SSoommee DDaamm –– HHyyddrroo NNeewwss and Other Stuff

i 1/02/2009

Quote of Note: “Washington DC is to lying what Wisconsin is to cheese.” - - Dennis Miller “No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap.” - - Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: Rosemont “Diamond Label” Shiraz 2006

OOtthheerr SSttuuffffff::: (There’s an easy solution to this problem. If the City agrees to all liabilities should an accident occur, then the area can be open to the public.) By Kate Ramunni, 12/23/2008, ConnPost.com

SHELTON -- The owner of the Shelton Canal Co. is again appealing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to relocate the portion of his property that is open to the public. As part of the company's license, and as a condition of the zoning approval it received more than two decades ago, a portion of the property at the end of Canal Street must be open to the public for recreation. It has over the years been used for fishing. McCallum Industries co-owner Joseph Szarmach has filed a request for another hearing on the issue, a month after FERC reversed its initial approval of the relocation. That action came after the state Department of Environmental Protection appealed the initial approval. "We are going through this process to amend our license because it is standard procedure; however, we continue to believe it is our right to close the canal area due to safety concerns," Szarmach said, most notably its proximity to the dam.

"The DEP, at the city's urging, is advocating full and unfettered access to a pool of water into which we dump 34,000 gallons of water per second," Szarmach said. "We believe this is reckless." He also believes that the city is trying to crowbar him into keeping the canal as privately owned public open space, he said, particularly for the hundreds of residents who will be living in the new housing being built as part of the Canal Street redevelopment project. Szarmach had previously planned on filling and developing the canal in order to raise the funds for a $2 million fish ladder the DEP is requiring him to install at the dam. "We understand the city wants our property to be an undeveloped amenity for the Canal Street developer's new residents and will do and say anything to make that happen," he said. Szarmach has outlined his objections to city official's actions in a blog at www.stopabusivegovernment.org. It's not a matter of an abuse of power, but a desire for McCallum to uphold an agreement struck years ago, said Planning and Zoning Commission member Leon J. Sylvester, who was chairman of the commission when the canal approval was granted to Szarmach's grandfather. "We made the deal years ago that the area would be open to the public for access to the river," he said. "I don't know why he is trying to create the idea that this is abuse," Sylvester said. "This is a deal that was struck openly and received well with his grandfather -- he was happy with it and we were happy with it." Szarmach has contended that the zoning approval isn't legally enforceable. Zoning Administrator Rick Schultz has requested an opinion from the city's corporation counsel. Neither Schultz nor City Attorney Tom Welch could be reached for comment Tuesday.

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

DDaammss (Buffalo Creek Dam Failure 2-26-1972 - The following web page is worth your attention:

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/multimedia/galleries/news/x1107815709/Gallery-The-Buffalo- Creek-Flood)

The photos are mostly black and white which is a stark reminder of the125 people that lost their lives, the 1,100 injured and the 4,000 left homeless.

(Pretty messy stuff that steam plant sludge) Aerial footage: TVA storage pond breach in Harriman December 22, 2008, knoxnews.com

Footage shot from a helicopter of the area affected by the TVA pond breach. http://www.knoxnews.com/videos/detail/aerial-footage-tva-storage-pond-breach-harriman/

(There’s an old axiom. If you’re going to learn something the hard way, it’s best that no one loses their life when you get a wake up call.

P.S. In the last Newsletter, I mentioned that TVA had a similar failure in the 1960’s. My memory failed me and I apologize to TVA. The failure I recalled actually was on the Clinch River in 1967 when a fly ash containment pond failed at an Appalachian Power Company coal-fired power plant near Carbo, VA. An interesting note on that earlier failure - the failed dam was designed by one of world’s most famous geotech engineers.) Sludge spill stirs concerns in Kentucky By Cassondra Kirby Mullins, Lexington Herald-Leader, Dec. 24, 2008

A day after a massive coal sludge break in Tennessee covered hundreds of acres in ashy waste, Kentucky environmentalists and leaders said they will continue pushing for legislation to require emergency action plans in case of similar failures in their state. Monday's break in Tennessee released millions of yards of dark gray mud that toppled power lines, covered roads and railroad tracks and ruptured a gas line, according to The Associated Press. No one was seriously hurt. The break occurred at a retention pond used by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The pond held the ash generated by the coal-burning Kingston Steam Plant in Harriman, about 50 miles west of Knoxville. The break occurred at a retention pond used by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The pond held the ash generated by the coal-burning Kingston Steam Plant in Harriman, about 50 miles west of Knoxville.

"This event in Tennessee should remind our legislators that the public is at serious risk," said Stephanie McSpirit, an associate professor of sociology at Eastern Kentucky University. "People living downstream from these types of impoundments need to be protected. Maybe this will be our final wake-up call." Kentucky doesn't require emergency plans for its coal-company impoundments, where a break could kill people or cause significant damage to facilities such as schools and power substations, nor does it require such plans for nearly 400 water dams in the state that are rated as high or moderate hazards. Environmentalists and Kentucky legislators began pushing to develop a system of monitoring such structures, as well as notifying residents when a break occurred, after a massive spill in Martin County in October 2000. Then, more than 300 million gallons of thick slurry broke through an impoundment near Inez, flooding miles of creeks, rivers and bottomland with black sludge. No one was killed, but wildlife suffered and water systems as far away as Ashland were threatened. While Martin County residents were upset about the damage to water supplies and fish from the spill, they also told a student-faculty research team from EKU, which was lead by McSpirit, that they should have received notice that the sludge was headed their way. The spill began an effort to require emergency action plans for Kentucky, even though the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration has recommended such plans for coal-slurry and water impoundments since 1994. 2

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and dam-safety experts for years have urged plans for all high- and moderate-hazard dams. Dam-safety advocates say it's just common sense to make plans in case a dam fails. "It is just a basic public-safety measure, especially given what has happened in Tennessee and Martin County and other places," McSpirit said. "Even in the Cumberland area and the Wolfe Creek Dam there, we have an issue with aging infrastructure and the people need to be protected." But legislation proposed during the past two sessions to require such plans in Kentucky have failed. One potential issue with the proposals has been the cost to dam owners. Detailed mapping of the area that could be flooded in a dam break would require engineering work, Hank List, deputy secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet, said Tuesday. "There would be a sizable cost to all owners, from coal companies that own slurry impoundments, as well as local governments and farm owners," List said. "Nobody opposes the need for such a plan, but nobody could produce the thousands of dollars it would take." However, state Sen. Ray Jones II, D-Pikeville, who filed a resolution during the last legislative session requiring emergency plans, said he will continue working with lawmakers in the next session to come up with a consensus. "What eventually will happen, I'm afraid, is we will have a catastrophic failure, whether it be a coal slurry impoundment or a water dam, and at the present time we don't have a plan in place to handle it," Jones said. Jones said many people live in communities with slurry impoundments and don't even realize it. According to the Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement, there are 113 impoundments for slurry or water at coal operations in Kentucky, 91 of them rated as either a high or a significant hazard. In addition, there are 1,064 dams in Kentucky that the state inspects. Of those, 395 are high- or moderate-hazard dams. The dams have a range of owners, including cities and government agencies, home owners' associations, golf courses and farmers. The state Department for Natural Resources says none of the coal impoundments is in imminent danger of failing. The same is true for the water dams. State inspectors have rated 70 of the 395 high- and moderate-hazard dams as deficient, but that doesn't mean they are unstable. Many deficiencies are relatively minor, such as needing to control animal burrows that could eventually threaten the stability of the dam. However, the potential for failure can change quickly because of high rainfall or other factors. Although they are still investigating an exact cause, officials in Tennessee think that heavy rains and freezing temperatures might be to blame for Monday's break.

(Oops! Now, I guess everyone is concerned that there might be a time bomb out there at another fly ash pond.) 'High hazard' ash basin in Beaver County called safe By Brian Bowling, Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, December 25, 2008

The Little Blue Run fly ash basin in Beaver County is at least 30 times larger than the one that failed Tuesday in Tennessee, but the company that owns the Greene Township basin believes the facility is sound. FirstEnergy Corp. uses the 1,300-acre lake to store the ash byproduct from scrubbers at its Bruce Mansfield power plant in Shippingport. The basin is one of five fly ash facilities in Pennsylvania that the state Department of Environmental Protection classifies as "high hazard" because a failure of the dams would threaten lives and property, said DEP spokeswoman Teresa Candori. The other four high-hazard fly ash facilities are in the eastern part of the state -- two in Snyder County and one each in Northampton and Lancaster counties, she said. The designation as "high hazard" doesn't mean there's anything structurally wrong with the facilities, Candori said. About 780 dams in the state -- including the ones for these five facilities -- are classified as "high hazard" because "if they failed, it would destroy people or property," she said. The 400-foot high Little Blue Run dam is the second-tallest in the state. An engineering analysis estimates the dam's failure would endanger about 50,000 people, Candori said. FirstEnergy spokesman Mark Durbin said the company pays an independent company to inspect Little Blue Run's dam annually, and the DEP inspects it at least annually. FirstEnergy employees visit the site several times each week, he said. Little Blue Run was built in 1975. "We take the safety of that facility very seriously," he said. "It's not just up the hill and forgotten about." Durbin said FirstEnergy sends about 4.2 million cubic yards of ash from the Bruce Mansfield plant to Little Blue Run annually through a seven-mile underground pipe. The inspections haven't found any problems with the earth and rock dam, he said. An earthen dam at a 40-acre fly ash facility about 35 miles southwest of Knoxville failed about 1 a.m. Tuesday, sending about 2.6 million cubic yards of ash and water into the adjacent community, covering the ground with four to six feet of gray sludge and damaging at least a dozen homes. No injuries or deaths were reported. The Tennessee Valley Authority uses the containment area for ash from its Kingston power plant. An inspector found a minor leak in the Tennessee dam in October, and smaller seepages were found in 2003 and 2006. The authority said it repaired all three leaks.

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

(Another article re fly ash ponds. Too many to include full text) Slurry Sludge On The Menu? How Safe Are Region’s Coal-Ash Storage Sites? (Full article at: http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/slurry_sludge_on_the_menu_how_safe_are_regions _coal-ash_storage_sites/18115/)

(Yep, "a mell of a hess." Not sure if they found more illegal dams or this is the same batch reported on before, but the news came up again.) State finds 30 dangerous illegal dams KomoNews.com, 12/23/08, By SHANNON DININNY, Associated Press YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - A fruit company built two 40-foot high dams for irrigation and frost control in central Washington's Yakima Valley. Another built four dams on a branch of nearby Washout Creek. Still a third built a dam off a rivulet of the local irrigation district. Nobody bothered to get construction permits, and state officials never saw the projects. But a recent inspection showed that if all seven of those illegal dams failed simultaneously during an extreme weather event, millions of gallons of water could pour into one of the region's agricultural hubs. "If they all went at once, they'd wipe out Sunnyside," said Doug Johnson, supervisor of dam safety for the state Department of Ecology in Olympia. State officials began investigating illegal dams after discovering several while reviewing aerial photos of their own projects last spring. In recent years, five dams built without permits and inspections have failed in Washington, causing flooding and property damage.

A comprehensive review of the Yakima Valley showed a number of orchard owners had built ponds for irrigation and frost control without obtaining the necessary permits. The review then expanded to other Eastern Washington agricultural areas, then to the rest of the state. "We ended up with nearly 600 potential dams from looking at the aerial photos," Johnson said. "We didn't know for sure they were dams, but we suspected they were." Of those 600 sites, 96 were identified as "high hazard," with three or more homes downstream. State officials have inspected 95 of the 96 - winter snows hit before the last one could be completed last week - and confirmed 68 dams. Thirty posed a major risk to residents downstream. West of the Cascades, one dam already had holes in it when state inspectors converged on the site 16 miles west of Shelton in Mason County. Seven to 10 homes sit downstream from the dam, which is owned by Manke Lumber Co. "It's basically been taken care of, but if they ever want to rebuild it, they'll have to go through quite a process. That was lucky that we caught it when we did," Johnson said. A man who answered the phone at Manke Lumber's office in Shelton said no one else had made it work that day because of the heavy snowfall and that he couldn't comment on the dam. Fifteen miles east of Spokane, state officials found a 30- foot high dam built on Deep Creek by the religious Hutterite community. The dam already had seepage problems when they inspected it, Johnson said. A person authorized to speak for the religious community could not be immediately reached by telephone Tuesday.

By far, though, the biggest problems have been in central Washington, where one-third of the 30 high- hazard illegal dams lie in the Yakima Valley. The community of Sunnyside is surrounded by dairies, orchards, hop fields and vineyards. But dams built to support some of those orchards could have endangered the community if they failed, Johnson said. Avalon Fruit owns orchards in a 7-square-mile watershed upstream from the city. But the four illegal dams the company built have inadequate spillways with just 12-inch pipes to pass flows, Johnson said. Two un-permitted 40-foot dams built by Evans Fruit Co. in the 1980s each hold 120 acre-feet of water, while a third dam built on Cowiche Creek near Tieton, west of Yakima, has 20 homes immediately downstream. An acre-foot is the amount required to cover one acre to a depth of one foot deep. Officials with the two fruit companies did not return telephone messages seeking comment. If all seven dams near Sunnyside had failed at the same time during an extreme weather event, such as a sudden snowmelt or massive thunderstorm, more than 110 million gallons of water could have rushed toward the city - enough water to fill 166 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Such an extreme event could cause "a mell of a hess," Roza Irrigation District Assistant Manager Tim Collett said. But he also said the major weather event needed to trigger flooding of that magnitude would wreak havoc on everyone. "We have more water stored in our canal system than those ponds do," he said. "If something that big happens, we all better get out of the way." Ecology officials are working with landowners to improve the dams' structures or offer permits for some that already meet requirements. They also are working with the state Horticultural Association and the state Water Resources Association, which supports local irrigation districts, to better educate members about regulations governing private dams.

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

(There’s a reason for sure that the hydro potential has not been developed and it’s NOT economics. It’s because organizations like American Rivers helped push through Congress with the help of Congressman Dingell and a few miss-informed utilities a regulatory process that is too lengthy, burdensome, and costly.) Hydro power shows signs of comeback By TIM HUBER, AP Business Writer, Charleston Daily Mail, December 29, 2008

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- America's search for cleaner electricity has developers studying dozens of government flood-control dams from North Carolina to Oregon to see if it makes financial sense to retrofit them with hydroelectric turbines. The studies are part of a broader trend that has developers looking at everything from millpond dams in New England to locks and dams on navigable waterways such as the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Factors ranging from the difficulty in obtaining permits for new coal-fired power plants to government renewable energy mandates and tax credits have created a potential market for new hydroelectric projects. "You've created both the stick and the carrot,'' said David Sinclair, president of Advanced Hydro Solutions. Sinclair's Ohio-based company is focusing on four potential hydropower projects involving government dams in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Sinclair says government dams often lend themselves to hydropower. Some, such as the Tygart Dam near Grafton, were even built with hydropower in mind: the Corps of Engineers' designed in the 1930s with twin 15-foot-diameter tunnels. The tunnels have been capped ever since, but Sinclair's company is studying whether it's economical to pull the plugs, install turbines and start generating electricity. "I could kiss the engineer that did that,'' Sinclair said. Despite its advantages, Tygart is no sure thing for conversion. Neither are dozens of other government dams. The process requires years of careful planning, chiefly to avoid disturbing a dam's original purpose or from damaging the environment. Developers have been trying for years to develop the corps' Bluestone Dam near Hinton, for instance, and have yet to get past the initial stages despite government support. "There's a reason that hydro isn't on a lot of these dams right now,'' said John Seebach, who directs the hydropower reform initiative for Washington, D.C.-based environmental group American Rivers. "It was because it just didn't make financial sense.'' That's starting to change. Developers now have a potential market for hydropower from utilities more interested in upping the size of their renewable energy portfolios than increasing generating capacity, said Jeff Herholdt, director of West Virginia's Division of Energy. "The power ends up in our markets, but the green credits are being sold.''

(Well, this should show the hydro folks where the next administration is heading and that hydro will not be on the agenda. There’s a rough road ahead because the opposition is already on the road.) Barker: Dam critics press transition team to replace BPA's administrator Idaho Statesman, 12/29/08, by Rocky Barker

Steve Wright leads one of the largest, most carbon-free power providers in the United States. The administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration is a Democrat. He just signed contracts with 135 public power customers that are designed to stabilize regional power rates which are among the lowest in the nation. BPA has a power surplus. So with climate change a major issue, why does Wright have a target on his back with a Democratic administration prepared to take over? One word: salmon.

The BPA markets about one-third of the electricity consumed in the region. It sells the power produced from 31 federally owned dams on the Columbia River and its tributaries. It also owns and operates 15,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. About 20 percent of Idaho's electricity comes from the BPA, through rural electrical cooperatives and municipal utilities such as the one in Idaho Falls. Wright got the job during the Clinton administration and kept it during the Bush administration because he's an able leader, a smart money-cruncher and because he could deliver, for President George W. Bush, a salmon plan that didn't breach dams. The plan never has been ruled legal. But over the last eight years, with strong support of Democratic Washington Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Wright has spread his plan's political support to include all players but the Nez Perce Tribe, Oregon, fishermen and environmentalists. He did it by passing out hundreds of millions of dollars for habitat and hatchery projects paid for with electricity receipts from the hydroelectric dams that most scientists say are the main barrier to salmon recovery. He also had critical Republican support from Idaho Sen. Larry Craig. So now that the environmentalists, the Nez Perce Tribe and sportsmen - who have pushed for more than a decade to remove four dams on the lower Snake River in Washington - have friends on the transition team, they are pushing to get Wright replaced. Oregon Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer has joined the cause, calling for Wright's replacement. The issue is big for the BPA and the Pacific Northwest. Regional congressional leaders have plans for a massive public 5

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

works project to improve BPA's transmission system and to bring its system into the 21st century with new smart-grid technologies. But the salmon are a physical symbol of the region. BPA's leader will need to be a visionary and a savvy politician. Critics question whether Wright has the vision.

IF NOT WRIGHT, WHO? Angus Duncan, a former Northwest Power and Conservation Council member from Oregon who heads the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, is one name that comes up. Another is Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's natural resources policy director, Mike Carrier. The problem both these candidates share is they are from Oregon. The political power still rests in Washington, which uses most of BPA's power. Sara Patton, executive director of the Northwest Energy Coalition, is from Seattle, but her strong support for dam breaching probably gets her a veto from Murray. Wright has proved to be a survivor so far. And whatever happens, it won't be among the first things on President-elect Barack Obama's agenda.

(This is damning news) Tennessee coal ash spill highlights broad gaps in government oversight By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer, December 30, 2008, The Charleston Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Last week's collapse of a coal-ash dam in Tennessee revealed nationwide gaps in how the government oversees construction of power plant impoundments and how regulators watch over the country's largest source of industrial waste, environmental groups and safety experts say. Despite years of study - and prodding by the National Academy of Sciences and Congress - there are no federal standards for coal-ash waste disposal or dam construction. "Flying blind without federal rules that ensure safe disposal of the largest industrial waste in the country is nothing if not foolish, dangerous, and contrary to statutory mandates and clear congressional intent," Lisa Evans, a lawyer with the group Earthjustice, told a House Natural Resources subcommittee during a June hearing. For several years, Evans has been among the leaders of a growing group of environmental advocates who pushed for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to classify coal-fired power plant ash as a hazardous waste, a move that could trigger a variety of tougher limits.

On the morning Dec. 22, a dam broke at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Plant in Roane County, Tenn., about 40 miles west of Knoxville. Estimates continue to vary, but current figures from TVA say about 5.4 million cubic yards of wet ash burst from the impoundment, covering 300 acres of nearby farms, fields and rivers. At least two leaks or "blowouts" occurred in 2003 and 2006 at the TVA facility, according to the authority's own most recent inspection report, dated February 2008. The more recent incident was linked to "excessive seepage," caused by internal erosion, or "piping," the same sort of problems that were at least in part to blame for the 1972 Buffalo Creek disaster and the October 2000 Martin County slurry impoundment breakthrough, said Jack Spadaro, a former longtime government dam safety engineer and inspector. "They certainly had plenty of notice," Spadaro said Monday. "TVA has really been outrageously irresponsible." In a "Fact Sheet," authority officials said that they "made changes and repairs to improve the condition of the dike" after each previous incident.

More than half of the ash generated by coal-fired power plants in the U.S. is dumped into impoundments or landfills, according to federal studies. Somewhat similar impoundments used for disposal of slurry, the wet waste from preparation plants that clean coal prior to it being burned, must meet strict design, construction and inspection standards set by Congress in the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. But unless power plant dams are located on an active mining site, they are not covered by those standards, said Peter Mali, a spokesman for the federal Office of Surface Mining, Control and Reclamation. Regulation of coal ash dam safety has been left to state agencies, where standards, inspection staff and expertise can vary widely from state to state. In March 2006, the National Academy of Sciences recommended close coordination between OSM and EPA in developing nationwide standards for disposal of power plant ash in surface impoundments and landfills or at mining sites. As early as 1980, Congress had mandated that EPA decide if power plant was constituted "hazardous waste," and should be subject to stricter regulation. Not until May 2000, under the Clinton administration, did EPA issue that ruling. And then, two years later, the 6

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

Bush administration essentially reversed the action, saying it would not write new hazardous waste rules for the plant ash.

