The proposed Kiamichi River hydroelectric project not only is opposed by a growing number of southeast Oklahoma residents and organizations, but questions have been raised about environmental concerns.
Here is our latest installment of a series of stories by Southwest Ledger reporter Mike Ray.
By Mike W. Ray
Southwest Ledger
Multiple environmental, ecological and cultural issues are at stake in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision whether to approve the Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation’s application to develop a closed-loop pumped storage hydroelectric power plant in Pushmataha County along the Kiamichi River
Based on its review of SEOPC’s pre-application document and a preliminary staff analysis, FERC itself identified “water quantity (area hydrology); water quality (dissolved oxygen and water temperature); fisheries; and rare, threatened, and endangered species” as all being potentially affected by the proposed construction, operation and maintenance of the $3.1 billion SEOPC project.
In a document filed with FERC on July 8, SEOPC reported it “does not propose any environmental protection, mitigation, and enhancement measures at this time.”
SEOPC’s applications to FERC “have been poorly written, with no understanding of the geology, hydrology, and stakeholders of the region,” wrote Kenneth P. Roberts of Tulsa, a university professor and a landowner along the Kiamichi River.
The Kiamichi is inhabited by diverse freshwater mussel populations. Research conducted by several institutions between 1995-2005 indicated the river is host to nearly 30 species of mussels.
The portion of the Kiamichi River “that has been inhabited by endangered mussels in recent times” is an approximately 88-mile segment that extends from near Whitesboro, in LeFlore County, to just upstream of Hugo Reservoir, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
They are freshwater mussel species that are members of “an unusually diverse, productive mussel community inhabiting the Kiamichi River, which also supports a high diversity of other native aquatic species,” according to Dr. Caryn Vaughn of the University of Oklahoma.
Furthermore, the endangered mussels have experienced “extensive reduction in their historical habitat ranges, and for each the Kiamichi is one of relatively few streams that support surviving populations,” Tulsa attorney David Page wrote in a lawsuit petition in support of the Kiamichi River Legacy Alliance in 2019.
Mussel populations in the Kiamichi have declined by 60% over the last 25 years, Page claimed. In the case of the Ouachita rock pocketbook mussel, the Kiamichi “supports the only remaining viable population in the world,” he said.
When a species is listed as threatened or endangered, a section of the Endangered Species Act “requires that all federal agencies ‘insure’ that their actions “[are] not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species,” Page wrote.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board itself issued a Kiamichi River Basin Water Resources Development Plan on Feb. 1, 2000, which stated that, “Satisfying endangered species concerns is a fundamental aspect in protecting the integrity of the Kiamichi River and its ecosystem.” Any potential water marketing or transfer proposal “must address requirements of the [federal] Endangered Species Act and related local environmental concerns, including potential impacts to the Kiamichi River.”
The Kiamichi River is “known for its high aquatic biodiversity,” Vaughn wrote in 2000. The river is home to approximately 100 species of fish, according to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC). Sixteen of those fish species are designated in Oklahoma as Species of Greatest Conservation Need,” Jonna Polk, field supervisor with the U.S. F&WS, wrote in a letter dated 10 April 2017. The Kiamichi also is home to 30 species of freshwater mussels, which provide important habitat and other services for other river organisms, such as insects and fish, Vaughn wrote in 2006.
The river is home to a wide diversity of fish species, especially catfish, minnows, shiners, and sunfish. Surveys conducted in 2012 by the ODWC and researchers from Oklahoma State University sampled 54 species of fish along the river.
Three federally listed or proposed species of bats (Indiana bats, Northern long-eared bats, and tricolored bats) “have potential to be in the project area, and additional species have potential for listing within the life of this project,” the U.S. F&WS wrote.
“These bats use trees to roost and raise young (pups),” the agency said. “The construction of reservoirs and transmission lines would require removal of trees over a large area and most of these forested areas would not be restored to trees.”
The Kiamichi River is “one of the most species-diverse and unaltered stream systems in Oklahoma,” the ODWC told FERC. “Its middle and upper reaches are relatively pristine and provide important habitat for one of our state’s most unique and valuable fish and wildlife assemblages,” wrote Brandon Brown, Southeast Fisheries and Streams Supervisor for the ODWC.
A study prepared for the Oklahoma Water Resources Center at Oklahoma State University noted that the Kiamichi Basin has “a natural-resource and tourism-driven economy.”
‘Uncertainty’ remains
about water volume
“There is still uncertainty about the amount of available water in the Kiamichi River,” Tulsan Kenneth Roberts informed FERC in a letter filed May 9.
