State Won’t Oppose Cushman Plant License

Punting the issue of fish and river flows to the federal government, the state said Wednesday it would not oppose Tacoma City Light’s application for a new federal operating license for its hydroelectric power plant on Lake Cushman.

The state Ecology Department took the unusual step of waiving its authority to determine if Tacoma’s proposal meets state coastal zone protection laws, including state water quality standards.

The utility has proposed to leave about 13 percent of the Skokomish River’s natural flows in the river channel. It now diverts all but 4 percent of the river.

Ecology says the higher levels proposed by Tacoma would still likely violate water quality standards because there would not be enough water to restore fish and fish habitat in the North Fork of the river. But the agency said it would not oppose the proposal because it hopes the federal government will issue a license for the project and require Tacoma to increase the amount of water in the North Fork to at least 30 percent of natural flows.