Burning coal produces more than 129 million tons of "coal combustion waste," or CCW, each year. That's enough to fill one million standard railroad cars, or a train that would span the United States from New York to Los Angeles 3.5 times, according to the National Academy report. And ironically, new rules to clean up power plant air emissions are increasing that figure, as additional pollution control equipment that generates more ash is added to aging coal-fired plants. When coal is burned, its volume is reduced by two-thirds to four-fifths, concentrating metals and other minerals - arsenic, selenium, mercury and numerous other toxic contaminants - that remain in the ash. During the June hearing, Evans told lawmakers that the absence of national standards has caused environmental damage at ash disposal sites across the country. EPA itself issued a report that listed 67 contaminated sites in 23 states where the ash had polluted groundwater or surface water. "EPA admits that this is just the tip of the iceberg, because most CCW disposal sites in the U.S. are not adequately monitored," Evans said in her testimony.

(How come everyone wants to put the stop light at the intersection after the accident? Frankly, I’m not sure this idea will do the job! These dams need to be to the tougher Federal standards similar to those of the FERC, Corps, or USBR!) Rahall: Coal ash dams should be regulated under strip mine law By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer, December 30, 2008, The Charleston Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Coal-ash dams like the one that broke last week in eastern Tennessee should be forced to meet the design, construction and other safety standards set by existing federal strip mine laws, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall said today. Rahall, a West Virginia Democrat, is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee and is in a position to force tougher regulation of coal-ash impoundments across the nation's coalfields. "Our initial reaction is that utility coal-ash impoundments should be regulated in the same manner as coal-sludge impoundments," said Jim Zoia, a longtime Rahall aide and staff director for the House committee. Zoia said that the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement should take the lead in setting standards for construction, inspection and enforcement to make sure that such impoundments are safe. Currently, there are no federal standards that govern the safe design and construction of coal-ash impoundments.

(Interesting case about who pays for dam maintenance) Appeals Court upholds decisions in MWCD assessment cases December 30, 2008, Mount Vernon News

NEW PHILADELPHIA — Judges of the 5th District Court of Appeals have agreed with the decisions of a lower court that permit assessments of property owners by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District to fund a plan of maintenance and rehabilitation in the system of reservoirs and dams in the Muskingum River Watershed.The appeals court affirmed the decisions of the Conservancy Court and held that the appraisal methodology was reasonable and that all procedural and due process requirements had been met. The Conservancy Court holds jurisdiction over the MWCD and is a court of common pleas that consists of one judge from each of the 18 counties in the conservancy district region. “We are pleased by the decisions and we'll do our best to uphold the public’s trust in administering the maintenance plan,” said John M. Hoopingarner, MWCD executive director/secretary. “We’re looking forward to getting the maintenance projects started as soon as possible.” The MWCD’s maintenance plan will protect and create hundreds of private-sector jobs in upcoming years and lead to the potential investment of more than $600 million by the federal government in the watershed, Hoopingarner said. The watershed — which drains the region of Ohio where runoff stormwater drains into the Muskingum River before emptying into the Ohio River at Marietta — is the largest in the state.

The appellate court wrote in its rulings that “we fail to find where and how (the property owners) have not been accorded every substantial consideration of their rights of due process of law.” The property owners challenged the MWCD’s authority to levy assessments, which are provided for in the Ohio law that deals with conservancy districts. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has said it could spend up to $621 million on maintenance and rehabilitation at four dams — Beach City, Bolivar, Dover and Mohawk — and Zoar levee to address safety concerns over the next several years, beginning in 2009. Federal law requires a nonfederal local sponsor to pay a portion of the costs on these projects. The MWCD will serve as the local sponsor for the projects, with its share of the total cost ranging from an estimated $93.2 million to $123.1 million. The MWCD will pay for its share — along with other identified maintenance projects at the reservoirs and in the watershed — through the assessment of property owners in the watershed pursuant to Ohio law. Nearly 7

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

500,000 parcels of property are subject to the assessment, which is projected to generate about $10.3 million annually, with nearly 94 percent of all property owners paying the minimum assessment of $12 per year. The assessments are collected as part of a property owner’s real estate tax statements prepared by

county auditors and treasurers. Knox and Licking are among the 18 counties wholly or partially contained in the MWCD jurisdiction.

HHyyddrroo (I don’t know about this one. The article talks about hydro but then doesn’t tell us how they will get it done. It sounds like this one has a “rocky” road ahead. If I did this right, the flow is about 9.3 cfs. At 100 feet of head, that’s less than 70 kW. But, I assume if it’s pretty steady flow, you would generate about 580,000 kWh per year. One good bit of news; they may not need a Federal license because it’s not on a stream.) Sparta quarry eyed for hydroelectricity by Jim Lockwood/The Star-Ledger, December 23, 2008

A 102-year-old quarry in Sparta founded by Thomas Edison may soon become a source of electricity, officials said. Sparta is planning to convert the Limecrest Quarry's vast reservoir of spring-fed water into a hydroelectric generating plant that would raise millions of dollars in rent revenue for the township each year, township Manager Henry Underhill said. The township today issued a public notice to bidders for a lease of the quarry for an electric generating facility, with an annual minimum rent of $5.5 million to be paid on the land. Bids are to be opened on Jan. 21. By the time the quarry was founded in 1906 by Thomas Edison to mine iron ore for steel and limestone for agriculture and cement, he already had a patent for the electric light bulb and had turned his attention toward mining. The quarry, which has had various owners over the years, contains a natural spring fed from the Germany Flats aquifer, which discharges around 6 million gallons of water per day into a quarry pit, according to the township.

Sparta last year purchased 172 acres of the 552-acre quarry for $2.45 million from C.C. Cox LLC, because the land contained the vast water resource. The rest of the 552-acre quarry had been purchased in 2003 by Limecrest Quarry Developers, a firm owned by developer Gene Mulvihill and family, who have a lease on the Cox portion of the quarry property until 2017. The Mulvihills, who were hoping to buy the Cox parcel themselves and eventually develop the entire quarry property into housing, then sued the town, claiming it only bought the Cox land to scuttle their development plans. That lawsuit has since been settled, and now the town and Limecrest are cooperating on the hydroelectric plan, Underhill and Mulvihill said. The bid notice states that a lease of the quarry for electric generation is contingent upon the township reaching an agreement with Limecrest, to use that firm's quarry property in Sparta and Andover Township for electric generation. Underhill said the town and Limecrest are still negotiating their pact, but are close to an agreement. He would not say how much of the $5.5 million in rent would go to Limecrest, but said it stands to gain rental "money and other considerations" under the plan. Negotiations are expected to be completed by the bid opening of Jan. 21, when more information would be released, he said.

"We have the foundation of a deal (with Limecrest Quarry Developers). There are things in it for them and things in it for us," said Underhill, who would not be more specific, citing contract negotiations. Mulvihill also declined to divulge details. He said relations between his firm, which plans to mine at the quarry for another 40 years, and Sparta have been repaired and that a hydroelectric facility would be good for the township. "We're very friendly with Sparta. We'll go along with what they want," Mulvihill said. Electricity generated at the quarry would be supplied to a regional electric grid in 13 states, Underhill said. A successful bidder would have three to five years to do drilling and testing of the land to see if hydroelectric generation is feasible and, if so, begin operating. The bid also calls for an initial lease term of 50 years, with two 25-year lease renewals.

(Here’s some more hydro history. It’s still going strong after 100 years while the darling of the green energy crowd is junk energy – wind power, which can’t be depended on for power when you need it, wants to use hydro or something else to back it up but wants someone else to pay for it, and is a maintenance nightmare sitting 100 to 200 feet up there somewhere.) 8

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

Union River Dam Turns 100 Written by Jennifer Osborn, December 24, 2008, The Ellsworth American

ELLSWORTH, ME— The dam on Union River Dam - 1908 postcard the Union River turned 100 in 2008. And while most century-old technology is antiquated and irrelevant after a century, hydropower has never been more in style. The dam is capable of generating 8,900 kilowatt hours, which is enough electricity to supply 3,400 homes. The dam’s four turbines flow from the Graham Lake reservoir. In an average year, the dam generates 31 million kilowatts (Hours sp.?). The output is sold on the wholesale market. Hydroelectricity is created by the force of falling water.

In an article written in 1908 titled “The Wonder of Water Power in Ellsworth, Maine,” area resident James Leonard wrote that the Bangor Railway & Electric Co. saw the possibility of a dam in Ellsworth but realized the difficulty of creating a market for the power in Ellsworth. Leonard said that by transmitting a portion of the power 30 miles north to Bangor and another portion 21 miles to Bar Harbor, the dam could be financed and operating expenses paid until industries could be induced to locate in Ellsworth and use the large amount of power remaining. The dam was created by the Bangor Railway & Electric Co. Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. sold the dam in 1999 to PPL Corp., which is based in Pennsylvania. PPL plans to spend at least $500 million on hydroelectric expansions in Maine, Montana and Pennsylvania over the next several years. Only 3 percent of the dams in the United States generate hydroelectric power, according to the National Hydropower Association.

Hydropower generates 8 percent of all electricity, according to a spokesman for the hydropower association. According to a Dec. 14 report in USA Today, hydropower accounted for 42 percent of electricity production in the 1940s. The industry is looking to expand the use of hydropower and studying to see which dams are potential resources and which ones aren’t, a spokesman said. James Leonard was forward thinking, as evidenced by this statement: “It is thus evident that electrical energy is becoming more and more an everyday necessity, not only to the large manufacturer but to each individual no matter what his walk in life and to my mind, the great problem of today is the cheap production of electrical energy and it is because of my belief that nowhere else can electricity be produced cheaper than it can by the proper utilization of the great rivers of Maine, that I have pinned my faith to a future of unexampled growth and development of this great state.” Leonard described the plant as “undoubtedly the handsomest power station in New England.”

(I think this is a first. I don’t know of any other River Basin Commission being a hydro developer too. It is a little puzzling where the article states that the PH will be on the lake side of the dam??? That can happen, but it’s unusual.) About Blue Marsh 12/25/2008, Reading Eagle Press, Reading, PA

History: Blue Marsh Lake was created as a flood-control measure in the 1970s when a dam was built on the Tulpehocken Creek. Proposal: The Delaware River Basin Commission is seeking federal approval to build a hydroelectric plant at Blue Marsh Lake. The power facility would be on the lake side of the dam in Lower Heidelberg Township. It would be capable of generating 1,260 kilowatt hours of electricity a day. What's next? By the end of January, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is expected to decide whether to grant a permit for a three-year feasibility study.

Linwood Mill to study restarting hydropower Worcester TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF, December 27, 2008

NORTHBRIDGE— The Linwood Mill complex has secured a $22,950 grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to study revitalizing hydroelectric power at the historic Whitinsville site. The grant was awarded through the Renewable Energy Trust Fund, also known as the LORI Grant, and was 9

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

announced earlier this week by state Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, and state Rep. George N. Peterson Jr., R-Grafton. With the grant, the Linwood Mill, owned by Nessen Associates, will conduct a feasibility study to determine if hydroelectric power can be revitalized at the mill. Hydroelectric power harnesses the energy from flowing water and converts it into electricity. There is a dam, with intake structure, an original turbine and equipment already at the mill site. The hydroelectricity study is part of a larger rehabilitation project of Linwood Mill, which is being done by Nessen Associates and the Architectural Heritage Foundation. Linwood, one of five villages in Northbridge, was settled by French Canadians who worked in the local textile industries.

EEnnvviirroonnmmeenntt (If it’s hydro, someone will always see a problem. At 21 revolutions per minute (that’s 1 revolution every 3 seconds); this has to be the slowest turbine speed out there.) River turbine roils the waters as officials fear for fish By Dennis Lien, 12/25/2008, TwinCities.com

An experimental turbine is being installed in the Mississippi River just downstream from Lock and Dam No. 2 in Hastings. With it, the city hopes to earn extra money by selling electricity to Xcel Energy. But the National Park Service, which helps manage the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, thinks the hydrokinetic turbine's large propellers also could grind up fish that are sucked into it. And even if it doesn't, the agency isn't keen about the experiment occurring in park waters without such questions being answered. "We don't usually suggest we risk national park resources experimenting with this kind of stuff,'' said Steve Johnson, MNRRA's chief of resource management.

Hydro Green Energy of Houston is installing the turbine, a clean energy source called hydrokinetics because it spins in moving water instead of falling water. It's suspended below a floating barge tethered to the dam and anchored for stability. It's apparently the first time the technology has been installed in a river setting, but applications are pending at other dams, including several Mississippi River sites. Two company spokesmen didn't return telephone calls. Hydro Green approached the city about the project, according to Hastings Public Works Director Tom Montgomery, who said the city liked it as a way to get additional generation out of the dam's existing 4.4-megawatt hydroelectric plant. But Johnson said the site, within the 72-mile-long MNRRA corridor through the Twin Cities metropolitan area, is where fish such as walleye and sauger tend to congregate, especially in the spring spawning period. Montgomery said a fish survivability study will be undertaken.

The 35-kilowatt underwater turbine, which looks like a jet engine, has three 12-foot blades that turn 21 times a minute. Another turbine is to be added later. Because of the blades' large size and slow speed, Montgomery said it isn't clear that fish will have a problem with the turbine. "There's a lot of open space in that,'' he said. Johnson, however, sees it differently. "That certainly is capable of chopping up fish,'' he said. The city and Hydro Green will split the revenues, with Hastings expecting to earn $25,000 a year from the arrangement, according to Montgomery. The developer began looking at Minnesota sites because of the state's renewable energy policies, according to a newsletter article on its Web site. It said the Hastings site was chosen because the project could easily link into the existing electrical infrastructure, which lowered costs, and the dam provided a level of protection from turbulent waters. Even though the park service expressed its misgivings, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission endorsed the project earlier this month. "There is a law that says federal agencies have to consult with us, but it doesn't say they have to listen to us,'' Johnson said. Installation of the first turbine began soon after the commission signed off. After routine electrical and other work, Hydro Green hopes to have it operating within the month, according to Montgomery. If the regulatory commission eventually determines there are associated environmental impacts, it can order Hydro Green and the city to remove the turbines. For the park service, other matters, such as the turbine's possible effect on native mussel populations and diving birds attracted by fish, also remain unanswered. Those could have been addressed if the project hadn't been moving so quickly, according to Johnson. "The process has gone very quickly, and the (federal government) is very determined to get this settled before the current administration leaves office,'' he said.

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iThis compilation of articles and other information is provided at no cost for those interested in hydropower, dams, and water resources issues and development, and should not be used for any commercial or other purpose. Any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have an interest in receiving this information for non-profit and educational purposes only.

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SSoommee DDaamm –– HHyyddrroo NNeewwss and Other Stuff

i 1/09/2009

Quote of Note: “Never spend money before you have earned it.” - - Thomas Jefferson

From Jack Duckworth – the wisdom of Jefferson from a statement in 1802 is worth reading:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and

corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all

“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: Gallo Family Sonoma Vineyards Chardonnay 2006

DDaammss (A little humor from the distant past for the New Year, and a sobering thought on when the day comes for engineers to be jailed for dam failures – from Pat Regan, FERC) Massachusetts Dams (1876)

When the Confederates planted torpedoes in the path of Sherman’s army during his march to the sea, he made squads of prisoners march in advance of his troops and either dig up the torpedoes or point out their situation by the simple process of exploding them. Without discussing the question whether this action was in accordance with the vague and vexed rules of civilized warfare, there is no doubt that the public would heartily approve of a somewhat similar proceeding in the case of the engineers who have, in the past few years, been busily planting explosive dams in the valleys and ravines of Massachusetts. So frequently have these dams burst that it is generally believed that no Massachusetts engineer ever built a dam sufficiently strong for its ostensible purpose, and there is not a person living in the neighborhood of a Massachusetts mill-pond or reservoir who may not expect to be washed out of house and home whenever a freshet occurs. If there were a law compelling every engineer to live immediately at the foot of his dam, there is no doubt that safer dams would be built. At present, as soon as an engineer builds a dam in Massachusetts he flies to a remote part of the State and waits for it to burst, so that he can obtain fresh employment in rebuilding it.

1 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

The law suggested would certainly tend to the building of dams intended to be permanent, and engineers would no longer look upon dam building as a species of serial publication, and would cease to ask mill- owners to subscribe to annual or semi-annual dams.

Of course, it is not necessary to suppose that the Massachusetts engineers build dams with the deliberate intention of facilitating their early destruction. Still there is no denying the fact that their method of building is extremely bad. They appear to have studied their art in ship-yards, and to be under the delusion that a dam, like a ship, must be so constructed as to admit of easy launching. When they proceed to build a dam their first step is to select a river bed of clay or gravel and lay the stone work gently on this yielding bed. When a freshet comes the dam glides gradually and gracefully from its cradle, and a picturesque and expensive scene follows. Until the engineers rid themselves of this false impression as to the analogy between dam- building and ship-building, a Massachusetts valley will be a rather more dangerous place to visit that was any Southern turnpike planted with rebel torpedoes for the reception of Sherman’s army.

After the first Mill River disaster it was pointed out that the dam at Worcester, and scores of other dams in various parts of the State were in a dangerous condition and liable to give way at the first heavy freshet. Certain engineers then made a feeble attempt to divert public attention from themselves be asserting that they had always wanted to build strong dams, but that the mill-owners who employed them had a preference for weak dams. The public, however, was not disposed to accept this explanation. There was an essential improbability in the assertion that the mill-owners really desired to have their property destroyed by every annual freshet, and it was also urged that no engineer could excuse himself for building a dangerous dam by endeavoring to transfer the blame to his employers. The responsibility for the scores of dams that are waiting among the hills of Massachusetts for a sufficient pretext to step down and out, and thus set free floods that may drown whole villages, rests with the engineers who built them. The only question to which the public desires an answer is why the all Massachusetts engineers are born with a congenital incapacity to build proper dams. Is there a solitary engineer in the whole State who can build a dam that will permanently hold water? If there be one, he only has to come forward and exhibit himself at Philadelphia, neatly labeled “An Intelligent Massachusetts Engineer, (unique specimen),” to make a certain and rapid fortune.

The State ought to have given careful attention to this matter two years ago, and caused the immediate reconstruction of all doubtful dams. As this has not yet been done, it is time for the people who reside in the neighborhood of the dams to take the affair into their own hands. It is not a difficult matter to catch an engineer alive, and when caught and tethered by a long chain at the foot of a dangerous dam he could be readily convinced that the dam needed to be repaired. What is needed is not a short chain that would interfere with the use of his limbs and faculties, but a chain sufficiently long to permit him to oversee and direct workmen engaged upon the dam, and yet not long enough to enable him to evade a sudden flood. If this course were pursued, there is no doubt that the intellect of the average engineer would be stimulated to such a degree that he would perceive what measures were needed to make the dam safe. Of course, it is desirable that the State authorities should themselves assume the duty of thus educating the engineers, but if the State neglects its proper work there should be a wholesome public opinion among citizens which would render it morally certain that henceforth no Massachusetts dam can burst without satisfactorily drowning its engineer.

(Well, you knew this was going to happen! Gee, they only want $165 million!) Landowners Sue TVA Over Coal Ash Spill Suit Asks For $15M In Compensatory Damage, $150M In Punitive Damages December 30, 2008, WSMV; Nashville, TN

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- An eastern Tennessee family has filed a $165 million lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority over a massive coal ash spill. The six-page lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Roane County by Jot and Brenda Raymond. It asks for $15 million in compensatory damage and $150 million in punitive damages. The couple suing are the owners and developers of North Lake Estates there. They claim they can't show prospective buyers their property, which they describe as suffering "significant and immediate damage" to its value since the Dec. 22 spill from a power plant. Also named as plaintiffs are Lea Ann Raymond and Chris Raymond, who own property in the subdivision. TVA spokesman John Molten declined to comment, saying the federal utility has yet to review the lawsuit. Attorneys for the plaintiffs didn't immediately return calls seeking comment. More people could be added to the suit as it moves forward. State and federal officials are warning residents who use private wells to stop drinking that water after high levels of arsenic were found in the water samples.

2 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

(This is getting more messy by the day and spreading) Coal ash scrutiny returns After a major Tenn. spill of toxic sludge, Duke Energy says inspections show no instability at its plants. By Bruce Henderson, Jan. 02, 2009, The Charlotte Observer

An East Tennessee spill that covered 300 acres in toxic sludge has renewed scrutiny of coal ash, which accumulates by millions of tons at Charlotte-area power plants. The ash – coal-burning residue stored in open basins – is laden with metals that in high concentrations can cause cancer and other health problems. Duke Energy's eight Carolinas coal-fired plants produce 2.2 million tons of ash a year, two-thirds of it dumped into landfills and ponds. Groundwater contamination forced Duke to close one ash landfill this year, the Observer reported in February. The company is installing wells to detect tainted groundwater at its plants. But the Tennessee spill raised a different question about ash basins: the stability of earthen dams that contain them.