Under an agreement struck between the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations and the State of Oklahoma in 2016, Oklahoma City received a permit from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to withdraw up to 115,000 acre-feet of water from the Kiamichi basin each year. SEOPC’s proposal would take more than 118,000 a-f of water from the river annually.
Subterranean groundwater and surface water “are connected, according to all science on the subject,” Roberts noted. “With only shallow, minor aquifers in the region, groundwater is recharged with surface waters from streams in the area,” Roberts explained. “By removing water from the recharge source,” groundwater levels would be depleted, “resulting in severe costs of drilling new, deeper water wells.”
Groundwater rights would be adversely affected from losses in the water table, Roberts lamented, if SEOPC is permitted to siphon more than 38 billion gallons of the river’s water in addition to the 37.5 billion gallons that Oklahoma City is already authorized to take from the Kiamichi River and Sardis Lake each year.
The Kiamichi River also is “considered to be extremely sensitive to disturbance, have poor recovery potential, a very high sediment supply, very high bank erosion potential, and moderate vegetation control…,’ the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported.
Kiamichi River
‘is our lifeblood’
“That river is our lifeblood,” said Weldon Robbins, 60, who bought some land near Albion a little over 30 years ago. A former welder who’s now a dirt contractor, Robbins owns 240 acres along the banks of the Kiamichi River on which he raises hay that he sells to a neighbor. His brother, Johnny Robbins, 64, has 20 acres of abutting property.
Johnny Robbins said it’s not uncommon to see bears, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, beavers and otters, deer, eagles, hawks and owls – and nuisance feral hogs – in the area.
Weldon Robbins recalled “squirrel hunting and deer hunting, our kids growing up, swimming in the river, picnics, the hard work picking up rocks, hauling hay” – typical family memories for rural Oklahomans.
Besides the groundwater rights, water held in SEOPC’s three proposed lakes would become “salty from evaporation and require periodic dumping of the brine water into the river,” Roberts wrote.
Roberts also noted that excavating “such large pits” to create the project’s three reservoirs would expose “many heavy metals present in buried shale and rock.” The region is “known for galena deposits that contain highly toxic cadmium,” which would “enter the waterway through erosion and rainfall – much like what happens with chat piles in northeast Oklahoma’s Tar Creek.”
David L. Estep of Talihina wondered, “Where will the spoil/debris from excavating” the three reservoirs be disposed of, and would it “impact water quality or surrounding terrestrial habitats?”
Choctaw Nation opposes
SEOPC hydro project
Choctaw Nation member Megan McBride of Calera pointed out that SEOPC’s pre-application document “notes multiple cultural surveys that indicate not only presence of historic sites” but also “destruction of these sites.”
The Choctaw Nation’s Oklahoma Historic Preservation Department (CNHPD), with a little research, identified 36 historic archaeological sites, including 14 Choctaw cemeteries and 12 possible 1898 Bureau of Land Management General Land Office structures in or adjacent to the project area, wrote Dr. Ian Thompson, tribal historic preservation officer.
Historic allotment maps “show at least 50%” of SEOPC’s Area of Potential Effect is “located on lands originally allotted to Choctaws,” Thompson said.
In addition, private landowners “were shocked to see a project planned that puts their homes under water,” McBride continued in her letter to FERC. “The fact that SEOPC feels they can take land that is not theirs is something that bears a striking resemblance to what our tribe and many other tribes endured when we were forcibly removed from our ancestral homelands to place us in a land, a portion of which this project assumes it can rightfully occupy.”
Deyanne Woods of Clayton wrote that the proposed project would cause “irreversible damage … to our environment” with its water diversions from the Kiamichi River “to disrupting local ecosystems…” SEOPC’s project would destroy habitats, pollute water sources, “and threaten the very existence of wildlife in our region.” Woods asked, “Is the promise of short-term energy gains really worth sacrificing our natural heritage?”
The Tribal Council of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma opposes the hydropower project proposed by SEOPC.
“One of our Tribe’s top priorities is defending our sovereignty, which includes protecting our culture and community,” Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton wrote. “These efforts include being good stewards of our land and natural resources.”
FERC has recognized it must not issue preliminary permits for projects on Tribal land if a project is opposed by a Tribe “and we call on the agency to adhere to that policy,” Batton wrote.
SEOPC’s project “also runs counter to the historic Water Settlement Agreement between Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, other Tribes, Oklahoma City and the state of Oklahoma, which is enforceable as a matter of federal law,” Batton noted.
