Lake Information

What is Project 2105?

Excerpted from the Project 2105 site.
Project 2105 is a federally regulated and licensed hydro-electric project located in Northern California in Plumas County owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license number 2105.  A significant feature of the project is Lake Almanor, a large reservoir that provides water storage for the hydro project and important recreation benefits for residents and visitors.
 
In October, 2004 PG&E’s FERC license for Project 2015 expired and since then PG&E has actively worked to obtain a new license.  Because the project significantly impacts Plumas County residents and visitors, local residents and property owners formed the 2105 Working Group (previously called the 2105 Committee) to actively work to ensure that the new FERC license contains provisions that recognize the importance of the project, and in particular the lake, to Plumas County.

The 2105 Working Group has developed goals that if incorporated in the new FERC license will:

• ensure a reasonable summer time water level for Lake Almanor
• require monitoring of the lake to maintain water quality
• provide increased public access to the lake
• require PG&E to invest in recreation facilities, some of which will be constructed prior to the issuance of the new FERC license
• mitigate the ongoing erosion of the Lake Almanor shoreline
• provide for a safety policy for those who use the lake for recreation

Beginning in 2002, the 2105 Working Group worked closely with the 2105 Licensing Group, a group of interested parties that worked collaboratively to reach a settlement in March 2004.  The Settlement Agreement, which incorporate the goals described above, was executed by the Parties in April 2004, except for the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), and is expected to provide the basis of license articles that FERC will include in the new Project 2105 FERC license.
 
With the Settlement Agreement completed, several issues remain unresolved including the term of the license (30, 40, or 50 years), whether PG&E has the right to erode the shoreline of Lake Almanor, and the SWRCB’s concern of water temperatures in the lower reaches of the North Fork Feather River (NFFR).
 
Project 2105 includes Lake Almanor, Butt Valley Reservoir, and Butt Valley, Caribou 1&2,  Belden, and Oak Flat powerhouses. The center piece of the project is Lake Almanor which is located about 30 miles south of Mt. Lassen, the southern-most volcano in the Cascade Range. At a full reservoir elevation of 4494 feet, Lake Almanor contains over 1 million acre-feet of water storage with a shore line length of 52 miles.

Community Action - Write Letters to FERC

Congressman Doug LaMalfa has submitted the concerns of his Lake Almanor constituents to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) regarding the relicensing of the Upper North Fork Feather River Project, FERC No. 2105 (Project), that includes Lake Almanor.  Read LaMalfa's letter to FERC here.

As of June 30, 2021, FERC has received 100 letters from the Lake Almanor community communicating our concerns about the negative impact of drawing 250 cfs of cold water from Lake Almanor, June - September of each year.  According to Shane Starr of Mr. LaMalfa's office, 100 letters is not enough. To be taken seriously, we need to up the ante and submit many more letters to get the attention the FERC bureaucratic process requires.

We ask our community to continue to submit letters to FERC. 

If you have any questions, please call Wendi Durkin, Chair of the Save Lake Almanor Committee 530-228-2683 or Susan Bryner, President of the Lake Almanor Area Chamber 530-588-3799.