Sabine River Authority Issues
•FERC Relicensing of the Toledo Bend Project
–Hydroelectric Power Generation
•Drought
•Hydroelectric vs. Water Supply
Re-Licensing the Toledo Bend
Project
–
–
–
–
–
Current license issued Oct.1963 – Expires Sept. 2013
Filed NOI/PAD September 22, 2008
Preparing license application 2008 – 2011
File license application September, 2011
Re-licensing could affect all levels of Operations
• Lake levels
• Downstream releases
• Water supply yield
• Water releases for instream flows and bays & estuaries
• Hydroelectric power production
• Construction/Permitting within Project Boundary
FERC Relicensing Challenges
• In the early 1960’s, the Clean Water Act, the
National Environmental Protection Act, and
the National Historic Properties Act had not
been enacted.
• Before FERC will issue a new license for Toledo
Bend, all those Acts must be complied with.
• It is the responsibility of the licensee’s (SRA-TX
and SRA-LA) to prove the project is in
compliance.
Sabine River Basin Facts
•Length – 560 miles
•Drainage Area – 9,952 sq. mi.
25% in Louisiana
75% in Texas
•Boundary reach covered by
Sabine River Compact.
•Available water from the
boundary reach down is split
equally between States.
•Toledo Bend Dam is located 147
miles from top of Sabine Lake.
•Average Inflow into Sabine Lake –
5,982,000 Ac-ft/yr
Toledo Bend Project
• Water Supply
• Hydroelectric Power
• Recreation
Toledo Bend Reservoir
 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
– Project No. 2305; license issued 1963 (LA & TX)






185,000 surface acres
Max Power Pool Elev 172.0 ft MSL
Storage Capacity
4,477,000 acre-feet
Average Inflow
4,200,000 acre-feet/year
Shoreline
1,200+ miles
Drainage Area
7,190 sq. miles
Water Volumes
• 1 Acre-foot = 325,848 gallons
• Toledo Bend Reservoir
• 4,476,951 Acre-feet @ 172 ft. msl
• 4,200,000 Acre-feet annual average inflow
• Hydro Power Generation – 2 Units
• 28,000 acre-feet per 24 hours
• Haynesville Shale Hydrofracking
• 6.5 million gallons/ 20 acre-feet
• Evaporation Loss (Monthly)
• August – 40,000 acre-feet
“Firm Yield”
• “The amount of water that can be supplied
from a reservoir on an annual basis during the
most critical drought period of record.”
• Forest & Cotton, 1959
2,074,500 ac-ft
• Brown & Root, 1991
2,086,600 ac-ft
• TCB, 2005
1,908,000 ac-ft
• Louisiana’s Portion
954,000 ac-ft
Elevation and Volume
Toledo Bend Reservoir
172 msl
4,476,951 ac-ft
171 msl
170 msl
4,297,776 ac-ft
4,123,426 ac-ft
169 msl
3,953,801 ac-ft
168 msl
3,788,901 ac-ft
Elevation and Volume
Toledo Bend Reservoir
172 ft-msl
168 ft-msl
688,000 AcreFeet
15% of Total
Volume
16% of
Average
Annual Inflow
LA SRA Water Sales
(Toledo Bend Reservoir)
• Existing Contracts
Annual withdrawals: 27,589 ac-ft/yr
Additional options: 37,940 ac-ft/yr
Contracts total:
65,529 ac-ft/yr
Haynesville Shale (projected)

36,500 ac-ft/yr
• Non-Allocated Water
851,971 ac-ft/yr
Power Generation vs. Water
Supply
• Power Sales Agreement
– Expires 2018
– Notice of Termination due 2015
– Power Sales Revenue accounts for 40% of total SRA
Revenue
• Water Supply
– Toledo Bend:
• Accounts for 12% of SRA Revenue
– Diversion Canal
• Accounts for 34% of SRA Revenue
SRA Revenue
FY 06 -FY 10
Other
14%
SRD
34%
Water TB
12%
Power
40%
Future Utilization of Toledo
Bend Reservoir
• SRA’s Board of Commissioners has
adopted the strategy of developing
water sales as an alternative source of
revenue in lieu of hydroelectric power
generation.
• “Run of the River” for Power
Generation
– Environmental Flows
– Controlled excess capacity releases
Water Supply Proposal
• Out-of-State Sale
– Requires Governor’s Consent
• 600,000 Acre-Feet Per Year
• Maximum Monthly Withdrawal
– 75,000 Acre-Feet/month
– Equivalent to running 2-generators 2.67
days/month
• Drought Contingency Plan
Average Inflow
Acre-Feet
1969 - 2010
Power Sales vs Water Supply
800,000
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
Power Sales Agreement
1,000,000 Acre-feet
May - September
100,000
75,000
Ac-ft
Max
0
600,000 Acre-Feet Maximum Annual Water Supply
January
(100,000)
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November December
Relative Value of Water for
Hydropower vs. Water Supply
(Based on one million acre-feet)
Hydro
$2,606,808
Approx. $.008 / 1000 Gallon
Water Supply
$48,877,650
$6
0,
00
0,
00
0
$5
0,
00
0,
00
0
$4
0,
00
0,
00
0
$3
0,
00
0,
00
0
$2
0,
00
0,
00
0
$1
0,
00
0,
00
0
$0
$.15 / 1000 Gallon
Balancing Water Supply/Lake Level
SRA-LA & SRA-TX
• Inter-Basin Transfers
– Present Law prohibits SRA-TX from transferring water
outside the Sabine River Basin
– Highly probable SRA-TX will be granted a permit to transfer
300,000 acre-feet per year outside the Sabine River Basin
of Texas
• SRA-LA will reduce its allocation to 300,000 acre-feet per year
• Proposed Cooperative Agreement
– In the event SRA-TX does not receive an Interbasin
Transfer Permit, SRA-LA may enter into agreement with
SRA-TX to purchase up to 300,000 acre-feet per year for
lake-level mitigation and to balance operational budgets
Water Supply vs. Hydroelectric
CONCLUSION
• Extensive Financial and Environmental
Analysis have been conducted
• Minimal Environmental Impact and
Substantial Economic and Social Benefits
• Consistent with purposes for which Toledo
Bend was constructed
• Consistent with the public trust mandate of
Article IX, 1 of the Louisiana Constitution