Additionally, the project would trigger numerous regulations and laws, including the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and others, Batton noted. “It also necessitates extensive studies and meetings with multiple state and federal agencies to fully understand the impact of the project.”
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By Mike W. Ray
Southwest Ledger
Multiple environmental, ecological and cultural issues are at stake in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision whether to approve the Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation’s application to develop a closed-loop pumped storage hydroelectric power plant in Pushmataha County along the Kiamichi River
Based on its review of SEOPC’s pre-application document and a preliminary staff analysis, FERC itself identified “water quantity (area hydrology); water quality (dissolved oxygen and water temperature); fisheries; and rare, threatened, and endangered species” as all being potentially affected by the proposed construction, operation and maintenance of the $3.1 billion SEOPC project.
In a document filed with FERC on July 8, SEOPC reported it “does not propose any environmental protection, mitigation, and enhancement measures at this time.”
SEOPC’s applications to FERC “have been poorly written, with no understanding of the geology, hydrology, and stakeholders of the region,” wrote Kenneth P. Roberts of Tulsa, a university professor and a landowner along the Kiamichi River.
The Kiamichi is inhabited by diverse freshwater mussel populations. Research conducted by several institutions between 1995-2005 indicated the river is host to nearly 30 species of mussels.
The portion of the Kiamichi River “that has been inhabited by endangered mussels in recent times” is an approximately 88-mile segment that extends from near Whitesboro, in LeFlore County, to just upstream of Hugo Reservoir, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
They are freshwater mussel species that are members of “an unusually diverse, productive mussel community inhabiting the Kiamichi River, which also supports a high diversity of other native aquatic species,” according to Dr. Caryn Vaughn of the University of Oklahoma.
Furthermore, the endangered mussels have experienced “extensive reduction in their historical habitat ranges, and for each the Kiamichi is one of relatively few streams that support surviving populations,” Tulsa attorney David Page wrote in a lawsuit petition in support of the Kiamichi River Legacy Alliance in 2019.
Mussel populations in the Kiamichi have declined by 60% over the last 25 years, Page claimed. In the case of the Ouachita rock pocketbook mussel, the Kiamichi “supports the only remaining viable population in the world,” he said.
When a species is listed as threatened or endangered, a section of the Endangered Species Act “requires that all federal agencies ‘insure’ that their actions “[are] not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species,” Page wrote.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board itself issued a Kiamichi River Basin Water Resources Development Plan on Feb. 1, 2000, which stated that, “Satisfying endangered species concerns is a fundamental aspect in protecting the integrity of the Kiamichi River and its ecosystem.” Any potential water marketing or transfer proposal “must address requirements of the [federal] Endangered Species Act and related local environmental concerns, including potential impacts to the Kiamichi River.”
The Kiamichi River is “known for its high aquatic biodiversity,” Vaughn wrote in 2000. The river is home to approximately 100 species of fish, according to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC). Sixteen of those fish species are designated in Oklahoma as Species of Greatest Conservation Need,” Jonna Polk, field supervisor with the U.S. F&WS, wrote in a letter dated 10 April 2017. The Kiamichi also is home to 30 species of freshwater mussels, which provide important habitat and other services for other river organisms, such as insects and fish, Vaughn wrote in 2006.
The river is home to a wide diversity of fish species, especially catfish, minnows, shiners, and sunfish. Surveys conducted in 2012 by the ODWC and researchers from Oklahoma State University sampled 54 species of fish along the river.
Three federally listed or proposed species of bats (Indiana bats, Northern long-eared bats, and tricolored bats) “have potential to be in the project area, and additional species have potential for listing within the life of this project,” the U.S. F&WS wrote.
“These bats use trees to roost and raise young (pups),” the agency said. “The construction of reservoirs and transmission lines would require removal of trees over a large area and most of these forested areas would not be restored to trees.”
The Kiamichi River is “one of the most species-diverse and unaltered stream systems in Oklahoma,” the ODWC told FERC. “Its middle and upper reaches are relatively pristine and provide important habitat for one of our state’s most unique and valuable fish and wildlife assemblages,” wrote Brandon Brown, Southeast Fisheries and Streams Supervisor for the ODWC.
A study prepared for the Oklahoma Water Resources Center at Oklahoma State University noted that the Kiamichi Basin has “a natural-resource and tourism-driven economy.”
‘Uncertainty’ remains
about water volume
“There is still uncertainty about the amount of available water in the Kiamichi River,” Tulsan Kenneth Roberts informed FERC in a letter filed May 9.