A dike at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant, 40 miles west of Knoxville, collapsed Dec. 22 after heavy rain. Angry residents have accused federal authorities and the TVA of being slow to say what was in the 5.4 million cubic yards of sludge or to assess its environmental damage. The Knoxville-based Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said Tuesday it might sue the TVA over damage to the Emory and Clinch Rivers. Gary Davis, a Hot Springs, N.C., lawyer representing the group, said it's too soon to say whether Tennessee dam-safety regulations were lax. Duke, which operates 10 ash basins, and the N.C. Utilities Commission reviewed recent dike inspection reports following the TVA spill. The most recent inspections at Duke's plants found no imminent instability. “We reviewed all inspections to date, and we're confident in those inspections,” said Duke Spokesman Tim Pettit. But the reports, reviewed by the Observer, describe potential problems at dikes that are as much as 90 feet high and 3,000 feet long: - A “potentially serious seepage issue” at Duke's Dan River power plant in Rockingham County, near the Virginia line. A 2007 inspection report recommended further investigation of the dike's stability. - A 2005 storm overtopped a dike at the Cliffside plant in Rutherford County, 50 miles west of Charlotte, causing “major distress and erosion.” The dike had to be heightened by a foot. - More often, the reports recommend monitoring of instruments to detect instability, cutting vegetation and controlling muskrats. The state labels coal-ash dikes at Duke's Marshall, Riverbend, Buck and Dan River plants as “high hazard.” The labels aren't based on how safe the dams are, but on the amount of environmental damage and financial loss that could result if they failed. The Utilities Commission, which regulates Duke, requires independent safety inspections of coal-ash basins every five years. Pettit said Duke voluntarily does annual inspections, although state records show lapses at some plants. The state dam-safety office, part of a separate agency, reviews the inspection reports and Duke's responses. Roy Ericson, a commission official who has reviewed inspection reports since 2002, said he can't remember a case in which inspection recommendations weren't followed. “There's a lot of technical review to make sure they're safe,” he said, “and the interests of the utilities are that they stay that way.”

(Photos of Failure) http://pa.photoshelter.com/gallery- show/G0000TKIBm80gDNE?_bqO=0&_bqH=eJzL8g_xzTJIywqsSA9MNMqLjzfwczNOKvPKyAi1 MjK3MjK1snKP93SxdTcAghBvT6dcC4N0Fz9XNXfPeHdHHx_XoEhc0p7xwf5BIbZAlotncICPY2S 8f5CLaxBCCigeZOsY7AwALHwmug--&ppg=25

(The world is saved. Congress is having a hearing. And, this is dumb. A recommendation would have EPA regulating dam safety?????)

3 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

Congress hearing set on Kingston ash spill By: Dave Flessner, Dec. 31, 2008, Chattanooga Times Free Press

The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will conduct a hearing next week on the ash pond spill at TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant. U.S. Sen. Barbara Box, D-Calif., chairman of the committee, announced today that it will meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8., to consider the spill and its aftermath. Since TVA is a federally owned corporation, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has oversight of it. The committee will hear from TVA President Tom Kilgore, Roane County Emergency Management Director William “Howie” Rose and Stephen Smith, executive director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Mr. Smith has urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin regulating ash ponds similar to one that ruptured at the coal-burning Kingston plant, spilling more than 1 billion gallons of fly ash and muck into nearby lands and rivers. Currently, such regulation is done by state agencies.

(This is the story of the week. If I included every article, the Newsletter would be 50 pages.) Earlier landfill blowouts sounded alarm; seepage continued as coal ash pile grew By Anne Paine • THE TENNESSESAN • January 4, 2009

After a blowout five years ago on the wall of a massive, above-ground coal ash landfill at TVA's Kingston power plant, engineers were under pressure to find a fix that was not only viable, but also economical. The blowout wasn't large but indicated that something was not quite right inside the 98-acre mound of sludge. Water was tunneling in the layers of ash and creating pressure points on the dike holding the structure in place. How the Tennessee Valley Authority decided to stabilize Kingston's ash landfill would have implications for its many other elevated waste dumps, an important tool in the agency's strategy to maximize its storage on-site and avoid more costly options. A Tennessean review of state records and some TVA documents shows that top officials rejected solutions that were deemed "global fixes" because they were simply too costly. The most expensive option was listed at $25 million. In the end, TVA chose to install a series of trenches and other drainage mechanisms to try to relieve the water pressure and give the walls more stability. On Dec. 22, the walls gave way. A dark avalanche of coal ash sludge rolled over more than 300 acres around 1 a.m., knocking one home off its foundation and damaging others, toppling trees, filling two inlets of the Emory River and raising health and environmental concerns in nearby neighborhoods and for miles downstream. Remarkably, no lives were lost. But the cleanup could cost far more than the most expensive options TVA once considered.

State to boost scrutiny TVA officials say they are investigating why the mountain of ash collapsed. So far, they have said heavy rains and freezes probably triggered the disaster. Before the break, plant officials had been monitoring the dike and recent repairs. "They had not seen any indications that there was some type of imminent problem with the dike," said TVA spokesman Mike Harris. "They were evaluating the situation as it went along." One engineer who reviewed TVA's Feb. 15, 2008, Annual Ash Pond Dike Stability Inspection report questioned TVA's evaluation. The stability report was perplexing, he said, because it contained information about seeps, erosion and other issues, but no information to back up the claim that the dike was indeed stable. "Obviously, it failed because of slope instability. … I don't see that really being addressed," said Bruce Tschantz, a dam safety consultant who was the first U.S. chief of federal dam safety for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There was no information about the pressure inside the landfill in relation to the seepages and cohesiveness of the material, for example. The ash disposal site is regulated by the state of Tennessee's Department of Environment and Conservation and was classified as a Class II industrial landfill. TVA had to get approval from the state when it made changes to the landfill. For example, the state approved the installation of the drainage trenches in 2005, and did periodic visual inspections. Gov. Phil Bredesen suggested last week, however, that too much deference has been paid to federal agencies, including the TVA, over the years, and that TVA should expect closer scrutiny in the future. He called for inspections of all of TVA's ash facilities and a review of state environmental regulations, which could result in the state's taking back some of the responsibilities it may have ceded to federal authorities.

Troubles were apparent early The Kingston power plant, one of TVA's largest, began producing electricity in the 1950s at the base of a peninsula formed by the Clinch and Emory river embayment of Watts Bar Lake — part of the Tennessee River system. Each year, about 360,000 tons of powdery fly ash is produced as a byproduct of burning coal. It contains trace amounts of arsenic, lead, mercury, beryllium and other potentially toxic substances. Environmentalists have tried unsuccessfully to have it regulated as hazardous waste. The Kingston ash pile

4 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu has slowly grown and, in 2000, TVA requested and the state issued a landfill permit. Ash has accumulated at all the power producer's 11 coal-fired power plants, helped by Tennessee consistently being among the top — some years it's No. 1 — electricity users in the nation. Some of TVA's coal-burning plants add water to the fine ash to collect and store it, and others keep it dry. The Kingston ash facility, a wet version, is unusual for having been built so high. Before the cataclysmic break on Dec. 22, the stashed ash towered about 60 to 65 feet above Swan Pond Road, which skirted it. The walls were made of the heavy chunks of ash that fall to the bottom of the plant's burners. The wet fly ash was deposited inside the walls after being dredged out of settling ponds. TVA refers to the landfill as dredge cells. State records show troubles were apparent not long after the state issued the landfill permit. In mid-November 2003, a blowout caused the shutdown of the landfill, and an emergency dredge cell was set up next to it while an investigation took place. Blame was placed on "piping" and excessive seepage — both water issues. Water from the ash and also from rain can accumulate. If the liquid gathers and finds weak points, it can channel through the ash, leaving a pipeway for more water to move through, undermining the structure. A Dec. 22, 2003, report listed several repair alternatives, including converting to a dry ash collection system, a liner over the entire landfill, a vibrating beam cutoff wall and a new dredge cell.

Safer method cost most A dry collection system — a method that is more labor intensive — is considered more environmentally safe for waterways and groundwater than the wet method. It also was the most expensive fix at $25 million, according to the TVA report. The liner installation was estimated at $5 million, but TVA noted that it would set "a precedence for all other dredge cells" and "take a long time to construct." The cheapest option, a new dredge cell, would cost $480,000 and was a possibility for the short term, according to TVA in 2003, but could be viewed as a lateral expansion that would require the onus of a major permit modification, the update said. TVA decided to hire an outside firm, Parsons E&C, now WorleyParsons, to develop the plan to repair the landfill. In April 2005, TVA submitted a proposal for repair, backed with analysis by Parsons, and reviewed by a peer engineering firm, GeoSyntec. The solution would include a series of trench drains at different levels on the dike, another drain at the base of the mound and a riprap channel. Trench drains were not mentioned in the earlier 2003 options. "Effectiveness, constructability, economics and practical experience led TVA to focus its efforts on trench drains as the preferred fix," the April 2005 TVA report said. TVA urged quick approval of its plans so it could make repairs and resume dredging. The state signed off, without any apparent dissension. "Nothing showed anyone had any concerns," said Glen Pugh, division manager with the state's environmental agency's solid waste management in Nashville. "We don't reproduce the studies, but we look at the results." The fix was viewed as a minor modification to TVA's landfill permit, and work was completed in October 2005.

Wall ruptured in 2006 Failure followed in 2006, with another rupture loosing water and ash from a nearby section of wall. Though TVA officials have referred to it as "a small blowout" today, concerns were high enough afterward to install special wells to pull out water from behind the dike and to add 30 shallow piezometers, slim wells sunk into the landfill that measure water levels and help gauge pressure. "The monitors in place did not show any indications of any immediate problems," TVA's Harris said. Gil Francis, another TVA spokesman, dismissed any comparison to the previous break. "It was a 5-by-5-foot section with seepage that released some ash," he said of the 2006 event, adding that it was properly repaired. "That was not the section that failed with this incident." Meanwhile, another matter hovered over the landfill. By about 2015, at the current rate of disposal, it would be full. The maximum elevation could be about 815 feet above sea level — with the last level intended to be a mound of dry ash covered with a layer of earth and grass. "They were at 790 feet" in 2006, Pugh said. "They weren't far from reaching the maximum." The Kingston plant planned to add new air filtering equipment in 2009. The new scrubbers would remove additional waste from air emissions, which would mean a more than doubling of the waste stream with at least 372,000 tons of a new byproduct, gypsum. The gypsum waste could be sold — it's used in Sheetrock — but TVA would store the rest on-site as needed with the fly ash. It proposed to expand the dredge cells laterally, into the adjacent ash settling pond, to handle the additional waste, according to a March 2006 report.

Dredging resumes In mid-November 2007, engineers recommended a halt to the dredging as a preventive measure "to avoid another blowout" going into the winter months. Within a few months, the ash pile began drying out without the addition of new wet ash, and dust had become an issue. This potentially toxic dust carries sharp-edged bits of silica — like the building-materials dust in the air that sickened workers in New York after the 9/11 attacks. Dredging restarted for one day and then a decision was made to spray the cells with a coating to try to seal the material, the report said. A February dike stability inspection said the slopes "appeared to be in sound condition" and dredging resumed in March. Erosion and gullies were noted in the February report, but some seeps along the toe of the dike — known since the early 1980s — were not visible during the

5 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu inspection. The February report included many recommendations, including taking action that would "allow an additional release of water from the dikes." Plant operators were commended for mowing the landfill slopes. Trees too large to be mowed should be cut, the stumps removed, the area backfilled with soil and seeded, the report said. "They mentioned small trees being removed," said Tschantz, the dam safety consultant. "I'm wondering if trees had a role to play. You don't just pull those things out. The root channels have to be filled and compacted." Water can run along roots, or the channels if roots are removed, weakening a dike.

'Substantial' cleanup costs The Tennessean's request for interviews this week with TVA engineers was not granted. But there are clearly many wild cards in the quest to determine what went wrong. Rains had dropped almost 5 inches of water in December, compared with the usual 2.8 inches, officials said. A small earthquake, which did no damage, was reported by the U.S. Geological Service just northeast of Knoxville a few days before the coal ash disaster. Aside from figuring out what happened, officials also have to total up possible costs. Slow leaks from ash ponds in Maryland and Montana have resulted in $45 million and $25 million settlements. PPL Corp. has estimated its cleanup costs from leaking ashy water from a coal-burning plant in Pennsylvania at $37 million. In TVA's case, the equivalent of more than a billion gallons of ash sludge blew out all at once. "I do not know what the costs will be," Neil Carriker, TVA's environmental unit chief, said at a news conference last week. "I can guarantee you it will be substantial."

(If nothing else positive about any failure, sometimes it is a wake up call) Engineers to inspect 3 state dams for waste ash The state inspections at power plant ash pools are prompted by the disaster last month at a Tennessee sludge pond. By DAVID SHAFFER, Star Tribune, January 5, 2009

Three Minnesota dikes that hold vast amounts of coal waste ash will be inspected by state engineers in light of the disastrous ash sludge spill last month in Tennessee, State Dam Engineer Jason Boyle said. The dikes, which are 18 to 50 feet high and classified as dams, are at three large coal-fired power plants near Becker, Cohasset and Hoyt Lakes. The dikes enclose ponds filled with wet ash left over from burning coal and containing lead, mercury and other compounds. State regulators and the dams' owners, Xcel Energy and Minnesota Power, said the dikes and ponds have not caused environmental problems. And the Minnesota dikes are made of stronger earth fill -- not ash. In Tennessee, a dike built of dredged ash that had been soaked by rain failed Dec. 22 at a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant 40 miles west of Knoxville. The breach sent sludge into a river, coated roads, damaged riverfront homes and left traces of heavy metals in the water. Officials warned people to avoid contact with the ash, and for children and pets to stay away from the area.

The disaster highlights the concerns over disposal of coal ash, which has been a worry in Minnesota because of the risk of groundwater contamination. The Tennessee ash slide also is reminiscent of a July 1993 mishap on Minnesota's North Shore, in which a rain-soaked coal ash heap crashed down the hillside. "Any time we get hear of a dam failure, it gets our attention," Boyle, the state dam engineer, said Friday of the Tennessee ash slide. For two of the three Minnesota ash dikes, Boyle said, he could find no records of inspections by state engineers despite a rule that calls for checks at least every eight years. He didn't know why they hadn't been checked. Boyle said he believes the dikes, which were built of sand and clay like other earthen dams, and have protective liners, are well-designed and well-maintained, and are closely monitored by the utilities that own them. But he said engineers will reconsider whether the dikes should be classified as "significant hazard" structures, a rating of their potential to cause damage if they fail. Xcel Energy is the owner of the highest Minnesota ash dike, at its Sherco generating plant near Becker. The plant has a 40- acre ash pond surrounded by a 50-foot-high dike off the Mississippi River. It's 45 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, which use the river for drinking water. Boyle said the dike was inspected by the state in the past year. Terry Coss, Xcel's environmental director, said he doesn't believe that a catastrophic accident could occur at the Sherco dike -- and even if it did, the structure is hundreds of yards from the river, so any spillage would stay on the land in between. In Tennessee, "the wall of their surface impoundment was basically on the riverbank, so when they had their release there was no place for the material to go but the river," he added. Another big difference is that in Minnesota, fly ash material is not used in dike construction, said Brandon Smith, an engineer for the state Pollution Control Agency who oversees Sherco's waste disposal permit. Fly ash is known to become unstable when saturated with water. It happened 15 years ago on the North Shore of Lake Superior, when a 27-acre ash heap at a former LTV Steel power plant turned into uncontrollable sludge after heavy rain. About half of the heap crashed down the hillside, covering part of Hwy. 61 near Taconite Harbor and knocking out an electric substation. Some reached the lake, and the land cleanup cost

6 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu the company $11 million, said Jeff Stollenwerk of the Pollution Control Agency. The other dikes to be inspected by state engineers are at two Minnesota Power stations: Laskin Energy Center in Hoyt Lakes and Boswell Energy Center in Cohasset. The company said it had no concerns about its dikes, which also are made of earth fill. "We have been handling coal ash for 30-plus years ... and we are proud of our track record," said Amy Rutledge, a company spokesman.

Boyle, the dam engineer, said the inspections will occur later this year. Dams generally are inspected from late spring until the first snowfall, he said. Separately, the ash ponds have been inspected by the Pollution Control Agency in the past year, said Stollenwerk, who heads the agency's industrial permitting unit. Each year, coal power plants in Minnesota produce enough waste ash to fill 61,000 of the largest dump trucks on the road. Not all of it goes into diked ponds. Some is used to make cement. Ash also is disposed at seven landfills in the state, including one near the A.S. King power plant in Washington County. That is almost filled up. When Xcel Energy, the King plant's owner, sought permission to build a new landfill in nearby West Lakeland Township, the Legislature responded by placing a moratorium on new industrial landfills. Xcel's proposed ash landfill, like others built in the state over the past 15 years, would have a synthetic liner and other systems to protect groundwater. But that is no comfort to John McPherson, who has served 41 years on the township board. "We are worried about groundwater," he said. "They talk about their liners and stuff. What happens if it breaks?" State pollution control officials now are reviewing landfill regulations. Rep. Julie Bunn, DFL-Lake Elmo, who pushed for moratorium last year, said a report from a government committee is expected soon.

New study shows massive earthquake could cause Anderson Dam to fail By Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 01/05/2009

The risk is small, but the largest dam in Santa Clara County could collapse in a major earthquake, according to a new study. A 6.6 magnitude quake centered directly at Anderson Reservoir near Morgan Hill, or a 7.2 quake centered one mile away, could cause the reservoir's 240-foot-high earthen dam to fail, an engineering report that the Santa Clara Valley Water District released Monday found. In the worst case, a complete failure of Anderson Dam could send a wall of water 35 feet high into downtown Morgan Hill within 14 minutes, and eight feet deep into San Jose within three hours, under state emergency scenarios. On Monday water district officials alerted neighboring towns of the report, though district officials emphasized that the dam is safe. But they said they will not allow its water level to come within 30 feet of the top — leaving the reservoir no more than 87 percent full — for at least 18 months while more detailed engineering studies are done. The reservoir is currently 63 percent full. "Although this is a preliminary study, we are taking it very seriously," said Susan Siravo, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Valley Water District. "We want to be open and transparent with the public. And we want to proceed with a comprehensive study to ensure the safety of the dam for generations to come." Based in San Jose, the water district provides drinking water to 1.8 million people in Santa Clara County. The district's customers will not have water service interrupted, and boating at the reservoir won't be affected.

Anderson Dam was built in 1950. It holds 90,000 acre-feet of water when full, more than the other nine reservoirs in the county combined. The dam sits east of Highway 101, along the Calaveras Fault, which runs from Hollister to Milpitas. Anderson came through the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989 without harm and, similarly, made it through the 1984 Morgan Hill quake, a 6.2 on the Calaveras Fault, with only minor cracking to the asphalt road on its crest. But a report prepared Dec. 17 for the district by AMEC Geomatrix, an Oakland engineering firm, found in one of 13 test borings that the dam's foundation contains sand and gravel, which could liquefy in a big quake. Most of the foundation was scraped down to bedrock when the dam was built. "The dam was designed to address earthquakes," said Dave Hook, an engineering unit manager for dam safety with the water district. "They were aware of the faults, but it wasn't designed for today's maximum credible earthquake." In a worst-case scenario, the dam would almost certainly not all collapse at once, like a concrete structure might, but rather if completely full, could slump and begin to erode away from the top, giving people a day or so to evacuate, Hook said. How likely is a massive quake on that fault that could threaten the dam's integrity? In recorded history, there have been no 6.6 or larger magnitude quakes on the Calaveras Fault. But one isn't impossible. In 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey concluded that there is an 11 percent probability of a quake of 6.7 or larger on the Calaveras Fault in the next 30 years, and a 2 percent probability of a 7.0 or larger quake on the fault over the same time. "If the Calaveras Fault ruptured across multiple segments, you could get an earthquake up to 7.2," said David Oppenheimer, a USGS seismologist in Menlo Park. "I don't think that's likely to occur, but you can't rule it out entirely." The largest earthquake recorded on the Calaveras Fault was a 6.5 in 1911. Most recently, on Oct. 30, 2007, a 5.6 quake occurred on the Calaveras Fault about five miles north of Alum Rock Park in San Jose. Shaking was felt from Santa Rosa to King City. Damage was minor — mostly broken windows — although librarians

7 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

at San Jose's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. main library had to reshelve 300,000 books that were thrown to the floor. The next step is for the water district's board to fund further studies. Jim Fiedler, the water district's chief operating officer for water utility enterprise, said to ensure speed, he will recommend the board approve at its next meeting Jan. 13 a no-bid contract with the same firm that did the preliminary study for a more exhaustive investigation that will include additional borings and computer models. That could cost roughly $3.7 million, he estimated.

If retrofitting were needed, the district probably would not need to tear down the dam, Hook said. It could drain the reservoir and make it wider and stronger with more rocks and earth, a project it conducted in 1985 at Stevens Creek Reservoir. On Monday, the district sent notice of the new findings to city managers and county leaders in surrounding communities. Morgan Hill City Manager Ed Tewes said his community has known for years it was living in the shadow of a 240-foot tall dam. "As we do our emergency planning and worst case scenarios, our largest risk has always been consideration of a failure of the dam," Tewes said. "We will be very interested in this study."

HHyyddrroo (Not much hydro news this week) Company floats second Bear Lake hydropower plan Associated Press - January 4, 2009, LocalNews8.com

LOGAN, Utah (AP) - A Logan company is floating its second proposal for a hydropower pump project near Bear Lake. Symbiotics LLC wants to build a 100-megawatt plant in a canyon near the northern Utah lake. Company spokesman Justin Barker says the proposed North Eden Pump Project would not be visible from the lake. As proposed, the pump would operate at night, pumping water to a high point and releasing it to create 100 megawatts of power for use during peak demand. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued Symbiotics a preliminary permit to research the project's feasibility. So far, local reaction to the proposal has been mild. Last year, Symbiotics proposed a 1,120-megawatt pump that was opposed by environmentalists, local government and Utah's governor.

