Chapter V: Merced Wild and Scenic
River
In 1987, the U.S. Congress designated the Merced River a
Wild and Scenic River to protect its free-flowing condition and to protect and
enhance its unique values for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future
generations (16 United States Code 1271). This designation gives the Merced
River special protection under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and
requires the managing agencies to prepare a comprehensive management plan for
the river and its immediate environment.
After reaching a Record of Decision on the final
environmental impact statement, the National Park Service released the Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive
Management Plan (referred to hereafter as the Merced River Plan) in
February 2001, which outlines how the Merced Wild and Scenic
River corridor will be managed. The
Merced River Plan applies seven management elements to prescribe desired future
conditions, typical visitor activities and experiences, and park facilities and
management activities allowed in the river corridor. The management elements
include boundaries, classifications, Outstandingly Remarkable Values, the Wild
and Scenic River Act Section 7 determination process, the River Protection
Overlay, management zoning, and the Visitor Experience and Resource Protection
framework.
The National Park Service uses the management elements as
a set of decision-making criteria with which to evaluate projects in the Merced
Wild and Scenic River
corridor, such as the Cascades Diversion Dam Removal Project. This chapter
evaluates the consistency of the proposed action with the management elements
of the Merced River Plan. An overview of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and of
the Merced River Plan and its management elements may be found in the Merced
River Plan (incorporated by reference) (NPS 2001a).
This chapter summarizes the consistency analysis with the Merced
River Plan, including the findings of the Cascades Diversion Dam Project Wild
and Scenic River Act Section 7 Determination, which is included in Appendix B, Merced
Wild and Scenic River Section 7 Determination.
Relationship to the Boundary
The proposed action would occur within the Merced Wild and
Scenic River
boundary in Segment 3A, Impoundment.
Classification Compatibility
The river segment at the dam from the top of the pool to
200 feet below the dam is classified as recreational, due to the human-made
impoundment at the site. The river segments upstream and downstream of the dam
are classified as scenic, a designation reserved for sections of rivers that
are “free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely
primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by
roads.” Upon implementation of the proposed action, the river segment through
the dam site would be restored to a free-flowing state, near natural conditions.
It would then be reclassified as scenic, as is called for in the Merced River
Plan. The proposed action would reduce the aggregate amount and type of
shoreline development. As a result, the proposed action is compatible with the
resultant scenic classification.
Changing the classification from recreation to scenic
would not affect visitor experience, natural, cultural, or social resources, or
the associated Outstandingly Remarkable Values. Changing the classification is
a technical adjustment consistent with the post-project site conditions, which will
be “free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive
and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads.”
Outstandingly Remarkable Values
The proposed action would remove Cascades Diversion Dam
and attendant structures, restoring the free-flowing condition of the Merced Wild
and Scenic River and returning this portion of
the river to a more natural state, thereby enhancing its integrity. Table B-2
(see Appendix B, Merced Wild and Scenic River Section 7 Determination)
describes the effects of the proposed action on each of the Outstandingly
Remarkable Values that apply to the Impoundment, Gorge, and El Portal river
segments. As indicated in Table B-1, the proposed action would have a
beneficial effect on the biological and hydrologic processes Outstandingly
Remarkable Values. The proposed action would not result in any changes to the
current level of protection and enhancement of the scientific, scenic, geologic
processes, recreation, or cultural Outstandingly Remarkable Values. As a
result, implementation of the proposed action would allow the National Park
Service to protect and enhance the river’s Outstandingly Remarkable Values.
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act Section 7 Determination Process
Pursuant to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the National
Park Service must carry out a Section 7 determination on all proposed water
resources projects to ensure that they do not affect free flow and do not
directly and adversely impact the Outstandingly Remarkable Values for which the
river was designated. The proposed action would remove a human-made structure
from the bed and banks of the Merced Wild and Scenic River.
Free-flow and natural fluvial processes (e.g., sediment transport, fish
passage) would be returned to a more natural condition. Upon dam removal, the
channel of the Merced Wild and Scenic River
would naturally narrow and deepen. The floodplain in the immediate vicinity of
the impoundment would be enlarged and stabilized. Riparian and floodplain
extent, functions, and values would be enhanced. The proposed action would have
a beneficial effect on the biological and hydrologic processes Outstandingly
Remarkable Values. The proposed action would not result in any changes to the
current level of protection and enhancement of the scientific, scenic, geologic
process, recreation, and cultural Outstandingly Remarkable Values. The National
Park Service concludes that the proposed action would enhance free flow of the
Merced Wild and Scenic River
and would protect the Outstandingly Remarkable Values for which the river was
designated Wild and Scenic. For additional detail, refer to Appendix B, Merced
Wild and Scenic River Section 7 Determination.
River Protection Overlay
The
proposed action would remove a human-made structure from the bed and banks of
the Merced Wild and Scenic River. Free-flow and
natural fluvial processes would be returned to more natural conditions. One of
the purposes of the River Protection Overlay is to protect and restore
hydrologic processes within the river corridor. In the vicinity of Cascades
Diversion Dam, the River Protection Overlay includes the Merced Wild and Scenic
River channel itself, and extends 150 feet on
both sides of the river, measured from the ordinary high-water mark. Presence
of a nonessential facility within the River Protection Overlay is inconsistent
with the River Protection Overlay purpose described above. Removal of the dam
from the River Protection Overlay would rectify this inconsistency.
The proposed action is consistent with this management
element of the Merced River Plan.
Management Zoning
The management zones applicable to the Cascades Diversion
Dam Removal Project include:
§
Discovery (2B) north of the river in the
Impoundment segment
§
Open Space (2A) south of the river in the
Impoundment segment
The dam itself is located in management zones 2A and 2B.
The Open Space (2A) zone allows for relatively undisturbed natural areas that
receive only incidental or casual use, while the Discovery (2B) zone is
characterized by relatively quiet natural areas, where visitor encounters are
low to moderate. Because the proposed action would remove a human-made
structure from the bed and banks of the Merced Wild and Scenic River
and return this segment of the river to more natural conditions, the proposed action
