Lawmakers and locals press R+ Hydro and regulators over Seino pumped‑storage risks to Miracle Mile fishery and Ferris bighorn sheep

Kevin Baker, deputy general counsel for developer R+ Hydro, told the House Transportation, Recreation and Wildlife Committee in Casper that the Seino pumped‑storage project would deliver 972 megawatts of dispatchable energy across roughly a 12‑hour storage duration and represents an estimated $3–4 billion capital investment for Carbon County and the state.

Baker told the committee that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) draft environmental impact statement concluded the project would provide system reliability and grid services and "deliver an approximate annual savings of $200 million to ratepayers" compared with alternatives. He also said the project would use about 114 acres for the upper reservoir and rely on an optioned package of water rights for an initial fill of about 13,400 acre‑feet and an operational cycling volume of about 10,800 acre‑feet.

Why it matters: backers say long‑duration pump storage helps balance intermittent wind and solar, hold low‑cost energy when supply exceeds demand and deliver power when needed; opponents worry the proposed open‑loop design — which pumps from and returns water to existing reservoirs and river reaches — creates water‑quality and habitat risks that could degrade the Miracle Mile trout fishery, harm the Ferris‑Semino big‑horn sheep herd and undermine tourism and municipal water users.

State regulators and the project developer

Jennifer Ziggmund, administrator of DEQ’s Water Quality Division, said the department issued a Section 401 water‑quality certification on March 5, 2026 after multi‑year review and modeling, and that certification includes an adaptive‑management plan with enforceable thresholds, real‑time monitoring by USGS and requirements for curtailment if reservoir elevations and downstream temperatures move toward exceedence. As Ziggmund put it to the committee, "we did issue that certification on March 5th of this year." The certification also requires two additional years of baseline monitoring before construction may begin.

Kevin Baker said the company and federal reviewers consider monitoring and operational limits to be central protections. "The final environmental impact statement is due here on June 12th," Baker told lawmakers, pointing to an imminent FERC milestone that will drive next steps for cooperating federal and state agencies.

Concerns from conservation and resource agencies

Patrick Harrington of Trout Unlimited said TU’s independent review finds material risk from the project’s open‑loop design and gaps in the DEIS analysis. "If this was a closed loop system, you might see me standing across the reservoir with pompoms as they turn this thing on," Harrington said, arguing the DEIS and applicant modeling did not adequately stress low‑water years and other conditions that make the Miracle Mile vulnerable.

Wyoming Game and Fish officials told the committee they remain especially concerned about the Ferris‑Semino bighorn herd, which Deputy Director Jeff Davis described as "our healthiest herd in this state" and noted the agency has not yet seen a mitigation approach it believes fully eliminates the risk of long‑term herd decline. Director Bruce added the department "has not found a way to mitigate the impacts as of today," language the department repeated in answers to committee questions.

Local governments, businesses and tourism interests

Local officials — county commissioners and Casper city leaders — told lawmakers downstream impacts are a central worry. Visit Casper and recreation‑dependent businesses said the Miracle Mile, Seino and linked reservoirs drive tourism dollars and local jobs and that perceived or real declines in fishery quality would be economically damaging.

CC Oliver of a local fly shop said guides and outfitters employ dozens of people locally and warned that a long‑term decline in fishing quality would reduce visits and revenue. Casper’s public‑works staff also told the committee municipal wastewater and drinking‑water permits are based on receiving‑water capacity; they warned increased sediment or water‑quality changes could force permit changes and costly treatment upgrades for ratepayers.

Federal land and reclamation processes

BLM representatives said the agency may need a right‑of‑way decision and possibly a resource‑management‑plan amendment if the project’s BLM land‑use impacts cannot be made to conform with current plan standards (noting issues such as crucial big‑game range, visual resource class and old‑growth limber‑pine stands). Bureau of Reclamation staff said Reclamation will protect its operational interests at Seino and Cortis reservoirs via a lease‑of‑power‑privilege and other contract terms.

What remains unsettled

Technical reviewers and several witnesses agreed that the project can provide system benefits but do not agree on risk levels or whether those risks are manageable in place. Critics focused on three technical gaps: (1) the open‑loop design’s interaction with the local reservoir system, (2) whether the water‑quality model and the baseline data (the developer used 2013–2016 paired datasets) adequately capture low‑flow/drought scenarios, and (3) whether proposed mitigation and monitoring — even if enforceable — will prevent sublethal or cumulative effects on fisheries and wildlife over decades.

Next steps

FERC’s final EIS is scheduled for June 12, 2026; cooperating agencies (BLM, Reclamation, DEQ, and others) will use the final federal document to inform any subsequent right‑of‑way, RMP amendment, or Reclamation authorization decisions. DEQ told the committee it can modify the certification if monitoring data warrant that, and that the certification contains enforceable operational triggers and reporting requirements.

The committee recessed to consider follow‑up directives and invited additional written comments.