EVMWD Terminates LEAPS Agreement

Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD) announced it is terminating its agreement with Nevada Hydro Company to develop the Lake Elsinore Advanced Pumped Storage Project (LEAPS).

In a released statement provided Friday by Greg Morrison, director of legislative and community affairs for EVMWD, it was announced the water district’s decision to terminate the agreement was based on

The district board met in closed session Thursday to discuss the project, Morrison said.

“President Wicke announced that, absent of Director Guglielmana, the Board of Directors of Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District unanimously directed its legal counsel to formally terminate the 1997 Development Agreement with the Nevada Hydro Company, on advice of its legal counsel, in light of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s dismissal of the application for a Hydropower License P11858, pending before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Board of Directors will continue to evaluate its legal options,” the statement read.

Earlier this week, Nevada Hydro Project Manager David Kates said the company would appeal the federal decision. But in light of the EVMWD announcement, when reached by phone Friday afternoon Kates said he had no comment.

The district's decision further compounds problems for Nevada Hydro. Currently, the company is embroiled in a lawsuit with the State Water Resources Control Board over the board's denial of the LEAPS water-quality certificate.

Additionally, an application before the California Public Utilities Commission to approve the powerline portion of the LEAPS project (the Talega-Escondido/Valley-Serrano 500 kV Interconnect Project) is still pending and faces strong opposition by environmental groups and local residents.

If constructed, the project would see nearly 32 miles of overhead powerlines and 138 steel lattice towers stretching from the proposed Lake Elsinore Advanced Pump Storage Project (LEAPS) facility, southward to SDG&E's existing 230 kV Talega-Escondido transmission line in San Diego County, and northward to SCE's 500 kV Valley-Serrano transmission line in Riverside County. The electrical transmission line and towers would wind through the Cleveland National Forest, just west of Lake Elsinore and other Southwest Riverside cities.