10/2/2015

Some Dam – Hydro News TM And Other Stuff i

Quote of Note: “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.” – -RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Some Dam - Hydro News Newsletter Archive for Back Issues and Search http://npdp.stanford.edu/ Click on Link (Some Dam - Hydro News) Bottom Right - Under Perspectives

“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: 2012 Kaiken Malbec "Ultra" “ No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap. ” - - Thomas Jefferson

Dams: (It only takes money – got any?) Time running out on water pact By LACEY JARRELL H&N Staff Reporter, Sep 20, 2015, heraldandnews.com

A coalition of water stakeholders visited Washington, D.C., earlier this month to bolster support for long-term water security and fishery restoration in the Klamath Basin. On Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 9 and 10, more than one dozen stakeholders met with several Oregon and California delegates in Washington, D.C., to reinforce the importance, and the urgency, of passing water legislation this year. The team — representatives from agricultural, tribal and environmental interests — traveled 2,400 miles to the East Coast to discuss the massive hit the Basin’s $600 million-per-year 1 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu ag industry and endangered fish esteemed by tribes will take if Senate Bill 133 — the Klamath Water Recovery and Economic Restoration Act — fails to pass Congress in 2015. “It was a coordinated effort on all fronts,” said Brad Kirby, assistant manager of Tulelake Irrigation District.

SB133 must pass the House and Senate in identical form and be signed by the president before it can become law. The bill was introduced in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in January, but has yet to move. It has not been introduced in the House. Klamath Project Farmer Luther Horsley, who attended the D.C. meetings, said he is concerned legislation has not been introduced in the House. “We would like that process to start. The clock is ticking. The end of the year is fast approaching,” Horsley said. Klamath Tribes Chairman Don Gentry said he felt lawmakers understood the coalition’s urgency and the need to move legislation forward immediately. This isn’t the first time, however, stakeholders have gone to Washington, D.C., with an urgent message, according to Karuk Tribe Spokesman Craig Tucker. “We really mean it this time, and I think we conveyed that to people,” Tucker said.

Dam removal sticking point After years of stakeholder hard-won negotiations from parties stemming from the headwaters of the Williamson River to the mouth of the Klamath River, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sponsored the Klamath Water Recovery and Economic Restoration Act in 2014. The bill is a three-part piece of legislation that encompasses the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement — both finalized in 2010 — and the 2014 Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement. The comprehensive bill aims to create water certainty for Basin ag producers and establish affordable power rates for farmers, ranchers and the Klamath refuge complex. The pact also provides an economic package for the Klamath Tribes, and aims to restore aquatic and riparian habitat in tributaries of Upper Klamath Lake. It also calls for removing four dams — the J.C. Boyle, Iron Gate, Copco 1 and Copco 2 — from the Klamath River.

Most everyone agrees that water certainty and riparian and stream restoration are beneficial components of the agreements, but dam removal has been a sticking point for ag producers and lawmakers alike. To lawmakers such as Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., the possibility of Klamath dam removal becoming precedent-setting for blasting federally owned dams has been worrisome. According to Tucker, stakeholders are not trying to set a precedent for dam removal, though. The precedent stakeholders would like to set, he said, is for rural communities solving complex resource issues. At a recent town hall in Tulelake, Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, who represents California’s first district, said his support for SB133 hinges on dam removal. According to Gentry, LaMalfa reiterated his apprehension about the Klamath dams in the D.C. meetings. “It would expedite the process if LaMalfa was on board,” Horsley said. Tucker said, in his opinion, House Republicans struggle with dam removal. “And we can’t pass legislation without them. That’s a fact,” Tucker said. Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley, Ore., and Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both representing California, have co-signed SB133. Walden spokesman Andrew Malcolm pointed out that no Republicans have co-sponsored the bill. He said Republican support will be required to move SB133 in the House and Senate because the party holds the majority in both chambers. “This bill faces obstacles in the Senate and the House,” Malcolm said. “Walden is trying to come up with something that will get majority support in the Senate and House, and strong support in the Basin.” Gentry called dam removal under SB133 “a unique situation” because the dams are privately owned and operated by PacifiCorp. “I think dam removal was a sticking point for everyone involved, including me, until I realized the benefits of the dams being removed outweighed them staying in,” Horsley said. Tucker said removing the Klamath Dams is “the single most important act of restoration” that can be carried out for restoring salmon runs and aquatic habitat in the Klamath watershed.

