By Lois Henry, SJV Water
Six rafting enthusiasts held a grueling protest Sunday to draw awareness to what they say are inadequate flows in a 16-mile stretch of the Kern River because of Southern California Edison’s diversions to its Kernville power plant, Kern River 3 (KR3).
The boaters floated from Johnsondale Bridge to the Fairview Dam, where Edison takes water out of the river, running it through a flume high across the mountains to penstocks that deliver it to KR3, leaving the river bed with a fraction of its natural flow
Then they carried, or portaged, the 100-pound, 8-person raft provided by Whitewater Voyages 16 miles down Sierra Way to KR3, where Edison releases water back into the river.
Julianne Finch, Kate Adamson, Omar Ramirez, Jonathan Yates and Juan Vargas, all of Bakersfield, along with James Boster of Bishop, started their day driving to the launch site at 5:30 a.m., ending it back in the river, finally, at 5:30 p.m.
They hoped their long, slow – heavy – march would, “Help more people understand the impact of KR3 on the wild and scenic Kern River,” said Yates, who helped organize the protest. “It’s hard for most people to wrap their minds around exactly what this (power plant) diversion does. But maybe the image of a boat being carried because it’s no longer able to float because the water is too low will help.”
Yates said KR3’s diversions not only impinge on recreational opportunities, they also harm the river’s ecosystem and fishery for that stretch.
On Sunday, the river above Fairview Dam was flowing at 775 cubic feet per second. Edison took almost 600 cfs into its pipes, leaving about 185 cfs in the river below the dam, according to the Dreamflows website.
Rafters say they need at least 400 to 450 cfs to squeak past boulders and over low spots.
That could happen and still satisfy the state’s power needs using a different operational schedule, according to Brett Duxbury, with Kern River Boaters.
Duxbury’s organization has been deeply involved in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) relicensing process for KR3. The plant’s current license was issued in 1996. Its new license will cover the next 50 years.
FERC has already ruled out decommissioning the plant. So, this license will lay out how it operates, such as how much water Edison can take from the river and when.
Under the current scheme, Edison must release certain amounts for recreation between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. from April 1 through the end of July, depending on the river’s natural flow.
For instance, if the river is between 1,000 and 1,300 cfs, the minimum amount Edison must release is 700 cfs. Those general operations can result in only about 10 days of boatable flows in more lean years, Druxbury said, plus boaters don’t know until midnight how much will be released the following day, making it difficult for commercial rafters to plan trips for customers.
“It essentially removes two months of boating opportunities and depresses the experience on the river even when marginally adequate flows are available,” Duxbury said of the current recreational flow method.
The Kern River Boaters has proposed an alternate scenario that takes into account the market price of electricity given the “glut” of solar energy available for many days of the year.
On weekends in February and March, then every day from April through July 4, Duxbury said, if natural river flows are between 400 and 2,000 cfs, Edison should divert only 45 cfs from 6 a.m. to noon and leave the rest for the river.
That would add an average 61 days of additional water to the river, Duxbury said. It would also reduce KR3 energy output “at times of the day and months of the year when energy demand and energy prices are at their lowest,” the proposal states. It’s estimated that scenario would cost Edison no more than 1.5% of its wholesale revenue.
“The market is telling you it’s not valuable to the public to divert water to KR3 during those times,” he said.
For its part, Edison is proposing to stop all diversions for a predetermined 10-day period in spring, when runoff is rising, while it shuts down the plant for annual maintenance. That would provide more natural flows and increase certainly for commercial rafters, its proposal states.
An Edison spokesperson did not comment on the protest, only stating that the utility’s goal is “to ensure future license terms account for the preservation of natural habitats and recreational resources on the north fork Kern River,” while it provides carbon-free energy to Californians.
Yates said he and his team got some questions from drivers and others as they made their blistered way down the road on Sunday and were happy to talk about the reason for their trek.
As the relicensing process moves forward, the public may comment at any time on FERC’s online portal at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. Reference Docket No. P-2290.
All previous comments and documents are available online at https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search under Docket No. P-2290.
The next major milestone is April 2026 when all the required studies FERC assigned to Edison are due. A few months after that, it’s expected the project will be declared ready for “environmental analysis,” opening a formal public comment period. There will be another formal comment period after the analysis is completed.