WWaatteerr Judge orders mill to stop using Ga. canal water Ledger-Enquirer.com, Dec. 30, 2008

Augusta, GA - A judge has ordered a vacant textile mill to stop using water from the Augusta Canal for electricity. The order, which was effective Monday, comes after the city of Augusta sued South Carolina- based Avondale Mills Inc. for refusal to comply with demands that the company halt hydropower generation at Sibley Mill. The mill is no longer making fabrics, but its turbines produce up to $1,200 in electricity daily. The city argued that it needs the water the mill is using to help meet federal mandates for water levels in the nearby Augusta Shoals. Avondale Mills made fabric used in clothing and specialty products like boat covers. In its heyday, the company employed more than 4,000 workers and operated 18 plants in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

N.C. Water Rights Committee Announces State Trust Concept Statewide Coalition Releases Document Outlining State Management, Ownership of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project By: PR Newswire, Jan. 6, 2009

8 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

STANLY COUNTY, N.C., Jan. 6/PRNewswire/ -- The N.C. Water Rights Committee (www.ncwaterrights.org) is announcing the release of the State Trust Concept, a document that outlines how the State of North Carolina can establish a Trust with respect to the ownership and management of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project on behalf of North Carolina citizens. This process will obtain and secure the license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Project currently held by Alcoa Power Generation, Inc. (Alcoa) through the FERC's current relicensing process and other available legal means. The State Trust Concept will honor most aspects of the Relicensing Settlement Agreement (RSA) negotiated by public and private entities such as Alcoa in 2008, including a comprehensive drought management plan (the "Low Inflow Protocol"), water quality improvements for the Yadkin, and new and expanded public recreation facilities. However, the Trust will provide more benefits to North Carolina state residents than what the RSA and Alcoa have proposed, including:

Alcoa has applied for a 50-year license for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project to continue to operate dams at High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls Reservoirs along the Yadkin River. If it is granted, Alcoa will have exclusive water rights to conduct hydroelectric operations on the upper Yadkin for 50 years, and the opportunity to make millions in profits selling that electricity with little return for North Carolina, at it has been doing with the Project since its previous licensing in 1958. However, if the Trust is adopted by State and federal officials now reviewing the license for the Project, the people of North Carolina would once again be in control of their water as the Trust would be answerable to the citizens. The Trust will cooperate fully with the Governor on any and all drought emergencies throughout the State of North Carolina as well. The full text of the State Trust Concept can be accessed at the N.C. Water Rights Web site at: www.ncwaterrights.org/Info/Info005.aspx .

EEnnvviirroonnmmeenntt Fishnets for the future: AmerenUE installs nets at Bagnell Dam to protect fishery By Charis Patires, Lake Sun Leader, Jan 03, 2009

Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. - A project to protect fish from being injured or killed in the turbines at Bagnell Dam has been completed, putting to end a nearly four-year long process. Several hundred feet of netting has been installed across a portion of Bagnell Dam to act as a barrier and keep fish from running into the turbines. The nearly 900-foot net stretches from the North Shore to the first spill gate at the dam. According to Allan Sullivan, AmerenUE consulting engineer at Bagnell Dam, a committee was formed to find out the best way to protect fish from going through the turbines. The Fish Protection Working Group began meeting in 2005 and is made up of officials with AmerenUE, the Department of Conservation, the Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The barrier is intended to protect all fish, but mainly paddlefish. The project was also completed as part of AmerenUE's relicensing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The committee looked at and tested a number of options for keeping fish away including the use of flashing strobe lights and sound. While it worked for some, others ignored it and the committee decided a physical barrier was necessary. Installation of the mesh netting started in the fall. A smaller net has also been put in to catch large debris and trash, Warren A. Witt, AmerenUE manager of hydro operations, said. The nets will be inspected once a month for the next two years. Both are located inside the boat barrier and do not create a navigational hazard, he said.

9 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

i This compilation of articles and other information is provided at no cost for those interested in hydropower, dams, and water resources issues and development, and should not be used for any commercial or other purpose. Any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have an interest in receiving this information for non-profit and educational purposes only.

10 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

SSoommee DDaamm –– HHyyddrroo NNeewwss and Other Stuff

i 1/16/2009

Quote of Note: "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." -- Douglas Adams

“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: Gallo Family Sonoma Vineyards Pinot Noir 2005

OOtthheerr SSttuuffffff::: Statement by FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher FERC News Release: January 7, 2009 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher today issued the following statement: “Today I announce my intention to step down as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), effective January 20, 2009. Although my term as commissioner does not end until 2012, I will also immediately begin to recuse myself from FERC business, as I explore other career opportunities. “It has been an honor to serve as chairman of FERC at this particular time, with the expanded power granted the agency in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This law gave FERC better tools to discharge its historic missions of guarding the consumer from exploitation and promoting the development of a robust energy infrastructure, as well as giving the agency new missions on grid reliability and enforcement. It has been a privilege to exercise this new authority and define these new missions. “I thank President Bush for giving me this opportunity to serve the public.” “

(Excerpts) Portland energy consultant joins global firm By Tux Turkel Portland Press Herald Staff Writer January 08, 2009

HDR, a ------firm based in Nebraska, has acquired Devine Tarbell & Associates Inc., a Portland company that provides hydropower and related renewable energy consulting services to utility, industry and government clients. Financial terms were not disclosed. Devine Tarbell will now conduct business as HDR/DTA. DTA, an employee-owned firm, has nine offices in North America and employs 260 people. The firm has 68 workers in Portland. HDR is an employee-owned architectural, engineering and consulting firm with more than 7,700 professionals in more than 165 locations worldwide.

1 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

DDaammss Pflueger pleads not guilty to Kaloko Dam charges By Diana Leone, Honolulu Advertiser, January 6, 2009

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — James Pflueger pleaded not guilty this morning to seven counts of manslaughter and one count of reckless endangering in connection with the March 14, 2006, Kaloko Dam break that killed seven people and destroyed property on Kauai’s north shore. A criminal trial on the charges was set for June 15 by Fifth Circuit Court Judge Randal Valenciano. By requesting the June date, Pflueger waived his right to a speedy trial, which would have resulted in a March court date under state law. Pflueger made his 15-minute court appearance from a private videoconferencing facility on O'ahu. Valenciano had approved the video appearance yesterday, which was requested because of Pflueger's bad health. Pflueger, who had heart surgery in August, continues to suffer from high blood pressure, double vision, and fluid in his lungs, said David Minkin, an attorney for Pflueger who represented him in the Kaua'i courtroom yesterday. Minkin said he expects Pflueger will be well enough for a June trial on Kaua'i. He said Pflueger's defense team will decide after reviewing information filed by the attorney general's office whether to pursue a change of venue.

Pflueger, 82, had trouble hearing the judge via the videoconference connection, but was able to respond to questions when William McCorriston, an attorney with him in Honolulu, repeated questions for him. Pflueger was indicted on the criminal charges Nov. 21 and posted bail of $71,000 the following week. If convicted of the charges, he could face a maximum of up to 20 years in prison for each manslaughter charge. Meanwhile, two civil lawsuits regarding the Kaloko Dam break are heading into court-approved mediation in March. If no agreement can be reached among the parties, a wrongful death lawsuit is set for Sept. 7 and a property damage suit is to begin in 2010. State Attorney General Mark Bennett, who is prosecuting the criminal case, alleges that Pflueger took actions that led to the dam failure. Pflueger's attorneys have maintained he did not fill Kaloko Dam's spillway with dirt, erasing its function as an emergency exit for water when the reservoir is too full. An estimated 400 million gallons of water burst out of Kaloko Dam and rushed downhill on March 14, 2006, after heavy rainfall for 42 days. The accident triggered inspections of more than 100 earthen dams across the state and increased staff for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources dam safety program.

(Duh! What planet are these people from? They just now figured this out. I hope the EAPs are for more than loss of life. Obviously, the property damage may not be avoidable, but I’d like to at least move the car.) Coal industry backs slurry safety planning By Bill Estep, Jan. 06, 2009, Lexington Herald-Leader

The coal industry will back a requirement for emergency action plans at slurry impoundments where a break would cause flooding that could kill downstream residents. The decision is a break from the industry's past stance and should make it easier to require such plans for scores of impoundments, mostly in Eastern Kentucky, that are rated as highly hazardous. That would also help protect people who live nearby, according to some who have pushed the state to require emergency plans. "I think that's great news," said Stephanie McSpirit, an Eastern Kentucky University professor who began lobbying for emergency plans after a slurry impoundment failed in Martin County in October 2000. That break flooded creeks and bottom land with more than 300 million gallons of sludge-like coal waste, threatening water supplies and killing millions of fish. No people were killed or injured. The move to require emergency action plans for coal-slurry impoundments will not deal with facilities that store coal ash, which has been in the news lately because of the failure of a large ash containment structure in Tennessee on Dec. 22. Slurry is a mix of water and fine particles of coal, rock and clay left from washing coal soon after it is mined. Coal ash is what's left after coal is burned to generate electricity.

Emergency action plans spell out procedures for notifying authorities if a dam fails or is about to fail. The federal template for such plans also calls for mapping the area that would be flooded in a break, as well as evacuation details. Dam-safety advocates have long preached about the need for regulators to require such plans for dams, especially those where a failure could cause deaths. However, Kentucky remains one of 2 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu about 10 states that do not require dam owners to develop emergency action plans for the structures, according to the Association of State Dam Safety Officials. Legislative proposals to require emergency action plans for all high-hazard potential dams in Kentucky have failed several times since the Martin County disaster, most recently last year.

A change of position In the Martin County disaster, the bottom of the impoundment — not the dam — failed, letting coal waste and water drain into underground mine tunnels and then out into two watersheds. Residents complained afterward that they were not notified of the massive spill for hours. Some contended that, if the waste had been confined to one creek, not two, the black tide would have been high enough to kill people downstream. The coal industry did not fight previous legislative proposals, but contended that the requirement to implement emergency plans should apply to all high-hazard dams, not just slurry impoundments, said Bill Caylor, president of the Kentucky Coal Association. The broader proposal proved difficult to pass, however. There might have been concerns about the cost to owners of developing the plans, said state Rep. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, who sponsored a resolution calling for emergency action plans. Caylor said the coal industry decided to change its position and support a requirement for emergency plans applying only to coal- waste impoundments. "We recognize the need. It's the right thing to do," Caylor said. Federal regulators have started requiring such plans in Western Kentucky and could begin doing so in the eastern end of the state, Caylor said. Most coal companies have already developed plans on what to do if their impoundment fails, Caylor said. The industry also realized it would be difficult for state lawmakers to require emergency plans for all dams at a time when the state and local governments are strapped for money, he said.

64 high-hazard sites People who have been pushing for emergency plans for dams applauded the coal industry's move to support a measure applying only to its slurry impoundments. "I think it is significant," said Tom FitzGerald, executive director of the Kentucky Resources Council. There are 64 coal-slurry impoundments in the state, most of them in Eastern Kentucky, that are rated as having a high hazard potential, said Trey Hieneman, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources. The hazard ratings on dams aren't based on how likely they are to fail, but rather on the potential for damage if they do. Any dam where a failure would be likely to kill people or cause serious damage to houses, businesses or important facilities such as major roads is classified as high hazard, even if the dam is sound. The state inspects about 400 water dams that are rated high- or moderate-hazard. They are scattered across the state and have a variety of owners, including cities and government agencies, home owners' associations, golf courses and even farmers. Different state agencies inspect coal-waste impoundments and water reservoirs. The resolution Caylor said the industry will support directs state authorities to draft regulations requiring coal companies to develop emergency action plans for high-hazard potential slurry impoundments. It's not clear exactly what the regulations will include, Caylor said. One question, for instance, is whether the rule would require detailed mapping of the area that would be flooded in case of a breach. Webb said she would sponsor the measure requiring emergency plans for coal impoundments in the legislative session that begins Tuesday. State Sen. Ray Jones II might sponsor a companion proposal in the Senate, as he did in 2007, Webb said.

(Mmmm! One is a dam and one is not?) Chatuge Dam structure safe, TVA says Clay County Progress, January 8, 2009

The breech in an earthen dike of a coal ash retention pond at a TVA coal plant in Tennessee is not likely to happen at Chatuge, TVA officials said last week. On Dec. 22, the wall of one of three ponds at the Kingston Coal Plant in Tennessee collapsed, covering about 300 acres in water and silt. Coal ash is a byproduct of the coal burning process. The Kingston plant produces about 10 billion kilowatt hours per year. “The design of an earthen dam like the one at Chatuge is much different from the retention pond wall,” said TVA media relations representative Barbara Martucci. The drainage systems are different and the engineering to build a dam is much more complex than that needed to form the walls of a retention pond. “Engineered inspections are done every five years,” Martucci said. In addition, TVA conducts less detailed inspections on an annual basis and conducts monthly “walk-downs” to look for potential problems. Any problems are noted in the reports and a plan has to be recommended to take care of the problem. Once detailed on the report, it is monitored until completed, she said. TVA has been working on cleaning up the Kingston spill, which destroyed two homes and damaged others. The railroad which supplies the plant with coal for energy generation has reopened.

3 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

(This has got to be the ultimate useless trivia. Maybe she’s hoping for another movie.) Erin Brockovich comes to Kingston, Tennessee By: Staff Report, timesfreepress.com, Jan. 8, 2009

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich is scheduled to meet this afternoon with residents harmed by TVA’s fly-ash spill at the Kingston Steam Plant. Ms. Brockovich will appear at a news conference at 2 p.m. in Lenoir City. “My main objective in these cases is to work with the community to build trust and help protect their health and safety,” Ms. Brockovich said in a news release. “Many times, industry deceives us and government is absent. People are left standing in contamination with no help.” Ms. Brockovich worked as a law clerk on a successful $333 million class-action 1993 lawsuit against Pacific Gas in California, which was ultimately settled in 1996 for $333 million. In the 2000 movie “Erin Brockovich,” she was portrayed by actress Julia Roberts, who won an Oscar as Best Actress for the role. In December, an earthen dam owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority ruptured and spilled more than 1 billion gallons of pudding-like sludge over 300 acres of land and water in Kingston.

HHyyddrroo DOE Releases Marine and Hydrokinetic Database SustainableBusiness.com News, 01/06/2009

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program has developed and released a database that provides up-to-date information on marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy in the United States and around the world. The DOE says the database represents a groundbreaking effort in terms of breadth and depth of information on companies, technologies, and projects within the marine and hydrokinetic industry. The database includes wave, current and ocean thermal energy conversion technologies and allows the user to search among both technology types and specific projects, based on a number of criteria. At a glance, the database indicates that the marine and hydrokinetic industry is present in approximately 28 countries, with the majority of companies worldwide based in the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the United States alone, there are approximately 47 companies, universities, and/or municipalities developing various technologies or projects. Of these, 30 are developing wave and current technologies, with an almost even split between the two resource applications. The database also indicates that 29 U.S. companies, universities and/or municipalities have projects planned or underway within the United States or abroad. Within the United States, 192 projects have applied for initial permitting, and 11 have had devices undergo partial or full deployment. Users can access details on a device or project's size, dimensions, and mooring methods, as well as project details, including information on permitting, power purchase agreements, partnerships, or even an interactive GPS mapping feature that allows the user to pinpoint certain project locations worldwide. The database Web site also includes a marine and hydrokinetic technology glossary that features standard definitions co-developed by DOE and the Mineral Management Services (U.S. Department of the Interior) for technologies within the three central applications of wave, current and ocean thermal. Link to the Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology Database website below. Website: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/hydrokinetic/default.aspx

Clarksville and Winfield added to hydroelectric plans By BRENT ENGEL, Hannibal Courier-Post Jan 08, 2009

Quincy, IL — Two dams have been added to plans for hydroelectric facilities along the Mississippi River. The green light already has been given on pre-applications for plants in Canton, Quincy and Saverton. Now, supporters want to get permits to build at Clarksville and Winfield. The goal is to reduce the amount of coal and oil needed to make electricity. City leaders in Quincy are behind the effort, which would produce enough power for more than 30,000 area homes. “We’re looking at this with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of support,” 4 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu said Mike Klingner, an engineer involved with the project. “I think it’s certainly very interesting,” said Clarksville Mayor Jo Anne Smiley. “We’ve talked about alternative energy. The river has been among the subjects of the conversation.”

Supporters want to add Clarksville and Winfield because they have double the production capabilities of the other three due to their elevation and water pools. “The more elevation difference, the better,” Klingner said. “It’s more energy that can be produced.” Supporters hope construction of the Canton, Quincy and Saverton plants could be done by 2015, with the Clarksville and Winfield facilities coming on line two years later. Forty high-tech generators would be put in at Canton, with the other four sites getting 30 apiece. Each plant would be built on the shore opposite the lock. At Clarksville and Winfield, that would mean the generators would be near the Illinois side. Klingner said the “environmentally-friendly” devices would cause little change in scenery because they would be below the water line. Estimated construction cost for all five plants is more than $320 million. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is expected to rule on pre-application approval for Clarksville and Winfield within 60 days. Klingner said two private firms also are bidding. Quincy would oversee the projects and hire a contractor to maintain the system. The city would later contract with utilities to transmit power. Aldermen there are looking at $5.5 million in bonds to pay for start-up costs.

(The trials and tribulations of hydro. Study, study, study – will they ever build? If anyone has a doubt about DEC wanting to kill this project – put that one out of your mind.) Dam plan in Massena hits more red tape By LORI SHULL, Watertown Daily Times Staff Writer, JANUARY 10, 2009

MASSENA, NY — The hydrodam project proposed by the Massena Electric Department appears to have hit another stumbling block, as the state Department of Environmental Conservation has asked for more detailed environmental impact studies. This is the second time MED's studies have been deemed insufficient by DEC. Local officials say they are getting frustrated because DEC has determined some work was done incorrectly. "I think the frustration we have is they've been deeply involved with our study plan development," MED Superintendent Andrew J. McMahon said. "Our primary concern is that the DEC is asking us to change our methodology on studies they had previously approved." The state is also asking for additional studies, which MED did not do. However, DEC officials maintain that they have been requesting the same information all along. "No, we're not asking for a new study. We're asking for a study we asked for during the scoping process in April 2007," said DEC habitat biologist Alice P. M. Richardson, who works on hydrodam projects from the Adirondacks to the St. Lawrence River. "They did part of the analysis."

The misunderstanding, according to DEC officials, is a result of failings in the proposal process, which is mediated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Over the summer, DEC and MED were in conflict- resolution discussions about what kinds of studies were necessary. While those discussions were ongoing, MED continued to work on the studies FERC had deemed to be sufficient, which were due in November. Those studies did not include the additional work requested by DEC, according to Region 6 Director Judy Drabicki. In February, FERC will decide if the project can move forward or if more studies must be done. Even if the federal government rules in MED's favor, the state can refuse to issue a necessary water quality permit. If approved, the hydrodam will reduce the amount of power MED has to buy from the New York Power Authority to meet customer demand. The dam would include a powerhouse with a single-turbine generator and would produce approximately 100,000 megawatt hours of energy a year.

MED proposes to build the dam near the footbridge by Tamarack Street in the village. It will cost $22 million to $25 million and would create a 55-acre lake. The dam also would interrupt the longest uninterrupted stretch of river that is home to three protected species of fish and several protected habitats. How the dam would impact these populations and what could be done to mitigate its effects on them is of vital concern to DEC and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, a stakeholder in the project. "We're not saying it's a good project or a bad project. We're just concerned about the impacts," said Kenneth L. Jock, director of the tribe's environmental division. "There are some species that are pretty significant to our traditions. We want good information. We want complete information."

(Gee, someone tells it like it is. $1.2 million is a ridiculous amount and the only people who benefited were the people doing the studies which led to nothing. This is exactly why hydro is at a disadvantage. There are too many people doing studies that produce nothing worthwhile while we continue to burn fossil fuels and pollute the air we breath and the very streams that these so- called environmentalists pretend to protect. They are the worst enemies of the environment.)

5 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

Boardman dams study cost $1.2M Group reached no clear consensus on dams' fate By SHERI McWHIRTER, Traverse City Record-Eagle, January 11, 2009

TRAVERSE CITY -- A study of four dams on the Boardman River cost more than $1.2 million, and left some debating whether the dollars made sense. A study group that never reached clear consensus after years of review spent about $945,000 on environmental and engineering work. The second greatest expense -- about $166,000 -- was used to pay facilitators and clerical staff. The costs, much of it paid with public money, drew mixed reaction. "I think it's a travesty the way public money was spent to not have enough information to satisfy the objective analysis of the dams. We spent too much time on the fish and not enough time on the dams themselves and returning them to hydroelectric use," said Norbert Tutlis, a member of the Boardman River Dams Committee and a dam retention proponent. Others disagree. "It was money well- spent. It was definitely a good use of resources and the public was definitely involved," said Mark Breederland of Michigan Sea Grant, who served as chairman of a study group financial committee.