Long, tough haul Chairman Gentry said he believes support for the Klamath water settlements is still growing, but those who have been involved since the beginning are tired and worn out. Gentry said he has a hard time believing stakeholders will stay on board if legislation does not pass this year. 2 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu “Folks are growing weary waiting for legislation to occur,” Gentry said. “I think we still need to stress the importance of Congress legislating before the end of the year. They need to understand how critical that is.” Without a settlement in place, stakeholders can expect costly litigation to continue for the next 10 to 20 years, he said. Horsley said in the D.C. meetings bill- sponsor Wyden showed optimism for SB133 moving forward before the year-end. “Legislation to implement the Klamath Basin settlement agreements is a top priority for Sen. Wyden. He remains committed to working with all interested parties who know full well the importance of getting this much-needed settlement passed,” said Hank Stern, a spokesman for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Gentry said from his perspective, folks are working hard to take away excuses for not moving legislation forward. Gentry said he believes the D.C. meetings were generally positive. “The congressionals in Washington, D.C., know it’s critical to move legislation before the end of the year,” Gentry said. “Time is running out.” If a settlement package fails to pass, the consequences could set stakeholders’ progress back a decade or more, according to Tucker. He noted that downriver Karuk, Yurok and Hoopa tribes have not filed for water rights, but those issues could surface without legislation in place. “All options will be on the table,” Tucker said. “Tribal folks are fearless when it comes to defending their resources,” Tucker said. Tucker said he’s trying to stay optimistic. “I think with every passing day the odds get worse, but I still think there’s hope,” Tucker said. “No one said ‘Hell no,’ so I feel like we have a chance,” Tucker said.

(RCC dam) Officials celebrate completion of $9 million Renwick Dam Rehabilitation Project By Kevin Bonham, 9/21/15, grandforksherald.com

CAVALIER, N.D. -- The $9 million Renwick Dam Rehabilitation Project at Icelandic State Park has been dedicated. Officials recently celebrated the completion of the project, which kicked into high gear after a May 2013 heavy rain event threatened the 50-year-old earthen dam, forcing the evacuation of Cavalier, the Pembina County governmental seat of 1,300. The total cost of the project was slightly more than $8.9 million, through several phases, according to LuAnn Kemp, Pembina County Water Resource District secretary-treasurer. Here is the funding breakdown: Natural Resource Conservation Service, $5.8 million; North Dakota State Water Commission, $1.5 million; Red River Joint Board, $800,000; Pembina County, $800,000; and city of Cavalier, $56,000.

Renwick is the last of 10 dams in the Tongue River Watershed, the final line of defense for people living in Cavalier. The river that runs through the city flows into the Pembina River just before emptying into the Red River at Pembina, N.D., about 75 miles north of Grand Forks. The dam was severely tested in May 2013, after 10 inches of rain mixed with runoff from a snowy late winter resulted in floodwaters overtopping the earthen - sand and soil, with vegetation - auxiliary spillways on seven of the 10 dams, five each in Cavalier and Pembina counties. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a 6-foot-high, 300-foot-long emergency levee to prevent floodwaters from washing out the Renwick spillway. As a precaution, the entire city of Cavalier was evacuated for about 60 hours. The new concrete structure is about five feet higher than the old earthen dam, which was built in 1962. In 1978, the State Water Commission and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that the Renwick Dam was a Class C “high hazard” structure and was in need of maintenance and rehabilitation. The rating was based on the potential loss of life due to numerous homes, businesses, public care facilities, roads and bridges existing in the downstream dam break flood zone. Renwick Dam and Lake Renwick are located at Icelandic State Park, a 3 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu popular recreation area with camping, boating and a beach with public swimming, about 6 miles west of Cavalier. The construction project has forced park users to take a gravel road detour for a few miles to reach a temporary park entrance.

