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Rush Creek Project Relicensing (FERC P-1389)
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Rush Creek Project Relicensing (FERC P-1389)
Southern California Edison (SCE) is beginning the relicensing process for the Rush Creek Hydroelectric Project. Please use this page to learn how to get involved and stay current.
Last updated: June 2024
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Please complete the Contact Registration Form if you are interested in participating in the relicensing proceeding. This will ensure you are included on the distribution list and receive future relicensing proceeding communications and meeting notifications.
Register online to be notified via e-mail of new FERC filings and issuances related to the Rush Creek Project. Follow the online instructions and subscribe to docket number P-1389.
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Stay Informed
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SCE’s operating license for the Rush Creek Project (Project), FERC Project No. 1389, expires on January 31, 2027. Consequently, SCE is taking the initial steps required by the Federal Power Act and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to obtain a new license for the Project using the Integrated Licensing Process (ILP). The ILP requires that SCE prepare a Notice of Intent (NOI) and Pre-Application Document (PAD) to be filed with FERC between five and five and one-half years before the expiration of the existing license (i.e., January 31, 2022).
FERC's eLibrary contains all documents related to the Rush Creek Project. Below are links to relevant relicensing documents (in descending chronological order).
The Rush Creek Project is located on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Mono County, California. It is approximately four miles southwest of the unincorporated community of June Lake. The majority of the Project occupies federal lands within the Inyo National Forest, which is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service (portions of the Project are located within the Ansel Adams Wilderness Area). The Project was constructed between 1915 and 1918 and later modified in 1924 and 1925 before the formation of the Wilderness.
The 13.01-megawatt Project includes three dams and associated reservoirs – Agnew Dam (Agnew Lake), Gem Dam (Gem Lake), and Rush Meadows Dam (Waugh Lake); a water conveyance system; the Rush Creek Powerhouse; and ancillary facilities. The three Project reservoirs historically provided storage for lake recreation during the summer and allowed for electricity generation at the Rush Creek Powerhouse in the fall/winter. Water exiting the powerhouse enters a short tailrace and returns to Rush Creek upstream of Silver Lake.
Recently, SCE conducted fault studies, structural testing, and engineering analyses of Agnew, Gem, and Rush Meadows dams after the Silver Lake Fault was identified as a potential safety concern in 2007. As a result of the analyses and subsequent consultation with FERC and DSOD, SCE implemented storage restrictions at the three reservoirs beginning in 2012, as well as structural modifications at the Agnew and Rush Meadows dams in 2017 and 2018 and Gem Dam in 2020 and 2021.
Take a virtual tour of the Rush Creek Hydroelectric Project.
The TWG process is open to all interested parties, including public agencies, Native American tribes, non-governmental organizations, and individuals. Participants are expected to make a significant time commitment to prepare for and attend meetings, review documents, and provide technical input to SCE and its consultants on methods, analysis, and interpretation in a timely fashion. Given this time commitment, the TWG process is expected to attract a relatively small number of subject matter experts. SCE will also support a concurrent but separate outreach effort to provide information about the relicensing to the interested public and stakeholders electing not to participate in the TWG process via electronic communication and updates to the Project website.
Meetings with TWGs were held in the winter of 2023 and spring of 2024 to discuss the first round of Technical Study Reports. Prior meetings were held in February and March 2022 to solicit input on developing Technical Study Plans.