The dams committee used public and private money, topped by $304,000 from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust, a private trust created in 1996 amid a court settlement for fish losses at a Ludington hydroelectric facility. Various governments also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the Boardman River dams study: $219,000 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, $200,000 in a tribal grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, $150,000 from Grand Traverse County, $114,000 by state agencies, and $110,000 from Traverse City, among others. Northwestern Michigan College served as a distribution agent for the project and was paid about $28,400 for rented space at the Hagerty Conference Center and $2,400 to train facilitators. Scientific studies included sediment analysis, fish passage investigation, ecological studies, hydrologic models of the river, depth studies of the impoundments and other research. The result is a comprehensive set of scientific data that gives the benefits and drawbacks of both dam retention and removal, said Todd Kalish, who works for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and was committee chairman. The group consisted of hundreds of volunteers and community members who met each month in recent years to determine what should be done with Union Street, Boardman, Sabin and Brown Bridge dams. They considered modifications, repairs and dams removal. The committee ultimately approved a two-pronged recommendation for Traverse City and Grand Traverse County officials: Either leave all the dams in or remove all but Union Street Dam. The two polarized recommendations were the top two perspectives expressed during the project, officials said. City and county leaders will gather for a joint meeting on Jan. 26 to hear a report from the committee before making decisions about the dams. The city owns Union Street and Brown Bridge dams and the county owns Boardman and Sabin dams.

(Here we go again. Montana is like many states. Hydro IS NOT a renewable unless it’s a small project. How dumb is that? Here’s another hydro project that will be 100 years old in 2010. It has produced renewable power with no great harm to the environment all that time. This is the 2nd major announcement by PPL of a delay in new hydro construction – this environmental movement and the economy are the cause of these delays!) Rainbow Dam upgrade delayed By KARL PUCKETT • Tribune Staff Writer • January 12, 2009

A $195 million upgrade to the 34-megawatt Rainbow Dam on the Missouri River has been delayed for a year because of increasing construction and financing costs caused by the national economic downturn. "There's such an uncertainty in construction costs right now," said David Hoffman, director of external affairs for PPL Montana, the dam's owner. Meanwhile, PPL is backing a proposed change in the definition of renewable energy that may come before the Legislature. The amended definition would allow new electricity production generated as a result of upgrades at existing dams such as the Rainbow Dam facility to be sold as higher-priced renewable energy. "People who want or need renewable power then would have another source," Hoffman said.

Wind, solar and geothermal energy already can be marketed as renewable energy, but only hydro-electric facilities that produce fewer than 10 megawatts of power are considered green under the current law. The upgrade at Rainbow Dam, which is 6 miles northeast of Great Falls, would result in 24 additional megawatts 6 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu of electricity, meaning power from the facility wouldn't qualify as green energy unless a change is made. Hoffman said that allowing the additional hydro power to be sold as renewable energy would be an incentive for other facilities to make such an investment. "I think you might see a little opposition from other renewable sources who see it as competition," he noted. What type of energy qualifies as renewable is significant because states across the country are passing standards requiring utilities to sell a certain amount of so- called green power, which is driving up demand. Montana law currently requires that public utilities and competitive electricity suppliers obtain 5 percent of retail electricity sales from eligible renewable sources of power. The required percentage will climb to 10 percent next year and 15 percent in 2015. "Green power naturally sells at a higher price than non-green power," Hoffman said. No bill proposing the change has been introduced this session, but Hoffman said he expects the definition change proposal to find a place somewhere in one of the pending energy bills.

Because of the rising costs, construction at Rainbow Dam, which was originally scheduled to begin this spring, is slated to start in March 2010, he said. Hoffman said the delay will allow engineers more time to study expenses and better predict an end cost. "This project is still a go," he said. The projected cost of the project has increased $20 million to $195 million since February 2008, when the plans were announced, he said. "We'd rather have things sooner than later, but it's being done for a good reason," Brett Doney, president of the Great Falls Development Authority, said of the delay. The GFDA backs the Rainbow Dam project because a good local power supply can help attract industries that are intense power users, Doney said. Additionally, the improvement project, which will provide a substantial property tax boost to Cascade County once it’s completed, won't cost the county anything extra in services, Doney said. "All of that additional tax revenue will go to help out the budget and the taxpayers," he said. As part of the expansion project, PPL plans to build a new powerhouse downstream from the existing facility, which was constructed in 1910. At the new facility, a single turbine will replace the eight turbines in the old powerhouse, and increase electricity production from 34 megawatts to 58 megawatts —enough to power about 45,000 homes, according to PPL. Electricity from the new powerhouse is expected to go online in 2012, Hoffman said. Rainbow Dam is one of 11 PPL hydroelectric dams along the Missouri, Flathead, Clark Fork, and Madison rivers and Rosebud Creek, churning out a combined 602 megawatts of electricity. Other private companies, as well as the state and federal government, also run hydro-electric facilities in Montana. Will Rosquist, a staff economist with the Montana Public Service Commission, said he would expect several objections to a change in the renewable energy definition if it's altered to allow all energy produced at existing hydro facilities to be treated as renewable. However, Hoffman noted that PPL only supports allowing the incremental increases in electricity from improvements to be marketed as green power. "If that's the case, that's probably going to be a lot less controversial," Rosquist said.

(Well, I guess this is some kind of record. It’s only been about 35 years since the original license expired. It’s hard to not be cynical.) News Release Jan. 12, 2009 Tacoma Power signs historic Cushman Dam settlement agreement

Tacoma Power, the Skokomish Tribal Nation and state and federal agencies signed historic settlement agreements for Tacoma Power’s Cushman Hydroelectric Project today. The agreements resolve a $5.8 billion damages claim and long-standing disputes over the terms of a long-term license for Cushman Hydroelectric Project, which is located on the Skokomish River in Mason County. The licensing settlement agreement concludes nearly two years of negotiations and decades of contention between Tacoma Power, the Skokomish Tribal Nation and the many state and federal agencies that will oversee the implementation of the terms of the agreement. “This has been a long, arduous process that has taken patience, collaboration and compromise from everyone involved,” said Tacoma Public Utilities Director William Gaines. “Today is an important day for us, but also an important milestone for hydropower in general. This has been one of the longest hydroelectric relicensing processes in history. We have reason to celebrate.”

The licensing agreement addresses issues that have sparked contention for many years: river restoration, in-stream flows, fish habitat and fish passage improvements, wildlife habitat, restoration of fish populations and recreation. “This is indeed a momentous occasion, after generations of protest and conflict over the construction and operation of the Cushman Hydroelectric Project by the City of Tacoma, the Skokomish Tribe has finally received recognition and accounting of the devastating effects this project has had on our people,” said Joseph Pavel, Chair of the Skokomish Tribal Nation. “The impact to the Tribe can never be undone, but this agreement represents an opportunity to begin the healing process to the environment the tribe depends upon for its survival. The health and well being of the Skokomish Watershed is vital to the 7 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

Skokomish Tribal culture, tradition, subsistence and economy.” As part of the settlement and to resolve a $5.8 damages claim, the Skokomish Tribal Nation will receive money and lands from Tacoma Power, including: • $12.6 million one-time cash payment • 7.25 percent of the value of electric production from the Cushman No. 2 powerhouse • Transfer of land valued at $23 million including the Camp Cushman on Lake Cushman, the 500- acre Nalley Ranch and Saltwater Park on Hood Canal.

The licensing agreement, once accepted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), will allow Tacoma Power to operate this important, renewable, electrical generating resource for another 40 years. Tacoma Power also will have the opportunity to construct an additional generator to capture some of the energy from the restoration flows being released into the North Fork Skokomish River. The original federal license for the Cushman Project expired in 1974. Tacoma Power has operated the project under short-term licenses while the parties litigated relicensing. In 1998, FERC issued a license that was broadly appealed. This licensing agreement resolves the settlement parties’ disputes by proposing modifications to the 1998 license. FERC, which issues operating licenses for hydroelectric projects, will thoroughly review the settlement agreement prior to amending the 1998 federal license for the Cushman Hydroelectric Project. “With the signing and implementation of this settlement we look forward to an ongoing relationship with the City of Tacoma to continue the process of ensuring that the resources we depend upon will be available for generations to come,” said Pavel. Settlement agreement signers include Tacoma Power, Skokomish Tribal Nation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Marine Fisheries Service, United States Forest Service, United States Fish & Wildlife Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Washington Department of Ecology. “This agreement provides important, long-term habitat improvements for fish and wildlife, as well as enhanced recreational opportunity for fishers,” said Phil Anderson, interim director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We applaud the Skokomish Tribe, the City of Tacoma, and other stakeholders in reaching an agreement that will provide fish-friendly stream flows, improved fish passage, more wildlife habitat and increased fishing opportunity for decades to come.”

WWaatteerr (It’s either too much or too little) Alabama Power Opens Spillway Gates on Coosa River WSAF12 News, Jan 7, 2009

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Spillway gates are being opened at dams all along the Coosa River according to Alabama Power. Action was taken to open the gates after heavy rains pushed up lake levels. Weiss Lake and Lake Logan Martin, two storage reservoirs along the Coosa, are nearing their summer pool levels and officials expect them to continue rising in the coming days. Each of the reservoirs is expected to crest sometime this week around 2 feet above their summer pool levels. Spillway gates are also operating Wednesday at Neely Henry, Lay, Mitchell and Jordan dams on the Coosa River.

Alabama Power says Smith Lake, on the Black Warrior River, is also rising and could reach a peak near 516 feet later this week. That's about six feet above normal summer elevation. Alabama Power says it will continue to closely monitor conditions on the lakes and manage resources carefully. Individuals with boats and other water-related equipment and facilities should always be alert to changing conditions on Alabama Power reservoirs and be prepared to take the necessary steps to protect their property.

Alabama lakes continue to rise By From: Alabama Power Company, WVTM-TV, Jan. 7, 2009

Because of this week’s heavy rains, Alabama Power has opened spillway gates at most of its Coosa River dams to help manage swiftly rising lake levels. Two storage reservoirs on the Coosa – Weiss Lake and Lake 8 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

Logan Martin – are near summer pool levels and are expected to continue to rise in the coming days. Weiss is predicted to crest at about 566 feet late Thursday or Friday, about two feet above summer pool. Logan Martin is expected to crest at about 467 feet on Thursday, two feet above summer pool. Spillway gates are operating at Logan Martin and could be opened at Weiss later today. Spillway gates are also operating today at Neely Henry, Lay, and Mitchell and Jordan dams on the Coosa River. Smith Lake, on the Black Warrior River, is also rising and could reach a peak near 516 feet later this week. That’s about six feet above normal summer elevation. Alabama Power will continue to closely monitor conditions on the lakes and manage resources carefully. Individuals with boats and other water-related equipment and facilities should always be alert to changing conditions on Alabama Power reservoirs and be prepared to take the necessary steps to protect their property.

Flooded Pacific residents want answers KING5.com and Associated Press, January 10, 2009

PACIFIC, Wash. - An intentional release from an upstream dam is keeping Pacific residents underwater and there's no telling when it might end. The government released water from the dam and failed to notify residents. Many are angry, and some say they want answers. "It would have been nice to have a little bit of warning," Rose Patterson said. "By the time we found out we could get sandbags it was like 10 o'clock at night. We couldn’t get out by that time." The flooding surprised residents Thursday night, when water started bubbling up from storm drains. Homes in Pacific now appear to sit in the middle of a lake.

Here's what happened: During heavy rain, the Army Corps of Engineers held water in the Mud Mountain Dam to prevent flooding of the entire Puyallup Valley. When water reached the top, the Corps released it Thursday night – and it flowed into the town of Pacific, surprising residents and filling neighborhoods with icy water. Residents say they can't believe they weren't warned. "So this is not an unusual amount or an excessive amount, it's not more than we have ever historically let out," said John Pell, spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers. "I just think there is so much water everywhere just from all the snow and it's just filled everywhere where normally water just wouldn't be." The deliberate release is expected at least through the weekend. "I know there's going to be a lot of anger. I'm expecting to hear a lot of that anger," Mayor Richard Hildreth said. For John VanDengen, the losses were high. His vintage Volkswagens, lovingly restored, are now waterlogged. "I'm not happy," he said. "I've lost vintage cars that are probably worth anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 apiece." The King County Executive and mayor of Pacific today delivered cleanup kits and say they didn't expect the released water to rise so high. Pacific residents can meet with King County and FEMA at the community gym Tuesday at 5 p.m. to find out about government assistance.

High court declines Ga. motion in water wars case Jan 12, 2009, Examiner.com

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will let stand a lower court ruling that threatens Georgia's long-term water plans for the Atlanta region. The court's decision raises fundamental questions about Georgia's rights to Lake Lanier, a massive federal reservoir outside Atlanta. It could also play a key role in deciding the long-running water wars among Georgia, Florida and Alabama. The case involves a 2003 water-sharing agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers that would have allowed Georgia to take far more water from Lanier for drinking supply in the coming decades. The deal would have allowed Georgia's withdrawals to jump from about 13 percent of the lake's capacity to about 22 percent. Florida and Alabama contested the pact, arguing that the larger withdrawals would cripple downstream flows into their states. They said the lake was initially built for hydropower and providing water to Georgia was not an authorized use. A federal district court sided with Georgia. But in February, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington overturned that decision and invalidated the agreement. Georgia had appealed to the Supreme Court for another review. The case is one of a handful of ongoing court battles in the states' nearly two- decade feud over water rights.

EEnnvviirroonnmmeenntt 9 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

Unusual alliances give dams upgrades Conservationists, farmers and governments work together so that everyone benefits. By Mark Jaffe, The Denver Post, 01/11/2009

When the 70-year-old Ruby Reservoir dam in southwestern Montana was seeping and needed a $12 million upgrade, it found an unexpected backer — Trout Unlimited. Conservation groups such as Trout Unlimited are usually opponents of irrigation dams, which help farmers and block the free flow of rivers. But in the case of the Ruby dam — and similar projects across the West — conservation groups are helping to finance dam rehabilitation with an environmental component. In Colorado, the Nature Conservancy helped obtain $13.2 million for the Elkhead Reservoir on the Yampa River. In Idaho, Trout Unlimited obtained a $375,000 grant for conservation measures for a dam project on the Snake River. "We are trying to get out of the fish vs. farmer box," said Laura Ziemer, director of Trout Unlimited's Montana water project. To that end, Trout Unlimited is raising $1 million to $2 million in conservation grants for the Ruby dam. In exchange, the dam's operator — the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation — has agreed to add 2,665 acre-feet of capacity (about 868 million gallons) to release into the Jefferson River. The Jefferson is a gold- medal trout stream, but since 2003 it has been the waterway most often closed to anglers in Montana because of low flows. The project will enable the state to meet federal dam-safety requirements, assure water for 80 irrigators and provide flow for trout. "An improved dam and a healthy river is something we all want, so this worked out," said Joel Schlemmer, a grain and hay farmer and president of the Parrot Ditch Co., which takes 2,000 acre-feet from the Ruby Reservoir.

Dam grows, fish protected In 2007, a $31 million expansion of the Elkhead Reservoir on Colorado's Yampa River was finished with the support of the Nature Conservancy. The Colorado River Water Conservation District, which manages the dam, put up $17.8 million for the expansion. The remaining $13.2 million came, with the Nature Conservancy's help, from a federal recovery program for endangered fish. In exchange for the money, 5,000 acre-feet of water will be permanently dedicated to endangered fish — such as the Colorado pikeminnow and the humpback chub — and an additional 2,000 acre-feet will be leased for instream flows. "A dam isn't usually the kind of project recovery program money goes to," said Tom Iseman, the conservancy's Colorado water program manager. "It took a little time for us to get used to the idea." The investment, however, is a bargain, said Dan Birch, deputy general manager of the conservation district. "Splitting the fixed costs dramatically recuts the overall project cost," Birch said. The expansion doubled the reservoir's capacity to 25,000 acre-feet, at a cost of about $2,000 per acre-foot. "There are some projects that cost $15,000 an acre-foot," Birch said.

Boosting fish, farms, power In Idaho, Symbiotics LLC, a Boise- based developer of hydropower, sought in 2001 to upgrade and add turbines to the Chester Dam on Henry's Fork of the Snake River. Henry's Fork is one of the prime fishing grounds in the nation, drawing about 17,000 fishers in 2004 and generating $29 million in revenue, according to a study by Colorado State University economist John Loomis. The Chester Dam, built in 1938, has been a target of anglers and conservation groups because it blocks upstream fish migration and diverts some fish to irrigation ditches. "We were concerned that adding turbines would make matters worse," said Kim Trotter, director of Trout Unlimited's Idaho water project. Symbiotics, however, was open to discussing the $13 million project, said Dave Boyter, the company's director of engineering and operations. "We had years of monthly meetings," Boyter said. "You get a little anxious in a process like that, but we were able to move the project forward." The conservation groups agreed to get a $375,000 grant from the federal fish restoration and mitigation fund. Symbiotics agreed to use the money to add a fish ladder enabling trout to get by the dam and screens to prevent fish from getting diverted to irrigation ditches. "That grant was key in reaching agreement," Boyter said. Trout Unlimited and the city of Boulder are in preliminary talks with Denver Water to see whether some extra water for South Boulder Creek can be included in the proposed expansion of Gross Reservoir. "It is very early in the process," said Dave Little, Denver Water's manager of water recourse planning. "There is a question of where the extra dollars would come from."

Visions for Rio Grande dam Meanwhile, the San Luis Irrigation District is actively courting conservation groups to become part of a planned $30 million upgrade of the Rio Grande Reservoir dam. The nearly 100-year-old dam has to be rehabilitated to meet federal safety standards and provide water to the 150 farming operations in the valley, according to Travis Smith, the district's superintendent. Under interstate compact, Colorado is required to deliver to New Mexico about 30 percent of the Rio Grande flow, which averages about 630,000 acre-feet. Approximately 200,000 of that come through the Rio Grande Reservoir, Smith said. Most of that water is sent down the river during the peak spring flow, but if the dam is improved to hold more water, some could 10 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu be released during environmentally sensitive, low-flow periods later in the season, Smith said. The district is talking with Trout Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy and state and federal wildlife agencies about the idea. "Funding is going to be tight, so we all have to be creative," Smith said.

i This compilation of articles and other information is provided at no cost for those interested in hydropower, dams, and water resources issues and development, and should not be used for any commercial or other purpose. Any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have an interest in receiving this information for non-profit and educational purposes only.

11 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

SSoommee DDaamm –– HHyyddrroo NNeewwss and Other Stuff

i 1/23/2009

Quote of Note: “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of

the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”

“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: Edna Valley Vineyard Paragon Chardonnay 2006

OOtthheerr SSttuuffffff::: (Is this a hydro cartoon?)

(This article about TVA is too long, so for the interested the URL is below (hold down Ctrl key and click on it). This is an ill-thought-out article about TVA that cites economic studies that are tainted with no reality. The facts are that the TVA area would never have developed to the extent that we see today without TVA. To compare development with nearby states is not relevant. It’s what would have been without TVA, plain and simple. http://spectator.org/archives/2009/01/13/valley-of-the-dams)

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

DDaammss Thousands of dams not inspected January 13, 2009, Montgomery Advertiser

The failure of a dam at a coal-fired power plant in Tennessee recently, spilling a billion gallons of coal ash slurry filled with dangerous heavy metals, has focused attention on the need for greater monitoring of such retention ponds -- including the nine in Alabama. But it also should focus attention on a much broader problem in Alabama -- the need for monitoring all dams, not just those involving retention ponds. A retention dam at a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant near Knoxville failed Dec. 26, destroying three houses and displacing a dozen families. There were no injuries, but there are major environmental concerns because the coal ash slurry contains arsenic and heavy metals.

Tennessee's Gov. Phil Bredesen has promised that his state will increase its oversight of coal ash retention ponds, which contain the slurry created when water is used to wash away the ash left after coal is burned. If managed correctly, coal ash retention ponds are a part of a process designed to protect the environment. It's necessary to remove the ash so that it is not discharged from smoke stacks. Some of the ash, after drying, is then sold to be used in road building or in making concrete. There are nine coal ash retention ponds scattered across Alabama, including six operated by Alabama Power Co. and two by TVA. An Alabama Power spokesman said Monday that all of the company's dams have been inspected by company officials in at least the past 14 months, and rechecked after the TVA failure. He also said the company is currently reevaluating its monitoring program after the problems in Tennessee. This self-inspection should be applauded, but the state needs to be doing more to check as well. Alabama state environmental regulators monitor the quality of any water released from the ponds and also check annually to ensure that such ponds are not overfilled. But no state officials routinely monitor the safety of the dams that hold back these ponds In fact, Alabama is the only state in the nation that does not have a state monitoring program for dam safety at all types of dams. Large power-generating dams are federally inspected, but there are hundreds of smaller dams in the state that could fail and endanger lives. Efforts to get the Legislature to adopt and fund a monitoring program have failed in the past. To try to build support for an inspection program, the Office of Water Resources, a division of ADECA, is currently conducting an inventory of dams in the state. "We're hopeful we can complete it late next year," said Brian Atkins, director of the office. "It should give us good information to help in proposing an inspection program." According to an outdated National Inventory of Dams, Alabama has an estimated 215 dams that are considered "high hazard," meaning there would probably be loss of human life if they failed. That number may have grown, and the number of unsafe dams is even larger. We urge the Legislature to move quickly to adopt a dam inspection and monitoring program, before Alabamians are killed by a catastrophic dam failure.

