed that some of the native fish and macroinvertebrates would do better with a flow reaching 1,000 to 2,000 cubic feet per second.”
Carter Wall, FirstLight’s manager of government affairs and community relations, declined to explain the discrepancy between the provided minimum flow rates in the agreements in principle.
“The parties have agreed not to comment publicly on specific details of the proposals,” she said Tuesday. “We are continuing to talk to all of the stakeholders.”
Donlon said the discrepancy in flow rates stems from disagreements between those involved with the agreement in principle process, but did not elaborate further.
“I don’t know if I can talk about the positions of various parties within the negotiations,” she said.
Ellis, who called FirstLight’s relicensing process a “fairly complex situation,” said he has been “doing (his) best to make sure Montague has a window into further conversations” with FirstLight. The town, he said, was not invited to the company’s conversations about fish and flows.
Mulling how to proceed, Selectboard Chair Rich Kuklewicz highlighted Montague’s own conflicting interests when considering how each flow rate might make a difference.
“The health of the river, I think we all would agree, is very important, but honestly, the tax implications for the community are equally as important as that to be considered,” Kuklewicz said. “They’re our largest ratepayer, and if decisions are made that impact them negatively, we can expect that to impact us negatively.”
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.