Environmental and Cultural Data Products Carl Zichella - Chair, EDWG Byron Woertz - WECC Dan Moreno and Nate Wagoner - ICF Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Presentation Overview Data Testing and Analysis IID Hoober-to-SONGS potential project Data Viewer   Analysis Capabilities Upgrade  Transmission Line Data Interoperability with other Data Services Solar in the San Joaquin Valley Cultural Resource Data  Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data Testing and Analysis Applying WECC Data to real-world projects is an ongoing focus of the EDWG: Test validity of the current Environmental Risk Classification system Identify new planning level environmental considerations driving transmission siting Educate stakeholders about availability of the Data Products and their use for early project screening Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data Testing and Analysis: Hoober-SONGS WECC partnered with Imperial Irrigation District (IID) to evaluate the Hoober-SONGS Transmission Line Project: IID provided WECC with GIS data layer of the line Review IID’s initial potential line routing Analyze Area Types & Risk Categories crossed Develop a “WECC least environmental risk” corridor based on Risk Category Data Layer Compare WECC’s vs. IID’s alternative Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Testing Environmental Risk Classification on Hoober-Songs This map shows the proposed Hoober-SONGS line overlaid onto the Environmental Risk Classes. Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Testing Environmental Risk Classification on Hoober-Songs Overlaying the transmission line onto the Risk Classes, Slope, Land Cover, and Counties generates summary statistics – showing how many linear miles of the line crosses each resource category. Summary Statistics Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Testing Environmental Risk Classification on Hoober-Songs In the vicinity of Salton Sea, the proposed line crosses a Risk Class 4 area -- the Mecca Hills Wilderness Area. The proponent elected to cross this area rather than cross the reservation to the west. Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Testing Environmental Risk Classification on Hoober-Songs We ran a least-cost-paths analysis on the risk classes. This analysis seeks out the route connecting Hoober to SONGS that accumulates the least amount of risk across its entire length. Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Testing Environmental Risk Classification on Hoober-Songs We found that for much of the length of the proposed route, it followed the least-cost-path, which generally represented existing transportation or transmission corridors. In some locations, the proposed route deviated from the least-cost path. Issues such as terrain or other natural features might affect the siting of the route. Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data Testing and Analysis: Hoober-SONGS Lessons Learned Overall, IID and WECC track very closely! Issues related to terrain and individual, siting level concerns appear to drive some of the deviations Interpretation of “highest risk” areas IID anticipates greater cost/time/uncertainty crossing Indian Reservations (RCC 3) than Wilderness Areas (RCC 4) Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data Testing and Analysis: Hoober-SONGS ? Next Steps: Re-evaluate Indian Reservations as Risk Category 3? Compare final approved line vs. Risk Classification recommended line? Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data Viewer: Analysis Upgrades Current Functionality: View/Download WECC’s Environmental and Cultural Data Sets Import other data sets from an organization’s ArcGIS Online account or other web-based sources (e.g. BLM) Potential New Functionality: User creates a new transmission line on the map User receives summary statistics describing environmental risk Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data Viewer: Analysis Upgrades Step 1: Sketch a line User would draw a transmission line route based on Risk Category or any other features of interest (e.g., terrain) User would save their line, which would be available for later use Edit Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data Viewer: Analysis Upgrades Step 2: Perform the Analysis User would select the data layers to compare against their new transmission line: Risk Classification Category Area Type Land Use (e.g., Ag Land) Slope Others? Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data Viewer: Analysis Upgrades Step 3: Receive the Results User would receive the results of the Analysis Bar Chart with mileage statistics Map of the transmission line Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data and Data Acquisition: Transmission WECC is reviewing the final Platts agreement to make transmission line data available in the Data Viewer Data received, tested, and working! Minor fine-tuning, then ready for adding to Data Viewer Demonstration Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data and Data Acquisition: BLM/DRECP/REA Online map services published by BLM can be added to the WECC Data Viewer Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Solar in the San Joaquin Valley Goal: Identify areas for Solar Development Stakeholder driven process Collaborative approach using GIS data and analysis Leverage WECC Risk data for transmission line siting? Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural WECC Presented at the Cultural Resource Data Sharing Partnership Broad participation from agencies/SHPOs Explained WECC’s approach to collecting and sharing cultural data Reviewed WECC’s Cultural Data Sharing Agreement Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural A new interactive webmap format called a “story map” was used to tell the story of how cultural data are shared and analyzed. Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural Cultural Resource Data Sharing Partnership meeting helped identify new targets for Data Provider outreach: Outreach focus for new potential data partners: AZ and MT Seeking EDWG volunteers for outreach to: BC, AB, ID, NM, CA, OR, federal agencies Arizona: AZSITE Board expected to rule on Monday whether data will be shared. Montana: Reviewing internally. Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural WECC’s Cultural Data Sharing Agreement has been submitted for review and signature to existing and potential partner Data Providers Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural WECC Data Sharing Agreement Content: Benefits of sharing cultural data to the providers: WECC/Transmission Stakeholders can consider cultural resources earlier in planning WECC/Transmission Stakeholders gain a unique way to visualize cultural resources at a regional scale Cultural Data Providers coordinate on regional issues and improve data standardization Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural WECC Data Sharing Agreement Content: Data Security Process Data Format Expectations Data Processing & Output for Data Viewer Inventory/Survey Areas, Cultural Site Density Cultural Risk Categories Detailed Technical Geoprocessing Steps Western Electricity Coordinating Council