State to reinspect coal ash dumps January 14, 2009, By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

After the recent failure of two large dams containing coal ash in Tennessee and Alabama, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced today it will re-inspect all coal ash dams and ponds in Pennsylvania. DEP Acting Secretary John Hanger said the field inspections of 10 coal ash dams large enough to require permits will be done by the end of the month and 31 other high hazard coal waste impoundments will be inspected over the next six months. In addition, the department will inspect a Westmoreland County dam containing chemical sludge this month. "We are committed to doing everything in our power to avoid a similar catastrophe and to protect the health and safety of Pennsylvanians living near these structures," Mr. Hanger said. On the list of coal ash slurry dams slated for inspection this month are Little Blue Run Dam, Beaver County; Cooling Pond A, Armstrong County; Mill Service No. 6, Westmoreland County; Holtwood Ash Basin No. 2, Lancaster County; Montour Ash Basin, Montour County; Martin's Creek Ash Basin No. 1 and Martin Creek Ash Basin No. 4, Northampton County; Sunbury Ash Pond Nos. 1, 2 and 3, Snyder County; and Brunner Island Ash Basin No. 6, York County. Little Blue Run is the biggest coal ash dam in the East, covering 1,300 acres -- 30 times bigger than the Tennessee Valley Authority ash dam in eastern Tennessee that ruptured Dec. 22 and sent 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash sludge through communities and into the Emory River.

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

(Rapids versus flatwater) Grand Rapids' Fourth Street Dam should stay, river enthusiasts say by Jim Harger | The Grand Rapids Press, January 14, 2009

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The Fourth Street Dam may have taken the rapids out of Grand Rapids, but most Grand River enthusiasts agree: It should stay. That was one of few areas of agreement tonight when more than 60 kayakers, canoers and fishing enthusiasts met to discuss a possible downtown whitewater course along the Grand River. The session was part of the Green Grand Rapids project, aimed at creating a new recreational master plan for the city. While mild changes to make downtown's riverscape more attractive to paddlers were acceptable, most agreed the city should not take out the 160-year-old Fourth Street Dam in order to return the river to its natural state. Members of the Grand Rapids Steelheaders said the dam's removal would allow sea lamprey to establish themselves further upstream and dislodge old sediments left behind by plating plants and tanneries that are long gone. "I get people from all over the country to fish," said Robert "Shag" Trent, owner of TBN Outfitters. "It's a world-class fishery." Others argued the removal of the dam could have adverse effects on flatwater sports upstream, such as rowing and water- skiing. "The upstream issues are really important, too," said Doug VanDoren, an avid sea kayaker. John VanWyke, a Georgetown Township resident who said he enjoys fishing and paddling, suggested a compromise that would create a type of fish ladder for paddlers below the dam. That would require a partial removal of the dam, he said. While most in attendance favored improvements below the dam for paddlers, others suggested the minor improvements would not be worth the expense. Grand Rapids resident Foster Potts said removing the smaller dams downstream could dry up the river in the summer and bring back an odor and mayfly problem the dams were designed to eliminate. After the session, city Planning Director Suzanne Schulz praised the "wonderful feisty group" that showed up to express its opinions. Though no changes are eminent, Schulz said it's important to include the river in the master plan in case funding becomes available for improvements.

(This sounds scary) Possible damage to Green River dam King County emergency officials are watching for flooding along the Green River near Auburn. The Seattle Times, January 14, 2009

SEATTLE, WA — King County emergency officials are watching for flooding along the Green River near Auburn. The river is running high because the Corps of Engineers is lowering the reservoir behind the Howard Hanson Dam to check for possible flood damage. A depression was discovered at the dam after it held a record pool level last week. The high river flows can be expected at Auburn until Friday. King County opened a flood warning center Tuesday to monitor the river.

(One the few hydro projects that IS NOT under FERC jurisdiction because of a quirk in the law) Dix Dam safety a concern in Frankfort By Greg Kocher, Jan. 16, 2009, Kentucky.com

A former employee of the state Division of Water says more should be done to ensure the safety of Dix Dam, a 1920s-era structure that impounds Herrington Lake. Jim Daniel, a retired enforcement agent, argues that the reservoir should be drained so that the upstream face of the dam can be inspected. He said numerous engineers have said that is the only way the dam's structural integrity can be assured. "According to state inspection reports and numerous engineers who have known the dam best over the years, we don't really know (the dam's condition) until you drain the lake and look at it," Daniel said. But the state Department for Environmental Protection and Kentucky Utilities, which operates the dam, said it is inspected regularly and monitored daily. "We do think the dam is in good working order," said Chris Whelan, spokeswoman for E.ON U.S., the parent company of KU. "We inspect that on a regular basis and we feel confident that the dam is in good shape. We also do underwater inspections to make sure that the face of the dam is OK. The state obviously inspects it every two years." 3

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

When it was built in the 1920s, Dix Dam was the world's largest rock-filled dam. It produces about 24 megawatts of hydroelectric power, as opposed to the more than 700 megawatts produced by the nearby E.W. Brown Generating Station, which is fired by coal and natural gas. The dam's construction created 35- mile-long Herrington Lake, which is bordered by Garrard, Boyle and Mercer counties. The lake supplies drinking water to Danville, which in turn supplies water to Perryville, Junction City and Hustonville. Dick Brown, spokesman for the state Department for Environmental Protection, said in a statement that the dam "has been routinely inspected and Kentucky Utilities, the dam owner, continues to perform routine maintenance to repair deficiencies." But Daniel said the state inspections of the dam are "actually a joke." He cited a disclaimer on state inspection reports that says "Note: The Division of Water does not intend this report to be taken as an assurance that no other problems exist at this site or that the dam is safe ...." Daniel said he has never inspected Dix Dam, "although I did a lot of dam-safety cases in the enforcement branch." He was scheduled to discuss the safety of the dam Thursday night with a neighborhood group in Frankfort. He said he and others have been studying the safety of Dix Dam for about six months. The safety of Dix Dam is of particular concern to Frankfort. A couple of Frankfort residents sued KU after a 1978 flood routed 2,000 residents and caused $50 million in damage. A lawsuit claimed that KU had aggravated the flood by releasing Herrington Lake water through Dix Dam, 50 miles upstream from Frankfort. KU argued that it didn't cause the flood — heavy rains did. The suit was dismissed.

(Wait a minute! The title is misleading – some of these dams do get inspected. Many owners of FERC regulated hydro dams use the same inspection procedures for their non-regulated dams. This has long been the practice of most companies who have both types of projects.) W.Va. coal-ash dams seldom inspected, DEP says By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer, January 9, 2009, The Charleston Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Most of the coal-ash impoundments in West Virginia haven't been examined by a state dam safety inspector for at least five years, according to data released by the state Department of Environmental Protection. West Virginia has at least 16 ash impoundments in six counties, according to a preliminary DEP review of dam safety records. The three sites with the most storage capacity are Allegheny Power's McElroy's Run Dam in Pleasants County, American Electric Power's Conner Run Dam in Marshall County, and AEP's John Amos Fly Ash Dam in Putnam County. Some of the facilities have gone more than 20 years without a government inspection, according to the DEP data. Coal-ash dams are under new scrutiny, following the Dec. 22 failure of an Eastern Tennessee dike that sent more than 1 billion gallons of wet coal ash pouring over 300 acres of homes, fields and streams. Under federal and state strip mine laws, government officials inspect coal-slurry impoundments monthly. But coal-ash dumps are exempt from the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. In West Virginia, power plant ash dams are covered by the state Dam Safety Act. Brian Long, longtime chief of the DEP's dam safety section, said state law requires coal-ash dams to meet the same stability and stormwater retention standards as coal-slurry dams. State law requires periodic inspections of coal-ash dams by engineers hired by their owners. But it does not mandate inspections by the state monthly, quarterly, or even annually. Fourteen of the state's coal-ash dams have been inspected by their owners' engineers sometime within the last two years, according to the DEP data. During that same time period, only two of the 16 dams have been examined by state inspectors, the records show. Six of the 16 have not been inspected by the state for at least a decade.

In Washington, D.C., AEP is circulating a fact sheet that says its corporate inspection program -- based on federal laws for other types of dams -- is adequate. "AEP's large dams are inspected annually by corporate engineering staff under the direction of a professional engineer," the company says in a fact sheet. "The large dams are also inspected more frequently by plant staff." And DEP's Long said his agency receives copies of periodic inspection reports prepared by engineers hired by dam owners. "If there is a serious issue, we try to get out there right away," Long said. But Joe Lovett, director of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment, said that government inspections should be mandated. "The Legislature needs to act to assure that these impoundments are safe and to ensure that the DEP does have a duty to inspect them, because unfortunately, DEP doesn't do anything on its own initiative," Lovett said. House Natural Resources Chairman Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va., has said he plans to introduce legislation to apply strip-mine law design, construction and inspection standards to coal-ash dumps. Last week, DEP dam safety officials were busy compiling a list of the state's coal-ash impoundments. They were trying to determine if all of them had proper permits and figure out when they were last inspected. DEP Secretary Randy Huffman said his agency was waiting to see what Rahall's bill looks like, and would consider implementing its own periodic inspection schedule. "Obviously, we're getting questions, and we're in the

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(Whoa! 600 anchors – is that a record?) Worst-case scenarios brought out as officials discuss Bluestone Dam by Cara Bailey, Charleston Daily Mail staff, January 16, 2009

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The possibility of a catastrophic flood hitting the Kanawha Valley brought the Army Corps of Engineers to town Friday to educate county officials on the status of the Bluestone Dam. The 60- year-old Bluestone Dam in Summers County is a concrete gravity system keeping water from flooding the New River Gorge and into the Kanawha Valley. An elaborate multimillion-dollar overhaul has been going on at the dam since 2001. Construction over the next several years could prove pivotal as more than 600 anchors are added to the structure and the dam is more fully secured into the bedrock below. Change in the amount of water stored behind the dam wall -- and released to flow through the valley -- could cause more flooding in certain areas, and the Corps wants to let people know now, to prepare for any possible disasters. After Hurricane Katrina, Corps officials went back and looked at projects to avoid disasters such as the flooding in Louisiana and surrounding areas. Colonel Dana Hurst, who gave the presentation Friday to the county officials, said the maintenance to the dam was reevaluated so that it would be able to withstand water completely over its top and flooding the valley below. Hurst said after Katrina, the Corps looks at projects and asked themselves if the assumptions made previously were still valid and if there are enough safeguards to keep citizens safe. "The consequences of failure are so enormous the agency increased safety," Hurst said. "We cannot afford, as a nation, to have a dam fail." Bluestone has been the topic of worry for years among residents and state officials, as more than 115,000 live in the valleys that would be affected. The dam offers flood protection to the New, Kanawha and Ohio rivers. It has prevented more than $4.6 billion in flood damages since it was built in 1949. However, critical maintenance is needed to keep up the dam to a safe standard. "The dam is in urgent need of repair as we stand," Hurst said, adding that the improvements will show that "even on a Noah's Ark-type flood, it stays in place."

West Virginia to inspect all coal ash impoundments Birmingham, Alabama (Platts)--16Jan2009

West Virginia Department of Environmental Regulation Secretary Randy Huffman has ordered the inspection of the state's 30 coal ash impoundments. Brian Long, manger of the state's dam safety program, said late Thursday that the inspections would take about two months to complete. The inspections include wet and dry impoundments.

West Virginia began developing dam regulations at wet coal refuse impoundments after a coal slurry impoundment dam broke in 1972, killing 125 people. "Our mission is to prevent another Buffalo Creek disaster," Long said. The coal ash spill at the Tennessee Valley's Kingston Fossil Plant, which sent coal ash sludge over 300 acres and into the Emory River, prompted the call for immediate inspection of the dams, he said. West Virginia has 16 coal ash impoundments with dams to inspect and 14 dry coal ash landfills. The dam inspections will double-check the stability of the embankments, Long said. The landfill inspections will check embankments for stability problems and for the diversion of surface water, Long said. State law does not require inspectors to inspect the dams at any specific interval. Long did not dispute reports that many of the dams have not been inspected in five years and some for as long as 20 years. Owners are required to have a licensed engineer inspect dams every other year if they are considered to be high hazards to human life if they rupture. The agency follows up with an inspection of its own if it sees red flags in the owner's report, Long said.

Allegheny Power, American Electric Power and Appalachian Power own 11 of the 16 coal ash impoundments with dams. The utilities also own 11 of the 14 coal ash landfills. Industrial companies own the others. This is an excerpt.

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HHyyddrroo Recession Isn't Hurting Some Alt Energy Movements Hydropower, solar power and ocean-bed energy are gaining momentum. By Jim Ostroff, Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter, January 15, 2009

There's plenty of action on the alternative energy front despite the considerable downdraft in most energy- related industries created by the severity of the recession. Here's a sampling of what will stir the pot for hydropower, solar power and ocean power over the next few years: Hydroelectric power is getting renewed life. Electricity produced by dams on rivers and streams will climb 50% over the next decade, to around 10% of all power and up to 20% by mid-century. It can cost less to replace old or shuttered hydro systems than to build wind turbines, for example. Plus new technologies ease concerns about the potential impact of dams on fish and wildlife. Projects revving up include five new facilities on Ohio River dams and upgrades in the Northwest. Hydro Green Energy will build the nation's first hydrokinetic power plant, capturing the energy of water that flows through an existing hydropower plant on the Mississippi River in Hastings, Minn., to squeeze even more electricity from the dam.

The spur to a wave of new hydropower projects: Looming federal restraints on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Electric utilities know they will have to make or buy power created from renewables in order to lighten their carbon footprints. Also coming is a national Renewable Portfolio Standard that, by 2020 or so, likely will mandate 20% of electricity sold by power companies must be generated without using coal or natural gas, since burning both produces CO2. Renewables currently generate around 8% of the nation's electricity. Generators that use coal or natural gas as fuel now produce nearly 70% of the nation's power needs. Nuclear power accounts for most of the rest.

Dams have environmental issues, but they're unlikely to delay most projects. None can be built without an OK from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It now insists hydropower operators do environmental impact studies (EIS) and implement strategies for mitigating potential harm to aquatic life before granting a new operating license, or relicensing existing power plants. The agency has required EIS and remediation for a number of years for new and/or the relicensing of hydropower plants, but so far there have been relatively few applications. "Typically, hydro operators reach agreements with river [protection] groups as part of the process and have various strategies to deal with their concerns, such as agreements [that] there will be guaranteed minimum river flows, or installing elevators to lift fish" over dams, says Jeffrey Leahey, legislative director with the National Hydropower Association, a trade group. Symbiotics, a hydropower company, inked an agreement with Trout Unlimited, a river protection group, as part of the company's application to add new generating capacity on a tributary to Idaho's Snake River.

Ocean-bed generators show promise as well. They're likely to gear up over the next decade to feed power to cities within a few hundred miles of U.S. coasts. Long cylinders anchored to seafloors harness the energy from eddying water. A few dozen in a one-square-mile bed could supply 100,000 homes with power year-round. It's cheap, too, about 4¢ per kilowatt-hour. That compares with 8¢ to 25¢ per kilowatt-hour for coal- and gas-fired plants, roughly 8¢ for wind power and at least twice that for solar.

Solar power isn't standing idly by, letting hydro eat its lunch. Southern California Edison and Duke Energy soon will lease rooftops from homeowners and businesses in California to install solar cell panels at no cost and channel electricity to the grid. The utilities feed the electricity directly onto the grid. For businesses, this is a golden opportunity to generate revenues from large assets that otherwise are depreciating in value: buildings. ProLogis, a developer of distribution centers, figured this beats offers to corral its buildings' roofs to erect billboards or cell phone towers, says Drew Tobin, the company's sustainability manager. It inked 20-year agreements with California's Edison and Oregon's Portland General Electric, allowing the utilities to harvest rooftop solar-made power that's routed directly to the grid. ProLogis' Fontana, Calif., building makes enough juice to power about 1400 homes for a year. With 45 million square feet of rooftop space in Southern California alone, the area's solar-fitted buildings potentially could churn out

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu more than 100 times more electricity -- roughly equal to the power produced by a small natural-gas-fired generator.

For homeowners, Berkeley, Calif., and Boulder, Colo., have launched programs offering discounts to buy solar panels. The cities pay for the installation and let homeowners pay off the panels over 20 years. The incentive for homeowners? They get to use every kilowatt and on most days needn't buy any from their local utility.

Town Proposes Using Dams For Power Project Could Bring In Private Financing, First Selectman Says EyewitnessNews3, January 13, 2009

CANTON, Conn. -- The town has proposed retrofitting its dams with generators to get into the power- producing business. Water power ran the equipment in the Collins Axe Factory in the 1830s, officials said, and generators were installed at a later date to produce electricity. To get back to that model, the town needs the license to operate from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, 5th District. He said he’ll push for that in Washington. “This is an innovative project, so I’m sure there are going to be a lot of questions -- Can the town of Canton build and run a project like this? -- but the answer has to be yes, because we're going to need more and more of these innovative projects to get a renewable energy economy,” he said. To harness the power of the river, water flowing through the dam turns a turbine, which turns a generator, which generates. It's estimated that the facility on the Farmington River could generate enough to serve 1,200 to 1,600 homes in the area, with an investment of $8 million to $10 million. “The amount of money ... capitalization you get will determine how quickly we see economic benefit back from it, but whether that be three years, four years or 10 years, the long-term benefit of this project will go on for 50 or 100 years,” First Selectman Dick Barlow said. The plan is to tap local, state and federal funding to get the project going, he said, but private investors might be interested as well. “This is a project that could bring in private financing because there is going to be a resource produced here that could be sold back to the grind, so the town could put up money, but there could also be some private money that might also be involved as well,” Barlow said. If the regulatory and financial hurdles can be taken care of quickly, he said, the two dams on the Farmington could be generating electricity in two to three years.

(A letter to editor asking a hydro question. Answer – there is a double standard) Fort Halifax dam was producer of clean energy

01/13/2009

I would like to respond to the article in our Morning Sentinel on Jan 1 -- "Maine offers wind-power rebates." Our Public Utilities Commission is offering rebates of up to $4,000 to those who decide to produce clean energy. Where, oh where, was the PUC when Fort Halifax dam was producing clean energy? For years, our state spent many tens of thousands of dollars fighting the people who wanted to keep Fort Halifax Dam and its clean energy. Now that same state is willing to pay others to produce clean energy. Isn't there a double standard there? If our state had not have fought so vigorously for the removal of hydroelectric dams and our governor had listened to the people who begged him to endorse those green-energy producing dams, we could have saved many tens of thousands of dollars and we still would have clean energy being produced at Fort Halifax Dam. Bob Morrissette, Benton

(Let’s hope this common sense doesn’t fall on deaf ears because of the warped opposition of the environmental organizations who are standing in the way) Chelan PUD manager lobbies in nation’s capital By Christine Pratt, World staff writer, January 13, 2009, Wenatchee World

WENATCHEE, WA — Chelan County PUD General Manager Rich Riazzi traveled to Washington, D.C., Wednesday to help educate lawmakers about how hydropower could fit into the country's shift away from fossil fuels. Riazzi was one of eight executives from energy-related companies across the country named by the National Hydropower Association to join the lobbying effort Thursday. The association is a nonprofit industry advocate. "We weren't really asking for anything. We were just giving them the idea that the hydro industry is going to be more vocal and get their advice," he said Monday. He met with Sen. Patty Murray and members of Sen. Maria Cantwell's staff. He also met with Pennsylvania Rep. Todd Platts. Riazzi returned to Wenatchee Friday. President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to double U.S. production of alternative 7

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu energy in three years, and Riazzi believes some federal stimulus funds could be available for hydro-industry projects. The PUD has created a list of potential projects for these funds. Projects include: • Installing "micro-turbines" in the fishways at Rocky Reach and Rock Island dams to generate more electricity. • Expanding an existing program to help industrial customers pay for energy-saving improvements to their plants. Rumors of creating a national version of Washington state's I-937 renewable energy quotas are circulating in the capital, Riazzi said. The initiative obliges all utilities with at least 25,000 customers to supply 15 percent of their demand by 2020 using approved renewable resources. Conventional hydropower isn't currently an approved resource under the state's law. Riazzi and the group made the case Thursday that hydro should be part of any national program for renewable energy. "We want people to understand the role that hydro could play," Riazzi said.

Ruth Lake Hydroelectric Project could let Petersburg’s future shine brightly Klas Stolpe, January 15, 2009, Petersburg Pilot

"It is really not enough to meet our high peaks,” stated Petersburg Municipal Power & Light Superintendent Joe Nelson. “Especially our winter peaks.” A contemplated Ruth Lake Hydroelectric Project in Thomas Bay would be the size of what Petersburg would need to serve its costumers and do away with the back-up diesel generators. Generation at Tyee and at Ruth Lake could feed power each way. In addition the intertie from Tyee down to Swan Lake will be finished late next year and could be used, if Tyee was down, bringing Swan Lake power northward. “All of these things kind of lend themselves to not spending a lot of money on the diesel plant,” said Nelson, who has traveled to the site numerous times. “We like what we see but two things need to come together now.” One is community support. Petersburg needs to want and understand this and be in favor of it. Secondly, the city has to be successful in getting the preliminary permit. Cascade Creek LLC, which has been trying to develop at Thomas Bay, currently holds the preliminary permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to develop the property but the permit expires at month’s end. Petersburg will file a competing application. “They (CCLLC) have told FERC they are making no plans to develop it but that doesn’t mean they will not reapply for the permit,” Nelson stated. “We asked them specifically if they would back away so they wouldn’t be competing with us on that and they declined to do that. So we don’t know just where that is at.” Wrangell also is considering filing for the permit and according to CCLLC Business Development Director Duff Mitchell the company would sign over their Ruth Lake studies and FERC application materials ‘with no strings attached.’ Wrangell currently approved a contract with CCLLC which would return to them an initial $250,000 investment if CCLLC did not obtain FERC licensing. A public meeting/open house at the City Council Chambers at 2 PM Tuesday, January 20 will give Petersburg residents a chance to weigh in on the proposed Ruth Lake Hydroelectric Project. “We want to get all the information out and we want public input on what they would like to see,” Nelson said. “And also public support for the project.”

