Opinion ID: 2801043
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Federal Lands Determination

Text: The Districts take issue with FERC’s determination that the La Grange Reservoir extends onto federal lands. The Districts argue that FERC acted arbitrarily by ignoring their water level gradient analysis, which purported to show that the reservoir ended about 5,300 feet upstream of the dam, short of federal lands. They also argue that FERC’s attempt to calculate the precise point where the reservoir ends disregards the practical limitations of the data, namely that the results of FERC’s 16 backwater analysis can have no better than a 0.5 to 1.0 foot degree of accuracy. We reject both arguments, and hold that FERC properly relied on the results of its backwater analysis to conclude that the La Grange reservoir extends onto federal lands. The FPA requires licensure of a hydroelectric plant if its “dam, water conduit, reservoir, power house, or other works incidental thereto” are located “upon any part of the public lands or reservations of the United States.” 16 U.S.C. § 817(1). The Commission found that the La Grange reservoir extends onto federal lands located approximately 5,800 feet upstream of the La Grange Dam. To support this determination, the Commission relied upon its backwater analysis, as well as a contour analysis submitted by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Contrary to the Districts’ arguments, FERC also considered the Districts’ water level gradient analysis when making its federal lands determination. It found the results “misleading.” Turlock Irrig. Dist., 141 FERC ¶ 62,211 P 31. As FERC explained in its order, the Districts’ analysis “assumes that reservoir water surface gradients generally appear flat and uniform, whereas river gradients in steeper areas appear higher and follow the river bed.” Id. However, because reservoirs are influenced by the terrain, they can have a gradient such that their surface level varies, depending on where it is measured. Id. Accordingly, FERC found that focusing on the gradient of the water surface elevation “can lead to incorrect conclusions about the extent of the reservoir.” Id. Instead, FERC relied on the results of its backwater analysis to determine whether the La Grange reservoir extends onto federal lands. FERC has previously defined “backwater” as “the amount the depth of flow has been increased by an obstruction such as a dam.” Turlock Irrig. Dist., 141 FERC ¶ 62,211 P 28. (citing Public Utility Dist. No. 1 of Pend Oreille 17 County, Washington, 77 FERC ¶ 61,146, 61,543 n.11 (Nov. 13, 1996)). Under this definition, the upstream extent of the reservoir is the point where the depth of the river for “with-dam” and “without-dam” conditions are equal. Turlock Irrig. Dist., 141 FERC ¶ 62,211 P 28. When performing this analysis, FERC calculates the depth for “with-dam” and “without-dam” conditions, plots the data as two lines on a graph, and then, relying on “eye observation,” determines the point of tangency, i.e., the point where the two lines meet. Turlock Irrig. Dist., 144 FERC ¶ 61,051 P 76. This point denotes the end of the reservoir. Id. Both FERC and the Districts used this method to determine the end point of the reservoir, and their calculations regarding the depth of the river for “with-dam” and “withoutdam” conditions were the same. Compare Joint Appendix 175–79 (the Districts’ calculations), with Joint Appendix 421–27 (FERC’s calculations). FERC and the Districts differed, however, in their interpretation of this data. The Districts interpreted the data as suggesting that the reservoir ended somewhere around 5,300 feet, before the federal lands boundary. FERC found that the Reservoir extended more than 11,300 feet upstream of the La Grange Dam, reaching BLM land. FERC opined that this discrepancy in interpretation was a result of the graphs upon which the Districts relied: The Districts reach a different conclusion because they plot their results on smaller graphs with a more compressed scale and use thicker lines to depict the with-dam and without-dam conditions. This makes the two lines appear to converge at a point somewhere between 4,700 and 5,300 feet upstream of the La Grange Dam, downstream of the BLM land boundary. [FERC] [s]taff, using slightly larger graphs with a less compressed scale and thinner lines, determined the correct point of tangency as occurring much farther upstream, more than 11,300 feet upstream of the La 18 Grange Dam, and well upstream of the BLM boundary. . . . . Staff used the same method as the Districts, but its graphs showed the results more clearly. Turlock Irrig. Dist., 144 FERC ¶ 61,051 P 77. The Districts frame their arguments as objections to the techniques or models employed by FERC, but they are actually objecting to FERC’s interpretation of the data. The Districts complain that FERC’s interpretation of the data is erroneous because it ignores the 0.5 to 1.0 foot degree of accuracy limitation inherent in any backwater analysis. They assert that “[a]pplying this degree of accuracy, the upstream end of the La Grange Reservoir would extend no further than 5,400 ft upstream of the La Grange Dam.” Districts’ Request for Rehearing at 23 (Jan. 18, 2013). Without more, such conclusory statements do not provide sufficient evidence for us to overturn FERC’s interpretation. The Districts nowhere identify a methodology for taking the degree of accuracy into account. In fact, in their 34-page request for rehearing, the Districts devote only two sentences to this issue, neither of which explains how FERC ought to adjust its interpretation of the data based on the degree of accuracy. Despite this lack of explanation, the Districts ask us to overturn FERC’s determination. This we will not do. “We are reluctant to interfere with an agency’s choice of methodology so long as it is not irrational.” California v. Watt, 668 F.2d 1290, 1320 (D.C. Cir. 1981). In the absence of evidence establishing that FERC’s interpretation was erroneous, we reject the Districts’ argument that FERC acted arbitrarily in its interpretation of the backwater analysis. However, even if we were to disregard FERC’s interpretation of the backwater analysis, we could still sustain FERC’s conclusion that the reservoir extends onto BLM land based on the contour analysis survey performed by the National Marine Fisheries Service. FERC often relies on contour lines to 19 determine the length of a reservoir. See 18 C.F.R. § 4.41(h)(2)(i)(A)(1) (contour lines are the “preferred method” for describing project boundaries); Districts’ Request for Rehearing at 25, Joint Appendix 452 (“A brief sampling of other licenses shows that the Commission often uses a contour line for establishing a reservoir’s upstream boundary.”). In this case, the Fisheries Service used a contour elevation projected from the La Grange Dam’s spillway crest elevation of 296.46 feet mean sea level to demonstrate that the La Grange Reservoir extends onto BLM land. FERC found that this analysis “conclusively demonstrate[s] that the La Grange Reservoir occupies federal lands.” Turlock Irrig. Dist., 144 FERC ¶ 61,051 P 86. The Districts argue that the Fisheries Service’s analysis was flawed because it used the spillway crest elevation of 296.46 feet mean sea level as the normal maximum surface elevation, as opposed to using the level at which the Districts normally operate La Grange. FERC rejected this argument, noting that the “normal maximum surface elevation of a reservoir is typically defined as the crest of the dam or spillway.” Turlock Irrig. Dist., 144 FERC ¶ 61,051 P 85. “[B]ecause the top of the [La Grange Dam] is almost entirely a spillway,” the spillway crest defines the reservoir’s normal maximum surface elevation, “not some lower elevation that a project operator may choose to maintain for operational reasons.” Turlock Irrig. Dist., 141 FERC ¶ 62,211 P 32 n.64. This conclusion is consistent with FERC’s data documenting the elevation of the reservoir between the years 2009 and 2011, Turlock Irrig. Dist., 144 FERC ¶ 61,051 P 85 n.119, as well as the Districts’ backwater analysis, which used 296.46 feet mean sea level as the normal water surface elevation, Joint Appendix 158. “[W]hen agency orders involve complex scientific or technical questions . . . we are particularly reluctant to interfere with the agency’s reasoned judgments.” B&J Oil and Gas, 353 F.3d at 76. Where, as in this case, the agency has “examined the 20 relevant data and has articulated an adequate explanation for its action,” we will defer to the agency’s decision. City of Waukesha v. EPA, 320 F.3d 228, 247 (D.C. Cir. 2003) (quotations and citation omitted).