Water Quality
Raquette River Projects Water Quality Studies
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (NMPC), resource agencies and
non-governmental organizations participated in an accelerated collaborative
approach to relicensing of the Carry Falls Project and the Upper Raquette River
Hydroelectric Project. Subsequently, licensing of the Middle and Lower Raquette
River Hydroelectric Projects was delayed so that all four projects’ 14
developments could be licensed on the same time-line in the context of a
basin-wide settlement.
As part of the relicensing process and in support of the Section 401 Water
Quality Certification, Devine Tarbell & Associates, Inc.’s (DTA) staff conducted
a water quality study that included monitoring at all four projects. The study
focused on water quality of the Upper Raquette River Project and the Carry Falls
Project. Similar information was collected at the Middle and Lower Raquette
River projects to supplement more comprehensive studies that had been previously
completed.
Riverine water quality was monitored at eight stations over a 100-mile length of
river from Piercefield to Massena. Impoundment studies were conducted at the
Carry Falls reservoir and the five Upper Raquette impoundments, and existing
NMPC and government monitoring programs were reviewed. Impoundment studies
assessed water quality during critical high-temperature, low-flow, and
mid-summer conditions. Water quality was measured at two locations within each
impoundment, in the powerhouse tailrace, and at one location (usually a pool
habitat) within each project bypass reach.
This information was included in the settlement negotiations and applications to
relicense the Carry Falls and Upper Raquette River projects. All parties agreed
that water quality was adequately protected, and the New York Department of
Environmental Conservation issued a draft water quality certification within
three years of initiation of the studies.