Tahoe National Forest; Placer County, California; Sugar Pine Project Water Right Permit 15375 Extension and Radial Gates Installation

Foresthill Public Utility District (Foresthill) has submitted an application to the Tahoe National Forest (TNF) to amend their existing Special Use Permit (Permit) for Sugar Pine Dam and Reservoir (Sugar Pine Project) to increase water storage capacity of the reservoir and improve the stability of Foresthill's water supply by installing radial steel gates in the spillway of the dam. Installation of the radial gates would increase water storage capacity by 3,950 acre-feet (AF) up from 6,922 AF currently to 10,872 AF after installation; the maximum surface elevation of the reservoir would rise 20 vertical feet and inundate approximately 44 additional acres of NFS lands. The surface area of the reservoir would increase from 160 acres to approximately 204 acres if the project is implemented. Important NFS resources would be impacted by the project; popular reservoir recreation facilities would be inundated along with habitat for plants and wildlife, including habitat for Forest Service Sensitive Species.