(Don’t know about this method of hydro production. Too small for sure!) Capturing the Power of Whirlpools (For details – see this web site: http://www.zotloeterer.com/our_company/water_vortex_engineering/water_vortex_power_plant.p hp)

Water vortex power plan The modern hydrodynamic turbulent water circulation will be eliminated as good as possible. On the other hand we developed the world wide first so called gravitation water vortex power plant which uses the rotation energy of a single gigantic water vortex. It is a milestone in the hydrodyamic 8

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development because in the past we needed energy to aerate water - now we have a water aeration process which produce electric energy. Already in the first operation year the invention of the Austrian engineer Franz Zotlöterer produced 50.000kWh - electric energy for 14 average European households. The prototype plant supplies the public electricity network with current. You can find the gravitation water vortex power plant on the millstream in Obergrafendorf (10km southwest from St.Pölten in Austria in Central Europa). It is public and can be reached on the cycle track along the Pielach River:

WWaatteerr (If anyone thinks this job is easy, it means they haven’t ever done it.) We misread the river, Army engineers admit Corps officials embarrassed, apologetic over Pacific flooding MIKE ARCHBOLD, THE NEWS TRIBUNE, 01/13/09

They thought they knew the ways of the White River. They didn’t. Faced with the threat of another storm and more flooding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released water last week from Mud Mountain Dam into the White River. The surge ended up in the streets and homes of Pacific residents. Damage is estimated in the millions. The release began Thursday night, just as many communities were beginning to recover from the two days of heavy rain and snowmelt that turned area rivers into raging torrents. The Corps alerted King County Emergency Management officials Wednesday, but Pacific residents later said they weren’t warned that a possible flood was coming. Once the floodwaters arrived, angry residents took aim at the Corps, which has operated the flood control dam on the White River east of Enumclaw since the 1940s. Residents wanted to know why anyone would add water to a swollen river, and who’ll pay for the damage.

The Pacific flooding was upsetting, said Wayne Wagner, the Corps’ deputy chief for operations at the dam. “It’s our mission to protect people and property,” he said, “and to have that happen is surprising and very embarrassing.” Corps staff members said this week that they took the actions they usually do at the dam when a flood occurs. During a similarly sized flood in 2006, the Corps released the same volume of water – 11,700 cubic feet per second – as the flooding began to recede. Water topped the levee in Pacific but flooding stayed in Pacific Park in the southeast part of town. Not so this time. “We have to review what we are doing,” Wagner said Monday. “Something has changed” in the river. The change, he said, could be many things, from a lower carrying capacity by the White River because of sediment or gravel deposits, to a higher flow of water from the rainfall and small tributaries. Or the water-saturated ground in the city might not have been able to absorb floodwater as readily as in the past. Regardless of what the change turns out to be, Corps staff members say they know one thing: They can’t again release that high of a volume of water from the reservoir during a major flood.

Built in the 1940s, the dam controls floods in the lower White and Puyallup river valleys. The Corps also built levees on the lower Puyallup River. Together, the system helps protect the homes and businesses – including the Port of Tacoma – of about 400,000 people. The dam controls about 40 percent of the Puyallup River system, and is meant to help prevent water from topping the levees in the Puyallup, Fife and Riverside areas. Releasing water from the dam to deal with potential flooding is a balancing act, said Ken Brettmann, the Corps’ senior water manager who oversees control of the dam reservoir. The idea is to hold water during a flood and then, after the flood, empty the reservoir to be ready for the next flood. The decision to begin emptying the reservoir is made only when the floodwaters finally begin to recede. The decision last week followed the usual process, Brettmann said. Before the storm that drenched the South Sound, the narrow, 5- mile-long reservoir behind the dam was empty. But as rain and snowmelt poured into the reservoir, the Corps decided to close the dam’s outlets and not let more water flow into the White River, which empties into the Puyallup River in Puyallup. The reservoir filled to 75 percent of capacity, or 260 feet of water. A full reservoir is 300 feet deep. No water was let out during the record flooding, but when the flood peaked Thursday, officials began to release water from the reservoir into the White River.

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Pierce and King Counties were notified Thursday that the dam would begin emptying, Brettmann said. The action was taken, in part, in preparation for another storm forecast to bring even more rain. The reservoir could have held more water, he said, but the dam’s reservoir flood control managers working out of their Seattle center were worried about more heavy rain. “At the time, we were looking at a pretty significant weather system hitting British Columbia over the weekend,” Brettmann said. “Should it change course and come down here, we were concerned that the reservoir pool was already 75 percent full.” The worst-case scenario, he said, would be to have another storm hit when the reservoir was still nearly full. In the end, the system didn’t move south into the state. Early Friday, Col. Anthony Wright, the district commander for the Corps’ Seattle district, was flying over the flood-prone areas and spotted the new flooding in Pacific. He called and asked whether the water released from the dam could be reduced. Brettmann said the release was dropped to 9,700 cubic feet per second. Overall, he said, the dam did its job for the Puyallup River.

EEnnvviirroonnmmeenntt Fishing club fears removal of dams would invite invasive species By Nick Sambides Jr., Bangor Daily News Staff, 1/16/09

The Millinocket Fin & Feather Club loves salmon, hates pike. That’s why the group opposes a project that it otherwise might advocate — the purchase and eventual decommissioning of three Penobscot River energy- producing dams for $25 million as part of a historic agreement to restore upstream passage for sea-run fish, officials said Thursday. In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, club President Ray Campbell Jr. explained that the group would support the Penobscot River Restoration Trust’s efforts to increase Atlantic salmon and wild brook trout, but not if it means also providing “access for some highly destructive invasive species, such as northern pike.” The group fears that removing the Veazie and Great Works dams and installing a fish bypass at the Howland dam, as the trust plans, “would introduce invasive species into the pristine Piscataquis River that were never there, plus [would give] pike that are already in the Penobscot River below these dams, access into the Piscataquis River,” Campbell wrote. “The pike will not only destroy the fishery in the Piscataquis, but recent studies show that they in all probability will gain access from the East Branch of the Pleasant River [which flows into the Piscataquis] into Upper Jo-Mary Lake and from there into the West Branch of the Penobscot,” he added. “This will essentially destroy the entire fishery downstream of Ripogenus Dam.”

The fishing offered in the Katahdin Region is a bedrock of the tourist trade in northern Maine. State fisheries biologists have conceded that upstream migration of pike is certainly plausible without the dams but that the scenario needs more study. They plan to study the issue later this year to determine the likelihood of the spread of pike and other species past the Howland dam. Pike, which are voracious eaters that can grow to more than 20 pounds, already have been illegally introduced into Pushaw Lake and Pushaw Stream north of Bangor. From there it’s only a short swim to the Penobscot, home of the nation’s last sizable run of Atlantic salmon. Laura Rose Day, executive director of the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, calls pike invasion unlikely. It’s “debatable,” Day said, that the dams act as pike barriers. “What is clear is that the historic risk of pike spreading has been through [fisherman’s] buckets, not through byways. That’s been the major pattern.” The Penobscot River Restoration Trust initially planned to install a trap-and-sort facility at the Howland dam but rejected the idea, which would have provided “a last chance” to stop destructive species getting upstream, Campbell said. But Day said a consensus emerged that the facility was unnecessary. Campbell said, however, that the trust insisted the trap-and-sort plan be dropped. The trust already has raised the $25 million to buy the dams from PPL Corp. and needs to raise another $25 million to remove and bypass the impoundments. It filed its permits with FERC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Those applications are pending. Completion of the project is expected to reopen nearly 1,000 miles of habitat to Atlantic salmon, sturgeon, alewives and other sea-run fish once abundant in the Penobscot. In return for selling the dams, PPL Corp. is allowed to increase power generation at six other hydroelectric facilities along the river.

i This compilation of articles and other information is provided at no cost for those interested in hydropower, dams, and water resources issues and development, and should not be used for any commercial or other purpose. Any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have an interest in receiving this information for non-profit and educational purposes only. 10

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SSoommee DDaamm –– HHyyddrroo NNeewwss and Other Stuff

i 1/30/2009

Quote of Note: “Take your profession seriously; don’t take yourself seriously.” - - Clint Eastwood

“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: Ravenswood Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2006

OOtthheerr SSttuuffffff::: FERC News Release, Jan. 23, 2009 Wellinghoff named Acting FERC Chairman

President Barack Obama has named Jon Wellinghoff Acting Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Acting Chairman Wellinghoff responded that he looks forward to serving the President and the nation in this capacity.

DDaammss Damage restricts level at Howard Hanson Dam The Corps of Engineers says it will not allow the reservoir behind Howard Hanson Dam to fill to the high pool level because of a depression discovered after recent heavy rains. The Seattle Times, January 20, 2009

SEATTLE, WA — The Corps of Engineers says it will not allow the reservoir behind Howard Hanson Dam to fill to the high pool level because of a depression discovered after recent heavy rains. The corps says it's confident in the integrity of the dam but it's prudent to keep the reservoir lower while the damage is evaluated. The lower storage capacity increases the flood risk in the Green River valley below the dam in south King County. The corps says it will keep local officials informed of potential flooding. The reservoir may be refilled this spring at the flood-control dam near Black Diamond.

(These folks are literally wrestling in the mud) County may meet with attorney on Duke permit dispute Smoky Mountain News, 1/21/09 1

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

The attorney representing Jackson County in its legal fight against Duke Energy was expected to meet with county commission meeting Tuesday (Jan. 20). The meeting will fall after The Smoky Mountain News’ deadline, but be sure to check smokymountainnews.com for a Web Extra or any developments in the case. Jackson County Commissioner Tom Massie said the county’s attorney on the matter, Paul Nolan of Alexandria, Va., was scheduled to meet with the commissioners Tuesday. In the latest in the legal battle, Duke has sued Jackson County for failing to issue permits the county says are needed to tear down the dam. Massie said he will have lots of questions for Nolan, including whether the county has a legal basis for withholding the permits from Duke. Massie has suggested that the county stop fighting Duke in the case and allow destruction of the dam. The county has exhausted all its legal options in the case, Massie has said. Massie has questioned whether Duke actually needs county permits to tear down the dam. “First, I am unsure that Duke even needs a permit from Jackson County, as the state of North Carolina and the Army Corps of Engineers are responsible for issuance of any permits for sediment removal within the state’s waterways,” Massie stated in a letter to County Manager Ken Westmoreland dated Dec. 15. Massie also called the legality of withholding the permits “questionable.” The county is requiring Duke to remove 70,000 cubic yards of sediment from the river before tearing down the dam but is refusing to issue the permits to do the work. The county says it does not want to grant the permits until all appeals regarding the dam’s demolition are resolved. The county wants to save the dam, and Duke wants to tear it down. Duke says the county’s withholding of the permits is simply a move to delay demolition of the dam.

(Last time I was near a dam with reservoir sinkholes, it almost failed. These people need a greater sense of urgency.) Sinkholes, seeping dams concern water officials January 22, 2009, Melissa McEver, The Monitor

A team of researchers is trying to get to the bottom of potential problems at Amistad Dam. The dam, one of two reservoirs that store water for the Rio Grande Valley region, was declared "potentially unsafe" in an inspection report released by the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission last year. The report recommended further study and inspections at the dam. Since then, the agency, which oversees reservoirs and levees on the U.S.-Mexico border, has put together a research team that will study the risks at Amistad and make recommendations, IBWC Commissioner C.W. "Bill" Ruth said at a meeting Wednesday. "We need to do a lot more work to determine the conditions (at Amistad) and what the repairs need to be," Ruth said. Inspectors' main concern at Amistad, which is in Del Rio, is a cluster of naturally occurring sinkholes in the reservoir, through which water is escaping, Ruth said.

The team likely will need to look at the geophysics of the dam's foundation and determine why the sinkholes are occurring, as well as determining where the water is going, officials said. Although the sinkholes are cause for some concern, there is no immediate danger of flooding or breakage, Ruth said. "We are monitoring this dam and what we see right now is no change (from past conditions)," he said. Officials said Wednesday they weren't sure what repairs would be needed or how much they would cost. Inspectors also determined that Falcon Dam, northwest of Roma, was "conditionally unsafe" because of concerns about seepage. IBWC is monitoring the reservoir's levels to determine how much water is being lost. If the agency determines repairs are needed, those will likely take place in 2010, officials said.

Next phase of Gilboa Dam work under way January 22, 2009, By Edward Munger Jr., Daily Gazette Reporter

SCHOHARIE COUNTY, NY — Work has begun to build crest gates atop the Gilboa Dam, the start of a four- year rehabilitation project engineers expect will give the 182-foot-high dam 100 additional years of useful life. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection approved spending about $7 million to install gates on the 220-foot-long notch cut into the dam’s spillway as part of emergency efforts to stabilize the dam in 2006. A representative from the DEP outlined progress in their plans for the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors on Friday. The DEP completed plans last summer for the $592 million project. Work will include reconstructing and refacing several components of the dam including the spillway and the concrete steps that overflow water falls onto, among other improvements. An additional outlet for water to flow beneath the dam is also planned as part of the work, as is reinforcement of the walls and embankments near the dam. The project follows roughly $24 million in work completed two years ago to strengthen the 81- year-old concrete structure that helps retain about 17 billion gallons of water in the Schoharie Reservoir, one of several sources of drinking water for New York City. 2

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

After engineers determined the dam didn’t meet modern standards, the DEP had dozens of cables installed to tie the dam to bedrock beneath it and keep it from sliding. Siphons were added to help drain water away from the deteriorating spillway and the notch was cut into the top of the dam to help direct spilled water. Engineers studying the dam and its surroundings have also determined there are unstable slopes downstream, as well as evidence of landslides on the western side of the Schoharie Creek stream bank and next to the “plunge pool,” where water flowing over the dam falls. The DEP continues work to monitor the stability of the ground and slopes in the vicinity of the dam, and the extension of one of the walls near the outflow is expected to partially address the issue, according to a DEP project description issued in July 2008. In an e-mail response to questions from The Daily Gazette, DEP spokesman Michael Saucier said the DEP approved a $7.2 million contract to build a system of crest gates in the notch section of the dam. The gates will make it possible to close up the notch to restore storage capacity lost when the notch was cut while allowing for the release of water to help prevent flooding, according to Saucier. Gate construction, the first of five phases of the project, started earlier this month.

The second phase will include building new access roads on the west side of the dam, building a temporary bridge and preparing the construction staging area. This phase is expected to begin in September and be done by December 2010, according to Saucier. Design work for Phase III, which includes reconstruction work on the dam, should be done this fall; work may start in the fall of 2010 and last four years, according to Saucier. Phases IV and V include improvements to the intake used to carry water downstate and final reforestation of the work sites, and this may begin in 2012, according to Saucier. Schoharie County Board of Supervisors Chairman Earl Van Wormer said he is looking forward to completion of the gates, which will provide authorities with an additional avenue to address flooding. “I think New York City is really working hard to live up to their part of the deal here and to help us protect our residents here and protect their water supply,” Van Wormer said. “I think, at the same time, we need to just keep pushing things and keeping an eye on it and make sure ultimately the dam gets reconstructed.” Van Wormer said he expects county officials to continue monitoring progress and ensure that maintenance is performed “on a regular basis so we don’t get back in this situation when people’s children and grandchildren are here and we’re all gone.”

(Excerpts) Water district approves up to $3.5 million to study area dams January 23, 2009, The Gilroy Dispatch, Santa Clara County, CA

In response to a study released earlier this month that said Anderson Dam could fail in the event of a major earthquake, the Santa Clara Valley Water District approved funding further studies up to a cost of $3.5 million. The district's board of directors voted unanimously in favor of the more detailed seismic stability studies ------at its regular meeting Jan. 13. On Jan. 5, the district released the results of a preliminary seismic study of the dam which holds back Anderson Lake, which is east of Morgan Hill and is the largest of ten reservoirs owned by the district. That study said that, based on the content of borings into the earthen dam, the dam could fail if an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 occurs on the Calaveras Fault, which runs directly underneath the reservoir. In a worst-case scenario, models by district engineers show that a failure of the dam if the reservoir were full could put downtown Morgan Hill underneath 35 feet of water, and Gilroy under 14 feet of water.

The district's initial response to that study was to keep the reservoir's water level at or below 87 percent of its capacity, minimizing the amount of water that could spill over the top of the dam if an earthquake happened. However, the California Division of Safety of Dams restricted the water level even further, keeping it at about 70 percent capacity, or about 40 feet below the crest of the dam. Anderson Lake is currently about 63 percent of its capacity of 90,000 acre-feet. City of Morgan Hill officials had hoped the district would ensure the water level stayed lower than they had initially planned, but were pleased the division enacted further restrictions. The in-depth seismic studies could take up to two years to complete, according to discussion at the meeting.

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

(Don’t blame this one on the engineers that do the inspections) State ended safety inspections before Hawaii dam collapsed Memo suggests DLNR dropped ball just weeks before Kaloko disaster By Rick Daysog, Honolulu Advertiser Staff Writer, January 26, 2009 Three months before the fatal collapse of the Kaloko Dam on Kaua'i, the state issued a notice suspending all dam safety inspections and emergency flood responses and later attempted to conceal the suspension, according to documents obtained by The Advertiser. And while the suspension was in place, state dam safety inspectors did not respond to reports of flooding near the Kaloko Dam a month before the March 14, 2006, disaster, missing a potential chance to identify problems with the dam. Memos and e-mails issued by state Department of Land and Natural Resources officials paint an unflattering picture of the department's actions leading up to tragedy, which killed seven people and caused millions of dollars in damage. The memos also could increase the legal exposure for the state, which is being sued along with retired auto dealer Jimmy Pflueger by the relatives of the seven victims. "The state is basically saying it is abrogating all of its legal duties," said Dennis Binder, a dam safety expert and law professor at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., who reviewed the memos. "That's a hell of a smoking gun."

BUDGET PROBLEMS In a Jan. 26, 2006, internal memo, the DLNR's chief engineer, Eric Hirano, said he was temporarily suspending all dam inspections and emergency responses to floods due to budget constraints and lack of personnel. A month later, DLNR Chairman Peter Young instructed Hirano to refrain from stating that the inspections have been halted, saying "we need to look at another way of handling this." "We should not state we are doing nothing, but rather state we will respond to issues and questions related to these items," Young said in his Feb. 14, 2006, e-mail to Hirano. Young did not rescind Hirano's decision to suspend inspections. And after the memo was issued, DLNR officials did not conduct any dam inspections until the collapse of the Kaloko Dam. That could be taken as an endorsement of Hirano's memo, according to Binder. By law, the state is supposed to inspect all dams every five years but the Kaloko Dam was not inspected. Young, who was voted out as DLNR's chairman by the state Senate in 2007, referred questions to the attorney general's office, citing the pending litigation. Young's ouster was partly the result of his handling of the Kaloko disaster. His replacement, Laura H. Thielen, declined comment as did a spokeswoman from the attorney general's office. To be sure, Hirano's memo and Young's response came at a time of heightened sensitivity about the state's dam system. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused dozens of levees in New Orleans to fail, resulting in hundreds of deaths. The Advertiser reported in October 2005 that 22 Hawaii’s dams were in urgent need of repair. The story quoted Edwin Matsuda, the engineer in charge of dam safety, as saying the state was fortunate not to have had a major dam failure.

PRIOR FLOODING Because of the suspension of its flood response duties, the state may have missed some vital clues as to the condition of the Kaloko Dam prior to the breach. On Feb. 27, 2006, DLNR's Hirano said in an e-mail that he received a report from Kaua'i County Public Works officials that a 4-foot high wall of water flowed from the Kaloko Reservoir area downstream to nearby Moloa'a, where it destroyed a small bridge. Rather than sending out its own inspectors to the site, Hirano took no action, even though his e-mail says he was unsure whether the flood "may or may not be attributable to the Kaloko Dam." "At this point, (Kaua'i County Public Works) will not be following up further and we'll take a wait and see approach until any news is reported and confirmed that the dam was involved," Hirano said in his e-mail. "If the dam were to be involved, the most we would do at this point is to conduct an investigation of the situation." The following month, the Kaloko Dam collapsed during heavy rains, sending an estimated 400 million gallons of water through Kauai’s North Shore, killing seven people and destroying parts of a state highway and large sections of an ocean reef.