Under an agreement struck between the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations and the State of Oklahoma in 2016, Oklahoma City received a permit from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to withdraw up to 115,000 acre-feet of water from the Kiamichi basin each year. SEOPC’s proposal would take more than 118,000 a-f of water from the river annually.
Subterranean groundwater and surface water “are connected, according to all science on the subject,” Roberts noted. “With only shallow, minor aquifers in the region, groundwater is recharged with surface waters from streams in the area,” Roberts explained. “By removing water from the recharge source,” groundwater levels would be depleted, “resulting in severe costs of drilling new, deeper water wells.”
Groundwater rights would be adversely affected from losses in the water table, Roberts lamented, if SEOPC is permitted to siphon more than 38 billion gallons of the river’s water in addition to the 37.5 billion gallons that Oklahoma City is already authorized to take from the Kiamichi River and Sardis Lake each year.
The Kiamichi River also is “considered to be extremely sensitive to disturbance, have poor recovery potential, a very high sediment supply, very high bank erosion potential, and moderate vegetation control…,’ the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported.
Kiamichi River
‘is our lifeblood’
“That river is our lifeblood,” said Weldon Robbins, 60, who bought some land near Albion a little over 30 years ago. A former welder who’s now a dirt contractor, Robbins owns 240 acres along the banks of the Kiamichi River on which he raises hay that he sells to a neighbor. His brother, Johnny Robbins, 64, has 20 acres of abutting property.
Johnny Robbins said it’s not uncommon to see bears, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, beavers and otters, deer, eagles, hawks and owls – and nuisance feral hogs – in the area.
Weldon Robbins recalled “squirrel hunting and deer hunting, our kids growing up, swimming in the river, picnics, the hard work picking up rocks, hauling hay” – typical family memories for rural Oklahomans.
Besides the groundwater rights, water held in SEOPC’s three proposed lakes would become “salty from evaporation and require periodic dumping of the brine water into the river,” Roberts wrote.
Roberts also noted that excavating “such large pits” to create the project’s three reservoirs would expose “many heavy metals present in buried shale and rock.” The region is “known for galena deposits that contain highly toxic cadmium,” which would “enter the waterway through erosion and rainfall – much like what happens with chat piles in northeast Oklahoma’s Tar Creek.”
David L. Estep of Talihina wondered, “Where will the spoil/debris from excavating” the three reservoirs be disposed of, and would it “impact water quality or surrounding terrestrial habitats?”
Choctaw Nation opposes
SEOPC hydro project
Choctaw Nation member Megan McBride of Calera pointed out that SEOPC’s pre-application document “notes multiple cultural surveys that indicate not only presence of historic sites” but also “destruction of these sites.”
The Choctaw Nation’s Oklahoma Historic Preservation Department (CNHPD), with a little research, identified 36 historic archaeological sites, including 14 Choctaw cemeteries and 12 possible 1898 Bureau of Land Management General Land Office structures in or adjacent to the project area, wrote Dr. Ian Thompson, tribal historic preservation officer.
Historic allotment maps “show at least 50%” of SEOPC’s Area of Potential Effect is “located on lands originally allotted to Choctaws,” Thompson said.
In addition, private landowners “were shocked to see a project planned that puts their homes under water,” McBride continued in her letter to FERC. “The fact that SEOPC feels they can take land that is not theirs is something that bears a striking resemblance to what our tribe and many other tribes endured when we were forcibly removed from our ancestral homelands to place us in a land, a portion of which this project assumes it can rightfully occupy.”
Deyanne Woods of Clayton wrote that the proposed project would cause “irreversible damage … to our environment” with its water diversions from the Kiamichi River “to disrupting local ecosystems…” SEOPC’s project would destroy habitats, pollute water sources, “and threaten the very existence of wildlife in our region.” Woods asked, “Is the promise of short-term energy gains really worth sacrificing our natural heritage?”
The Tribal Council of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma opposes the hydropower project proposed by SEOPC.
“One of our Tribe’s top priorities is defending our sovereignty, which includes protecting our culture and community,” Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton wrote. “These efforts include being good stewards of our land and natural resources.”
FERC has recognized it must not issue preliminary permits for projects on Tribal land if a project is opposed by a Tribe “and we call on the agency to adhere to that policy,” Batton wrote.
SEOPC’s project “also runs counter to the historic Water Settlement Agreement between Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, other Tribes, Oklahoma City and the state of Oklahoma, which is enforceable as a matter of federal law,” Batton noted.
Additionally, the project would trigger numerous regulations and laws, including the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and others, Batton noted. “It also necessitates extensive studies and meetings with multiple state and federal agencies to fully understand the impact of the project.”
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