Muckleshoot Indian Tribe v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, City of Seattle, Respondent-Intervenor

We consider whether the Cedar River is navigable within the meaning of the Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 791 -825r (1988), thereby giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensing jurisdiction over Seattle’s Cedar Falls Project. Presently, this city-owned hydroelectric project operates without a federal license. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe appeals FERC’s finding that it lacks licensing jurisdiction under 16 U.S.C. §§ 797 (e) and 817(1) because the river is nonnavigable. We have jurisdiction of FERC.’s final order under 16 U.S.C. § 8252 (b). We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

The Cedar River is entirely in Washington. It rises in the Cascade Mountains and flows in a general west-northwesterly direction into Chester Morse Lake where the Cedar Falls Hydroelectric Project is located. The project consists of a concrete overflow dike, which impounds Chester Morse Lake. The Cedar Masonry Dam is located 4,000 feet downstream from the dike and impounds a reservoir. Below Chester Morse Lake, the river falls 600 feet in the three miles to Cedar Falls. The river next passes the Town of Landsburg and the City of Renton and flows into Lake Washington. The lake is connected to…