CRIMINAL CHARGES The tragedy has resulted in criminal charges against the 82-year-old Pflueger, who owns the land under the dam. The state believes Pflueger altered a key safety feature for the dam known as a spillway. The absence of a spillway, which acts as an overflow valve, may have contributed to the dam breaking during a month of heavy rain. In November, Pflueger was indicted by a Kaua'i grand jury on seven counts of manslaughter and one count of criminal endangering. Pflueger has pleaded not guilty and has denied filling in the spillway. His attorney, William McCorriston, has argued in the past that the breach of the century-old dam was not due to overtopping and the filling in of a spillway but was likely due to the collapse of the ground beneath the dam. McCorriston also has denied that Pflueger was responsible for the upkeep and inspection of the dam, saying while Pflueger owns the land beneath the dam; he does not own the dam itself. Pflueger's deed to the property is subject to a private contract that assigns responsibility for maintenance and inspection of the 4

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

Kaloko Dam to a private company, called Kilauea Irrigation Co., McCorriston has said. Defense attorneys may argue that the state is holding Pflueger responsible for inspecting the dam when the state, which is required to monitor dams, dropped the ball. The documents also could add fuel to arguments by Pflueger's legal team that the state has a conflict of interest in pursuing criminal charges against his client since the state is a party to a civil lawsuit. McCorriston has argued that the state has a vested interest in pursuing the criminal case against Pflueger since it also is being sued by the families of the victims. But Binder, the dam safety expert, believes the state's inaction does not absolve Pflueger of any potential criminal or civil liability, even if it increases the state's potential exposure. Under Hawaii’s Dam Safety Act of 1987, the repair and maintenance of a dam remains the responsibility of the owner. "That duty is not dependent on any action or inaction by the state," said Binder.

HHyyddrroo (Oh well, it was a good idea until the Town realized they might be able to get a piece of the action.) Middlebury hydro project stalls over water rights debate Addison Independent, January 19, 2009, By JOHN FLOWERS

MIDDLEBURY, VT — The developers of a proposed small-scale hydroelectric operation at the base of the Otter Creek Falls in Middlebury have secured a federal OK to ramp up planning for the project, but that planning has apparently hit a snag at the local level. The Holm family recently secured a preliminary permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to gather more information in their bid to re- establish a hydroelectric power project near the Otter Creek Falls in downtown Middlebury. Specifically, the family wants to install a water turbine that would harness electricity from the creek as it flows through a flume under a building (owned by the Holms) that borders the south side of the falls. Anders Holm said the project would produce 5 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year that would be marketed to area homes, businesses and the town of Middlebury. With the FERC preliminary permit in hand, the Holms now have 36 months in which to put together a final application for the turbine project — which must also be endorsed by various state agencies, including the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB). “We are now on (FERC’s) radar,” Anders Holm said on Thursday. “This makes us basically the developer of the project, which gives us the ability to do the further testing necessary to make sure this is done in a manner that FERC will accept. “It is fantastic news,” he added.

Planning for the project has slowed to a trickle, however, as the Holms and town officials sort out who owns the water rights within the stretch of the Otter Creek being targeted for the water turbine. Selectmen, through a Montpelier-based attorney, indicate the town is the substantial owner of those water rights — an asset they believe should be carefully considered before it is ceded to a hydroelectric project. The town owns much land bordering the creek near the falls and also owns land on which some of the hydro infrastructure would be built. “We have looked extensively at what the rights of the town are in the overall picture, and according to the legal opinions that (attorney) Gerald Tarrant has produced for the town, the town has the lion’s share of the water rights asset, with a small portion accruing to the Holm property,” Middlebury selectboard Chairman John Tenny said. The Holms believe — as owners of land bordering the creek — that they are co-owners of the water rights, an asset that would remain untapped if not for the project they are seeking to undertake. Holm said the lingering water rights issue has delayed his family’s ability to apply for a certificate of public good from the PSB — a state permit needed to make the project a reality. That delay, Holm contended, has forced his family to decline the use of a $250,000 Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) that had been awarded to the project last May. “Our getting the CEDF money was contingent on a certificate of public good, and that is contingent upon us coming to the state with a proposal … and we need the cooperation of the town to do that,” Holm said. “Our discussions with the town have participated more slowly than we had anticipated. “The town’s role has not yet been defined,” Holm added, “and until that role is defined, we can’t go for a certificate of public good.” Middlebury selectmen, meanwhile, stressed they are in favor of the concept of the hydroelectric project at the falls. But they also said they need more details about the Holm plan before giving away the town’s water rights — which could potentially have great value. Tenny said other remaining unresolved issues, from the town’s perspective, include:

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

• How Middlebury can protect its other Otter Creek assets — namely, the public land it owns at the base of the falls that would be needed to host some of the hydro project infrastructure. • Is the project itself feasible and can enough power be sold so that project can pay for itself? • Will the project create undue noise and/or aesthetic issues at the Otter Creek Falls, one of the town’s most scenic draws?

“These are questions that haven’t been adequately addressed or answered,” Tenny said. He noted the town and the Holms had been scheduled to meet in November to discuss the project. The Holms canceled that meeting, according to Tenny. “Throughout this process, there has been spotty communication, I would call it, between the town and the Holm family,” Tenny said. Holm said talks cannot proceed productively until a key issue is resolved. “The spottiness (in communication) comes from our inability to move forward with discussions until they substantiate their claims of water rights,” Holm said. He added his family is willing to compensate the town for partnering in the project. That compensation would come in the form of a percentage of each kilowatt hour of power sold, according to Holm. Selectmen said they will again reach out to the Holm family for another private meeting to try and resolve their differences. They agreed that a hydroelectric project, if done carefully, would be good for Middlebury. “This, to me, looks like a great opportunity,” said Selectman Dean George. “I’d hate to see us lose out on that opportunity.” “I strongly support the concept,” Tenny said. “We have tried to work with this to move it forward, but we do not have a proposal to which we can respond.”

(This is NOT good news for hydro. The article doesn’t mention that much of the reduction in hydro output was due to the drought in the Southesat. Just wait until we have a wet year, hydro will show them!) (Excerpts) Full article at: http://pepei.pennnet.com/display_article/351015/6/ARTCL/none/none/1/Renewables-dominated-2007- capacity-additions,-EIA-says/ Full EIA Report at: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html Renewables dominated 2007 capacity additions, EIA says Power Engineering, 21 January 2009

In 2007, for the first time, renewable energy sources other than conventional hydroelectric capacity made up the largest portion of capacity additions, according to data released January 21 by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Total net summer capacity rose 13,845 MW in 2007. Wind capacity accounted for 5,186 MW of this new capacity. Natural gas-fired generation accounted for 4,582 MW. Two new coal-fired plants with summer capacity totaling 1,354 MW were placed in service in 2007. However, retirements and downward adjustments to existing capacity resulted in a 217 MW net reduction in coal-fired capacity. Altogether, EIA said 4,439 MW of net summer generating capacity retired during 2007. That included 1,196 MW of coal and 2,741 MW of natural gas capacity. ------.

Conventional hydroelectric power continued to decline. In 2007, conventional hydroelectric generating capacity accounted for 6.0 percent of total net generation, as compared to 10.2 percent in 1997. Renewable energy sources, excluding conventional hydroelectric generation, contributed 2.5 percent of total net electric generation in 2007. This marks the fourth consecutive year in which renewables' share of total net generation has increased, EIA said. ------.

(A positive article about hydro. We need more passion like this.)

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

Hydro: Powerful Splash From Past Tom Condon, January 18, 2009, Hartford Courant, CT

Does it not feel as if the first half of the 21st century will be spent correcting the mistakes of the last half of the 20th? We abandoned cities; now we're rebuilding them. We scrapped trolleys and trains; now we're clearing the tracks. We're even taking down some poorly placed highways. I wonder if the next rediscovery will be hydroelectric power. Our forebears understood the dynamics of water power. They located factories at the falls of rivers, and often dammed the rivers to ensure a steady flow. Water provided direct power to mills, and later spun turbines to make electricity. But with the coming of fossil fuels and then nuclear energy, which was going to be so cheap it wouldn't have to be metered, many of the old hydro plants were shut down and forgotten. That seems to have been the case in the picturesque Collinsville section of Canton. Two dams (one down the river on the Avon-Burlington town line) and power plants were used to provide power to the eponymous Collins Axe Co. complex. But the power stations were shut down and purposely scrapped by Northeast Utilities after the factory closed in the mid-1960s. Now, town officials from Canton, Avon and Burlington would like to rebuild and refurbish the facilities. They say the plants could create about 2 megawatts of electricity, enough to serve 1,200 to 1,600 homes, possibly more.

Canton First Selectman Dick Barlow has spearheaded this effort, and good for him. He got U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy on board. On Tuesday, Barlow and Murphy held a brief press event at the upper dam off Route 179 to announce that Murphy would introduce federal legislation to expedite the process. To operate a power station on rivers of a certain size, an operator needs a permit and license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A private developer had a license, but was unable to finish the project. The license lapsed at the end of the year. Murphy's legislation would revive the license and transfer it to the town. Murphy said President-elect Barack Obama has set a goal of getting 25 percent of U.S. energy from renewable sources, and water flowing downhill is the ultimate renewable in the Northeast. Barlow, a retired state Department of Environmental Protection administrator, said "there is no question it is a good long-term project," but that the challenge will be paying for it now. It is expensive, with a projected cost of $8 million to $10 million. But, I would argue, we would only have to pay for it once, and the money probably would stay in this country. The project will include a fish ladder. It would be wise for Gov. M. Jodi Rell and legislative leaders to leave some sustainable energy funds available for projects such as this. If Mr. Obama's stimulus package includes money for green energy, this ought to qualify.

Connecticut residents are still paying among the highest electricity costs in the country, in part because we are at the end of the pipeline for every fuel source. We don't have local supplies of coal, oil or natural gas, and so have to import them. We do have nuclear plants that produce electricity more cheaply than fossil fuel plants, but because of the crazy pricing structure put in place after electricity was deregulated a decade ago, the savings go to the owners of the plant, not the ratepayers. But as Murphy said, we have water. Connecticut has an estimated 5,000 dams of various sizes and states of repair. The state owns about 260 of them, including the Collinsville dams. As with trains, we didn't shut all the hydro plants down. According to FERC spokeswoman Celeste Miller, there are 13 federally licensed hydroelectric plants on Connecticut rivers, which contribute about two percent of the state's juice. Every little bit helps. Are there more Collinsville dams out there, more opportunities to capture electricity that is local and renewable? Someone ought to check. There is new "micro-hydro" technology as well as dam-less "run-of-the-river" generators that make hydropower more appealing. There's been a renewed interest in tidal dams around the country, Miller said. New hydropower won't be a major electricity provider in Connecticut, but it will help the state diversify its sources of generation and perhaps tamp down costs a bit. And after that, what else can we find in the past that could make a better future? I always liked downtown department stores.

(Then, of course, the enviros always have to throw dirt in the water.) YOUR LETTERS Use Caution With Hydro Projects January 23, 2009, Hartford Courant, CT

Thanks for Tom Condon's thought-provoking column on the future of hydropower in Connecticut [Place, Jan. 18, "Hydro: Powerful Splash from the Past"]. There is a place, for sure, for hydropower in the green-energy portfolio. But hydropower is a major destroyer of rivers and should be developed carefully. In recent years, national and state river groups have set standards for hydropower development through the Low-Impact Hydropower Institute. This institute provides certification for hydro projects that meet key environmental criteria, such as providing for fish passage. Looking at the dams in Collinsville, one possibility to consider would be maximizing the generating capacity of the large upper dam and removing or notching the smaller

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

lower dam. Ideally, the outcome would be more clean energy and healthier river flows. Margaret Miner, Executive Director, Rivers Alliance of Connecticut, Litchfield

(Probably should read “Requests FERC”. This shows the absurdity of the mess put Federal licensing in – what one agency giveth, the other wants to take away.) Interior Requests To Reconsider Decision to License Hydrokinetic Project on Mississippi By: Rupak Thapaliya, January 23, 2009, Hydropower Reform Coalition

Through a letter sent last week, the Department of Interior (DOI) has requested FERC for a rehearing of the decision to issue an amended license that allows for operation of hydrokinetic project on the Mississippi river in Hastings, Minnesota. Interior has long been requesting for adoption of pilot license process for the project. The pilot licensing process established by FERC for projects using new hydrokinetic technology, issues license for no more than five years at a time. Interior has argued that such a process would allow careful testing of the technology to identify any impacts. Although FERC acknowledged Interior’s recommendation, it did not undergo a pilot licensing process. In the request letter, DOI has also claimed that FERC’s determination that the proposed license amendment was not inconsistent with the Mississippi Comprehensive Management Plan is not accurate. In that light, the DOI has requested for a rehearing of FERC’s decision. The hydrokinetic project on the Mississippi River uses two turbines with a capacity of 35kW each to generate electricity.

(This is not a case about water rights. It’s the money! The County sees a cash cow that would fill their coffers so they could buy lots of toys. Who are they kidding? There has to be a Federal purpose for a takeover and there is none.) Feds unlikely to take Alcoa's license Bruce Henderson - The Charlotte Observer, Jan. 25, 2009

As time to act slips away, business and civic leaders along the Yadkin River are pressing a federal agency to take a historic step: Reclaim 38 miles of the river now controlled by aluminum giant Alcoa. Alcoa's power no longer provides local jobs at its now-closed smelter and sells on the open market, netting the company about $8 million a year. Water-rights advocates insist the hydropower, under company control since 1915, should benefit the people of North Carolina. In a state where drought and growth have made water no longer a disposable resource, the populist stand has drawn some political support. Former Gov. Mike Easley asked federal regulators last year for a one-year delay in renewing Alcoa's license. The former leader of a water-rights committee pressing the issue is incoming Gov. Beverly Perdue's commerce secretary. Perdue still supports a delay "while community concerns are evaluated and the state considers the most appropriate use of this public resource," spokesman Tim Crowley said.

A report on the issue is due to a legislative commission by Feb. 1. But the legal and financial odds seem to weigh heavily against taking away Alcoa's license. Although a 1920 federal law allows it, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has never reclaimed a hydro license. Agency staff members don't consider it a "reasonable alternative" in Alcoa's case. The two-year window in which the federal agency could take steps to reclaim the license passed, without action, last May. While supporters say the license could be retaken by paying Alcoa as little as $24 million, the company says infrastructure improvements it has committed to could add $240 million to the costs. The water-rights committee envisions the state repaying the federal government's costs of compensating Alcoa. But the state faces a $2 billion to $3 billion budget shortfall this year. "When you look at those three pieces, we just don't see that it's likely at all," said Gene Ellis, an Alcoa official in Stanly County. Alcoa expects its license to be renewed within months. The final step, a state water-quality permit, has been delayed by concerns over pollution from the old aluminum works but is on schedule to be issued by May. Stanly County, where the smelter sits, says Alcoa still has not cleaned up 90 years' worth of pollution. Alcoa says it has spent millions investigating 47 potential contamination sites and cleaning up the six that needed it. The state is expected to order Alcoa to monitor pollutants in Badin Lake and its dam.

The N.C. Water Rights Committee, predicting growth in the region of small towns and countryside, says too much is at stake to call off its fight. "That river basin is probably the last major river basin in America with no major population center," said Christopher Bramlett, the group's treasurer and a retired chemistry professor in Albemarle. "The thought of tying that down for 50 years is very troubling." The group recently promoted 8

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

the idea of a state-held trust taking control of the Yadkin license. It was led until recently by Keith Crisco, an Asheboro businessman who is the state's newly installed commerce secretary. NASCAR legend Richard Petty touts the movement on the group's Web site. In addition to managing the hydro project, the committee says, the trust would use the profits to pay for economic development, conserve land and clean up Alcoa's pollution. Stanly County supports the idea. A newly established water advocate, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, has taken no formal position on a federal takeover. "We do have concerns about implementation," Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks said, "but certainly on paper it is a better plan than anything Alcoa has proposed." Six-term state Sen. William Purcell, a Laurinburg Democrat who represents Stanly County, isn't so sure. "I just think this thing would take a lot of study and taking a look at before the state of North Carolina would get involved," Purcell said. "It seemed to make some sense, but if it's going to take money to do, it's going to be difficult."

WWaatteerr (The Governor has a point. These reservoirs have a total capacity of over 800,000 acre feet and only use about 3 million acre feet for water supply or less than 0.4 % of the total capacity of the reservoirs. Obviously, it’s not all usable storage, but the suggested study should give the answer.) Rendell: NYC should lower its reservoirs Governor adds his voice to residents' along Del. River seeking flood relief By Dan Berrett, Pocono Record Writer, January 24, 2009

Gov. Ed Rendell on Friday called on New York City to lower water levels in its upstate reservoirs to reduce the risk of future flooding along the Delaware River. "Reducing reservoir spills — as a precautionary measure whenever possible without harm to water supply security or fisheries — is just good sense," Rendell said in a written statement. Three reservoirs — the Cannonsville, Neversink and Pepacton — feed into the Delaware River and help supply drinking water to New York City. They also provide drought protection to the Philadelphia area and protect against saltwater intruding from the Delaware Bay. Flood- control advocates have long argued that the three floods that ravaged the Delaware River in 2004-06 were made worse because the reservoirs were kept too full of water and overflowed during periods of heavy rain. Instead, they say, dedicated empty spaces, or voids, should be maintained in the reservoirs. Some welcomed Rendell's latest statement, which reaffirmed the governor's implicit agreement with their position. "I'm happy to see that he's doing this now," said Diane Tharp, executive director of North Delaware River Watershed Conservancy, describing Rendell. "During these economic times, communities and businesses up and down the river basin cannot experience another flood, not if there's a possibility that the reservoirs could provide flood mitigation through voids." But Elaine Reichart, head of Aquatic Conservation Unlimited, another flood-control group, offered a more muted response, and hoped to see concrete action. "We're happy that they've actually listened to our request," Reichart said, "but we're still looking at it because we're skeptical."

In December, a group of seven environmental and flood-control groups, including Tharp's and Reichart's, pressed the leaders of the states and New York City to authorize massive releases of water from the reservoirs. The governors of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, and the mayor of New York City share governance of the Delaware River, according to a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decree. Last month, the three Catskill reservoirs had begun to fill as a result of wet and mild weather. At the time of the joint letter to the governors and mayor, they stood at 96 percent of capacity. On Thursday, they stood at 91 percent. Since Dec. 13, 1.5 billion of gallons of water have been released daily from the reservoirs. It is the maximum allowed under a flexible flow management plan (FFMP), which provides the framework to manage the river. Rendell did not specify how much more than the 1.5 billion of gallons of water he wanted to be released each day, and was instead putting the question to New York City. The City's Department of Environmental Protection manages the Catskill reservoirs. The three reservoirs hold a combined 270 billion gallons of water and supply less than half of the 1 billion gallons of water that New York City consumes each day. Releases must be unanimously approved by the governors and mayor, who are known as the decree 9

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

parties. "He's asking (New York City's DEP) to take a look and see if the system can safely handle a larger volume," said Teresa Candori, a spokesperson for Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection. The city's DEP said earlier this month that it was "always looking for ways to be helpful as long as the critical mission of providing drinking water for 9 million people is not put at risk," said Mercedes Padilla, an agency spokesperson. On Friday, Padilla said, "We are studying the governor's request." Just how much more than the 1.5 billion gallons can be released is unknown. Last February, the reservoirs released 1.6 billion gallons per day while repairs were being made to an aqueduct in the system, Tharp said. She hoped the stepped-up releases would be in effect this year before, during and after repairs. Significantly, Rendell also asked the city to examine the valves and other parts of its reservoirs to see if other ways can be found to increase the flow of water that can be released. Officials have noted that the dams, which were built between 1954 and 1964 and meant primarily to guard against drought, are not engineered for massive and quick releases. But some estimates indicate that siphons, of the kind used in other dams nearby, could dramatically increase the release rate. In his statement, Rendell also sought to calm those living within the river basin that water levels along the river remain at normal levels. The gage at Tocks Island was at about 7 feet on Friday, 14 feet below flood stage. "I want to assure the residents living within the basin that the river is at normal levels for this time of year and there is no indication or threat of flooding," Rendell said.

(Who would have ever thought – water wars in the east? All is not a peaceful as the photo.) Florida and Alabama fire the next volley in water wars BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, January 24th 2009, AccessGA.com

WASHINGTON - Florida and Alabama are asking a federal court to stop the Army Corps of Engineers from supplying water to Georgia from Lake Lanier, Atlanta's main water source. The states argue the withdrawals are illegal without congressional approval. They said they would file a motion in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville Friday to invalidate the corps' operations on the federal reservoir. Florida and Alabama have long argued that the corps is misusing Lanier at the expense of their interests downstream. The latest motion comes two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower-court ruling that said the corps needed congressional approval before reaching a 2003 agreement to give Georgia even more water from Lanier in the coming decades. Emboldened by the decision, Florida and Alabama say that rationale should also apply to Georgia's current withdrawals. Their motion also comes after the corps issued an opinion this week saying that it has legal authority to supply metro Atlanta's drinking water from Lanier. Corps attorney Earl Stockdale's opinion said that setting aside about 12 percent of the lake for drinking water would have only minor effects on the project's goals to produce hydropower, control floods and float barges. The reservoir is at the heart of the states' two-decade- old water wars in which Georgia maintains it needs more water to serve a rapidly growing population, while Florida and Alabama argue that the state's withdrawals harm their downstream interests. Judge Paul A. Magnuson, who is overseeing combined lawsuits involving the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin, has said that he will take up the question of Lanier's authorized uses first.

i This compilation of articles and other information is provided at no cost for those interested in hydropower, dams, and water resources issues and development, and should not be used for any commercial or other purpose. Any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have an interest in receiving this information for non-profit and educational purposes only.

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Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu