Crystal Creek Pumped Storage Project Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statement
Southern California

Under an engineering and environmental services contract, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requested that the Louis Berger Group, Inc. prepare draft and final Environmental Impact Statements for the proposed Crystal Creek Pumped Storage Project in southern California.

An application was filed with FERC for an original license to construct the 500-megawatt Crystal Creek Pumped Storage Facility. Pumped storage facilities use water to generate energy during off-peak periods which is stored and then provided to consumers during peak periods. The facility would include two reservoirs connected by underground conduits through a surface powerhouse. A novel feature of the project is the use of a thick density polyethylene bladder in both reservoirs that would contain the water and drastically reduce evaporation. Other significant issues associated with the project concern water rights, retention of relatively rare desert riparian habitat, and the protection of sensitive, threatened, and endangered species.

The Crystal Creek Pumped Storage Project would occupy about 237 acres of land within the San Bernardino National Forest and 270 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and private lands in southern California. As such, the project offers the challenge of blending the new construction of a major power generating facility within the fragile ecology and scenic beauty of a national forest.

Preparation of the draft EIS is pending receipt of the responses to additional information requests. FERC is seeking the cooperation of both the Forest Service and the BLM in the preparation of the EIS.