Thank you for the interesting letter to the editor regarding the Sunset Falls hydro project being contemplated by Snohomish County PUD. (“New manager must stop project.”) The author covered a lot of ground, requesting that new CEO Craig Collar reconsider the wisdom of the proposed project against global warming effects on stream flows, endangered species impacts, and the rapidly increasing cost of new hydro compared to cheaper solar energy based alternatives.
The dual fatal flaws of the Sunset Falls project for Snohomish County PUD are “economic” and “environmental.” The federal licensing process is immensely expensive, up to 25 percent or 30 percent of total project cost, even for “easy” projects with few opponents and no major environmental concerns, which is the opposite of Sunset Falls.
Sunset Falls has Endangered Species Act-threatened salmon, bull trout and steelhead critical habitat issues. Sunset is a Washington state protected scenic river. It is also a Northwest Power and Conservation Council protected river — where hydropower is prohibited. To move forward, SnoCo PUD would have to “take” two scenic waterfalls from the public by draining the water flow in direct conflict with state law.
SnoCo PUD has not yet filed its license application so there is time to reconsider, but if they persist, they face at least another decade of expensive licensing proceedings, mass public, departmental and tribal opposition — and complete uncertainty of the outcome — while better solar options go wanting for funding and attention.
Collar appears to be very highly qualified to unravel this mess. We need his best work to stop the Sunset Falls debacle.
David Wick
Marysville
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