Oct. 17, 2017
Twenty three environmental or outdoor groups have challenged the US Bureau of Reclamation plan for a bigger valve to allow withdrawal of more water from Snow Lake.
In scathing public comments on the Bureau’s environmental assessment (EA), they raised both procedural and substantive objections to the plan that could increase water withdrawal from Snow Lake within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness by 60%.
In a joint letter, they first pointed out factual errors in the EA, including false statements about prior public notice and involvement. Then they stressed that the impacts of a 60% increase in withdrawal rates require a more comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), rather than a cursory and incomplete EA.
To underscore this point they took aim at a number of deficiencies in the EA, including these:
- it did not adequately explain or analyze the 60% increase in withdrawal rates.
- it ignored the impacts of that increase, including the likelihood that Snow Lake might not refill after such increased withdrawal.
- it failed to analyze the proposed quantity of water usage, and effects on water rights. It assumed, for instance, that the irrigation district can now claim water from Snow Lake after decades of non-use.
- in its discussion of regulatory compliance, it did not even mention the Wilderness Act. - it did not acknowledge or analyze impacts of the project on the wilderness.
- it did not consider longer-term impacts outside of the construction period.
- its "Clean Water Act" section failed to analyze the impact of discharges into Snow Creek.
- it did not explain how helicopters are allowed to transport workers into the wilderness.
The organizations submitting these comments were the Alpine Lakes Protection Society, Icicle Creek Watershed Council, Washington Wild, Wilderness Watch, Washington State Chapter Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, Center for Environmental Law & Policy, Wild Fish Conservancy, North Central Washington Audubon Society, El Sendero Backcountry Ski & Snowshoe Club, Friends of Enchantments, Alpine Lakes Foundation, Washington Trails Association, North Cascades Conservation Council, Spring Family Trust for Trails, Doug Scott Wilderness Consulting, Kittitas Audubon Society, Friends of Lake Kachess, Kittitas Fire District 8, Kachess Ridge Maintenance Association, Friends of Bumping Lake, MidFORC, Issaquah Alps Trails Club, Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs, and Seattle Audubon Society.