Opinion ID: 1559181
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Martin Dam

Text: It is undisputed that the farmers own property near the Tallapoosa River. APCo operates four hydroelectric dams on the Tallapoosa River upstream from the farmers' property. From north to south they are: Harris Dam, Martin Dam, Yates Dam, and Thurlow Dam. Yates Dam and Thurlow Dam are run of the river dams, which have no ability to store water and therefore release as much water as flows into them. Harris Dam and Martin Dam have reservoirs that form artificial lakes above the dams. The reservoirs provide storage space in which inflowing water may be held instead of being released downstream. Harris Dam and Martin Dam are therefore able to implement flood-control measures to the extent that storage space is available in their reservoirs. The amount of storage space available in a reservoir is directly related to the level of the lake behind the dam. The higher the lake level, the less storage space is available for inflowing water. Lake level is measured in terms of feet above mean sea level. At Lake Martin above Martin Dam, full pool, i.e., the highest summer elevation of the lake, is 490 feet above mean sea level. APCo does not own land above 490 feet, and once the lake level has reached full pool there is no storage space. However, the maximum holding capacity of the reservoir at Lake Martin is in excess of 500 feet. Lake Martin's level is controlled, in part, by releases of water through the hydraulic turbines or spillway gates at the dam. APCo operates the Harris, Martin, Yates, and Thurlow Dams under licenses granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the FERC). Its licenses were originally granted by the Federal Power Commission (the FPC); however, the FPC's responsibilities were transferred to the FERC on October 1, 1977. APCo's original license for Martin Dam was issued by the FPC in 1923 for 50 years. The 1923 license did not contain any provisions regarding flood control. In 1965, when the FPC issued the license for Thurlow Dam, which is located downstream from Martin Dam, several downstream landowners attempted to intervene in the licensing proceeding. The landowners requested that the FPC require APCo to maintain storage space at Thurlow Dam between December 1 and April 1 to absorb floodwater. Recognizing that Thurlow Dam was a run-of-the-river dam and did not have storage space, the FPC instead inserted provisions in the license for Thurlow Dam that required APCo to operate all of its Tallapoosa River projects, including the Martin reservoir...[,] in a manner which will tend to insure that stages no higher than natural peak stage can occur downstream from the Thurlow dam. In 1970, the FPC amended the Thurlow license to state the following requirements relative to APCo's operation of Martin Dam: Article 33. [APCo] shall coordinate the operations of all of its Tallapoosa River Projects in such a manner that, during periods when inflow to the reservoirs exceeds the water capacities of hydraulic turbines, rates of outflow from the reservoirs shall not exceed concurrent rates of inflow except to evacuate accumulated surcharge storage subsequent to the time of peak inflow. . . . . Article 35. [APCo] shall in the interests of flood control and to the extent consistent with Licensee's power requirements, operate its [Thurlow Dam] in coordination with all of its Tallapoosa River Projects, and shall coordinate the operations, including those required under the provisions of Article 33 with the District Engineer, [United States Army] Corps of Engineers. In a 1975 order regarding the Thurlow license, the FPC explained that the purpose of Article 33 is not to ensure that flooding will be eliminated, but rather that operation of the project will not increase peak flood flow. The FPC noted: It is not in the public interest nor is it the duty of [APCo] to completely eliminate flooding to the detriment of power generation, recreation in the reservoir, and other project purposes. Articles 33 and 35 [2] of the Thurlow license applied to all APCo's Tallapoosa River dams, including Martin Dam. APCo's representatives testified during depositions in this case that these provisions still apply to Martin Dam. Martin Dam is not subject to mandatory flood-control regulations of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps of Engineers), as is Harris Dam, which is upstream from Martin Dam; however, Article 35 requires APCo to coordinate its operation of Martin Dam with the Corps of Engineers. In 1970, three years before its 1923 license for Martin Dam was to expire, APCo filed an application with the FPC to renew the license. Pursuant to then existing federal regulations, APCo filed an exhibit with its application, Exhibit H, detailing how it would operate Martin Dam during times of low, normal, and flood flows. 18 C.F.R. § 4.41 (1970). Two groups of individuals intervened in the application process and commented regarding APCo's proposed operation of Martin Dam under Exhibit H. First, the Lake Martin Recreation Association (LMRA) objected to operation of Martin Dam in a manner that would allow lake levels to fluctuate or to remain low during the summer months. The LMRA contended that the configuration of Lake Martin is such that a draw down of only a few feet exposes thousands of acres of [lake] bottom, rendering boat ramps, wharves, and piers unuseable. Second, downstream landowners objected to the operation of Martin Dam in a manner that would allow high lake levels during rainy seasons. Specifically, they wanted the FPC to require APCo to maintain storage space in the Lake Martin reservoir between December 1 and April 1 each year. They stated: There exists no threat of flood between 1 April and 15 September. Thus, during this period (1 April15 September), there exists no valid flood control reason that a relatively stable pool level would not be maintained at Lake Martin near maximum elevation. After negotiations, APCo and the intervenors reached an agreement regarding the drawdown and fluctuation of the lake level at Lake Martin. Pursuant to that agreement, APCo drafted a revised Exhibit H (Settlement Exhibit H), which balanced the competing interests of the LMRA and the downstream landowners. Settlement Exhibit H included a chart showing the flood-control guideline and the operating guideline for Martin Dam. The flood-control guideline specifies the high lake level at which mandatory flood-control operations will engage throughout the year. The operating guideline is a guide for target lake levels throughout the year; it is not mandatory. Together, the flood-control guideline and the operating guideline make up the operating curve for Lake Martin. From May through mid-July, the operating curve shows the flood-control guideline at full pool, 490 feet, and the operating guideline at 489 feet. Accordingly, for the months at issue in this action, Settlement Exhibit H specified that APCo was to maintain Lake Martin at a lake level between 489 and 490 feet. Depending on the lake level specified by the operating curve, Settlement Exhibit H established flood-control operations for Martin Dam in the form of controlled releases of water increasing to no more than 50,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) up to a lake level of 490 feet. If the lake level continued to rise above 490 feet, Settlement Exhibit H specified that APCo should operate Martin Dam at its full discharge capacity of 145,000 cfs only after lake level reached 490.5 feet. Settlement Exhibit H also stated that APCo was to communicate with the Corps of Engineers during flood periods and to modify its operations pursuant to instructions from the Corps of Engineers if greater flood-control benefits could be attained. APCo filed Settlement Exhibit H with the FPC in February 1973, and the intervenors withdrew their objections. At the FPC's request, the Corps of Engineers reviewed Settlement Exhibit H. The Corps concluded that the seasonal operating plan for the Martin project as shown in [Settlement] Exhibit H is satisfactory with respect to flood control operation. The FPC extended APCo's license to operate Martin Dam. In May 1978, after the transfer of authority from the FPC to the FERC in 1977, the FERC issued APCo a new license to operate Martin Dam for 40 years, effective as of the 1973 expiration of its original license. In the 1978 license, the FERC identified numerous purposes and uses of the Martin Dam and reservoir, including limited flood control when the reservoir is in drawdown condition. The 1978 license included Settlement Exhibit H and recognized the flood-control obligations imposed by Articles 33 and 35 of the Thurlow license. [3] Consistent with the operating curve in Settlement Exhibit H, the license states that the reservoir will usually reach full pool in May and maintain an elevation above 487 feet until after September 1. In November 1978, APCo sent a letter to the FERC informing the FERC of changes APCo was implementing in the proposed flood-control operations of Martin Dam. APCo advised the FERC that it wanted to delete certain paragraphs from the flood-control operations detailed in Settlement Exhibit H and replace them with the following statement: When the reservoir is above the Flood Control Guideline and above elevation 488, turbines at Martin Dam will be operated [to provide a continuous outflow of approximately 11,000 cfs] and further, if required to avoid rising above elevation 490.0, will be operated to provide an outflow from Martin Reservoir at least equivalent to all turbine units available operating at full gate and gates will be raised so that the reservoir will not exceed elevation 490.0 except after all gates are raised and inflow exceeds the gate capacity. At elevation 490.0, the spillway will have a discharge capacity of 133,000 cfs. Accordingly, the 1978 amendment did not allow the lake level to rise above 490 feet and did not prevent APCo from using its full discharge capacity of 145,000 cfs until the level reached 490.5 feet. As previously noted, Settlement Exhibit H had specified that APCo should operate Martin Dam at its full discharge capacity of 145,000 cfs only after the lake level had reached 490.5 feet. APCo's representatives testified that APCo made this change because it did not own property above 490 feet. The change did not affect the flood-control guideline or the operating curve. APCo did not notify the 1970 intervenors of the change. APCo offered to provide additional information regarding the change in operations to the FERC; however, the FERC never requested more information from APCo. The FERC did not expressly approve the 1978 amendment to Settlement Exhibit H. However, at APCo's request, after the farmers commenced this action, the FERC confirmed that the 1978 amendment to Settlement Exhibit H is binding on APCo. Pursuant to the operating curve in Settlement Exhibit H as amended by the 1978 amendment, APCo maintained Lake Martin at full pool490 feetor slightly below during the summer months. In 1989, without prompting from the FERC, the Corps of Engineers, or any outside source, APCo decided to maintain one-half foot of storage in the Lake Martin reservoir and thereafter maintained Lake Martin at 489.5 feet during the summer months. APCo used the one-half foot of storage for several project purposes, including flood control. APCo's representatives testified that the additional one-half foot of storage enables APCo to begin flood-control operations at a lower lake level and helps prevent the lake level from rising above 490 feet. APCo pre-evacuates water in anticipation of flood events through the turbines at Martin Dam; it does not release water through the dam's spillway gates for pre-evacuation purposes.