(Be prepared! Always buy the house on top of the hill.) MAPS SHOW LOCAL DAM FAILURE INUNDATION PLANS September 21, 2015, by Natalie Weber, kobi5.com

Shady Cove, Ore. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have update local dam failure inundation maps, and are sharing them with the public. On Monday, residents were invited to view the maps at the Shady Cove Library. Organizers say the maps provide a look into what would happen should an emergency situation arise with local dams, showing what areas would be affected, and how. “There is a risk from living below dams, and people need to understand what that risk is, so that they can be prepared in the unlikely event that it happens,” Scott Clemans said, a Public Information Officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Clemans says anyone who lives within one mile of a river would be affected, and the maps address those areas as well. On Tuesday, the maps will be on display from 3 to 8:30 PM in Grants Pass at the Anne G. Basker Auditorium on 600 NW Sixth Street. The viewing and presentation are free, however guests are required to register for a time. For more information, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rogue-inundation-map-viewing-grants-pass-tickets-18332382650 . (New article. Only because of the photos.) Marcy Dam dismantled, altering an Adirondack crossroads Sep 21, 2015 — by Brian Mann, in North Elba, NY, northcountrypublicradio.org

Sep 21, 2015 — For nearly a century, skiers and hikers have been hanging out on the wooden bridge across Marcy Dam in the Adirondack High Peaks. It's the kind of place where you run into old friends, where people would stop for lunch or to take a quick swim after summiting Mount Marcy. Now state officials are slowly dismantling the structure, which was first built in the 1930s. Mountain journal: One more hike to Marcy Dam

Work at Marcy Dam is expected to continue over the next five years. It is a stunner of a fall day and I'm hiking in along the trail to Marcy Dam. Now, if you think about the Adirondacks, this is the highest trafficked, most popular part of the Park. And now, for the first time in decades, this place is changing and it all starts with tropical storm Irene in 2011. When Irene hit, wall of water bulldozed through this valley, ripping away the wooden bridge across the dam and a big part of the structure itself. The Conservation Department determined that the dam would not be replaced. It just didn’t make sense in this designated wilderness area. Now they’ve actually begun the process of removing the remaining sections of the dam. For hikers and skiers and campers, that means the loss of a place that had been sort of a backcountry crossroads. "I can't count the number of times I've gone past there in all seasons," said Phil Brown, the guide book author and editor of Adirondack Explorer magazine. 4 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu Stopping to feed the chickadees "We'd always stop there and take a picture. I must have dozens of photos taken from there. Sometimes we'd feed the chickadees," Brown recalled.

Donations from NCPR users all over our region make our work possible. Click to donate today. I recorded my own encounter with chickadees at Marcy Dam the winter before Irene tore away the wooden structure. Half a dozen of the tiny birds perched on my hat, my boots, even my microphone, as they crowded in to nibble on my sandwich.

Wild spaces, human landmarks Phil Brown said it’s actually pretty common for human structures like Marcy Dam to become part of the backcountry experience in the Adirondacks. Even people looking for wildness tend have come to see places like this as important landmarks. I think people feel they're losing their personal history as well as Adirondack history "If you walk through the woods, there's all kinds of signs of past human activity, an old stone wall, a foundation, in this case it's an old dam. It's part of our history. I think that's part of why so many people object to losing the dam. It's not just the view. But I think people feel they're losing their personal history as well as Adirondack history." State officials say the removal process will be slow. In order to prevent a sudden release of sediment, the DEC’s work crew will lower the dam’s log and rock structure by about eight feet over the next half-decade. But already enough of the structure is gone that what had been a gorgeous manmade lake has begun to revert back to a narrow mountain stream winding through a wild mountain valley.

(Old book getting new life. Where would people be without dams? Even Reisner admitted after the book dams are needed.) ‘Cadillac Desert’ a stark look at water politics By Newell G. Bringhurst, September 23, 2015, visaliatimesdelta.com

Given California’s ongoing severe drought Marc Reisner’s all- important “Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water” is a must-read. A classic work initially published in 1986 and updated in 1993, it is most relevant in describing the major missteps contributing to the state’s current water crisis. The author questions the wisdom of California projects designed to bring water to the state’s populous southern cities and fertile Central Valley. With each new dam California’s population increased. This in turn prompted yet more dams, perpetuating a vicious cycle of dam building. Reisner expressed skepticism that the greening of California could continue indefinitely, noting the rapid depletion of aquifers, silting of dams, loss of farmland to salinity, and the increasing cost of diverting rivers.

Reisner vents outrage at the state’s political leaders blaming them for a myriad of misguided water projects. Among the most damaging was the Owens Valley Aqueduct which by diverting water south to Los Angeles turned the once-fertile Owens Valley into a virtual desert.

5 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu It also set the stage for the Saint Francis Dam disaster of 1928 in which 450 people died. Reisner, moreover, condemns two recent California governors — Edmund G. (Pat) Brown, Sr., and his son, Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown, Jr. for grossly overselling their pet water projects. Turning to other parts of the arid West, Reisner excoriates a broad array of water projects. Acknowledging the positive effects of major dam building during the 1930s and 1940s, he is highly critical of the majority of misguided water projects since that time. He blames both the key individuals and government institutions involved.

In particular, Reisner scorns the Bureau of Reclamation — a federal agency formed to bring water to the small farmer, but instead has served the interests of large corporate farms. As it grew in power and influence, the Bureau deliberately underestimated the cost of projects, manipulated Congress, and promoted pork-barrel dams — some of which were not even wanted by the farmers they were intended to serve. Over time, the good sites for viable dams disappeared, but construction continued. Excessive dam building undertaken by both the Bureau and the Army Corps of Engineers, the author opines, degraded the natural environment through the destruction of birds, fish, and animal habitat.

Congress authorized billions to build such dams, unduly influenced by the special interest groups benefiting most directly — specifically large farmers and construction firms. One would hope that Reisner’s “Cadillac Desert,” given its provocative critique, might stimulate meaningful discussion as to the best way to move forward in solving the current water crisis. Hopefully, it might also help pave the way for a viable, long-range policy mandating the most efficient use of water — our most precious of natural resources. Newell G. Bringhurst, a retired professor of history and Political Science from College of the Sequoias welcomes responses at [email protected]

Hydro: (There’s no energy source that doesn’t affect the environment. This old news, long ago debunked.) When renewable energy isn’t green: hydroelectric emissions Kale Roberts For the Poughkeepsie Journal, September 19, 2015, poughkeepsiejournal.com

Hydropower is often considered a clean energy source, free of climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions. But although dams have been demonized for disrupting fish migrations and flooding valleys inhabited by families for generations, this so-called renewable form of energy has largely escaped scrutiny for its climate impacts. After all, how could the atmosphere be harmed by letting a river flow through a few energy-generating turbines encased within a 50-foot wall of concrete and steel? Hydropower is the world’s leading form of renewable energy, accounting for more than 16 percent of global electricity generation. But dam enthusiasts who tout hydro’s climate credentials may not like the news about its emissions numbers. Studies conducted over the past decade have shown that greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, are produced by hydroelectric systems in potentially huge amounts. In some cases, emissions from hydropower can even exceed those that would have been produced from burning conventional fossil fuels instead. For example, a 2014 study finds that the Curuá-Una Reservoir in Brazil emitted 3.6 times more greenhouse gases than would have been emitted had the electricity come from oil.

How hydroelectric dams produce greenhouse gases

6 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu When a dam is built for energy generation, the land upstream of the impoundment is flooded. The more than 45,000 large dams built around the world cover a combined area the size of Montana (Barros et al., 2011). For many, within their depths lies former forest land. As the submerged trees, grasses, shrubs and soil decompose, microbes convert the carbon stored in the vegetation into gas that can bubble up to the surface and escape to the atmosphere. Carbon trapped within the soil percolates out in the form of carbon dioxide. Age matters. Studies show that younger reservoirs may be bigger emitters than older ones, because most carbon is released from drowned vegetation within the first several years of flooding. Location matters, too. Emissions seem to be highest from dams built in the tropics, presumably because higher temperatures give decomposer microbes the metabolic boost to do their work.

Methane matters Methane is of particular concern. The gas is made anywhere methanogenic (methane-producing) bacteria can thrive without oxygen — so, in the guts of pigs and people, peat bogs and permafrost. Unfortunately, methane is also 25 times more potent a planet warmer than carbon dioxide over 100 years. And warm, tropical places can produce more of it. Methane has plenty of opportunities to escape during the hydropower process: It bubbles up from the oxygen-free muck that accumulates at the bottom of reservoirs. It is churned out in the spray coming off spinning turbines. For miles, it wafts off the newly agitated surface of the river downstream from a dam. So much methane is produced that studies suggest more than 20 percent of what humans are responsible for may come from dams, which may be releasing up to 104 teragrams of the gas annually. (This may be more than all the methane produced per year from burning fossil fuels, according to NASA.)

Lack of information or regulatory failure? Of course, impacts from big hydro projects go beyond greenhouse gas emissions to include altered land use, the collapse of migratory fish populations and the displacement of people. Coastal erosion can occur downstream from reservoirs when sediment becomes trapped behind dam impoundments, preventing the silty particles from reaching the sea where they build and stabilize coastlines. Despite large hydro’s detrimental impacts on life, land and atmosphere, many nations fail to include emissions associated with dams in their total greenhouse gas reporting. This gap in information makes hydro emissions difficult to track — and to regulate. Most hydropower is concentrated in Asia, but more than 150 countries employ the technology for at least some of their energy. The Worldwatch Institute reports that “in 2008, four countries — Albania, Bhutan, Lesotho and Paraguay — generated all their electricity from hydropower,” and “15 countries generated at least 90 percent of their electricity from hydro.” Moreover, when nations have made steps to report hydro emissions, the international hydroelectricity industry has attempted to muddy the waters by downplaying the amount of carbon degassing from their projects.

Take down the dams? Before you think tearing down all dams is the answer, consider this: Taking down a large dam may actually release more greenhouse gases from the newly exposed, carbon-rich soil than were produced throughout the entire life of the dam. For example, decommissioning Arizona’s Glen Canyon Dam in the United States, which provides power from Lake Powell, would theoretically produce nine times more methane following takedown than all the methane produced during Glen Canyon’s 100-year operation. 7 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu What is the solution? What many believe would be a good first step is for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s foremost scientific authority on the subject, to ask all participating nations to report greenhouse gas emissions from hydroelectric reservoirs. Can that happen with so many questions left unanswered? More research on the climate impacts of hydropower is needed, in more places and at all stages of big dams’ lifecycles. Until then, policymakers may be overlooking a potentially significant contributor to climate change, perhaps difficult to calculate but ever present, hidden at the bottom of a placid reservoir. Kale Roberts is a student at the Bard Center for Environmental Policy. Sustainably Speaking is written by students, staff and faculty of the center.

(You gotta give them credit for persistence.) Crown Hydro seeks new site for Minneapolis hydro project New proposal at Minneapolis locks raises familiar concerns. By Steve Brandt Star Tribune, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 — startribune.com

The hydroelectric project that Minneapolitans have wrestled with for two decades is back for a third try at St. Anthony Falls. Crown Hydro is seeking to amend the federal hydropower license it was granted in 1999 but has never put to use. This time it wants to install its powerhouse at the upper end of the lock complex owned by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, then tunnel underground past the Stone Arch Bridge to release water downstream. Two previous proposals fizzled. The 3.4-megawatt hydro project would provide power for 2,300 homes. But nearly 70 Minneapolis residents told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which will rule on the license amendment, that they think the firm should be required to obtain an entirely new license. Park and city officials agree. A FERC official also advised Crown Hydro in 2013 to seek a new license, calling the latest proposal “essentially a different project” that needs new engineering and environmental analysis. It has been 21 years since Crown Hydro began pursuing a license to turn falling water into energy at the falls. It obtained that license in 1999, but couldn’t reach agreement with the owner of Crown Roller Mill to install generating equipment at that site. It then sought to switch to land owned by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, but the board said no. By shifting to land owned by the corps, Crown is trying to work with a federal agency that’s been friendly to hydro development. But the proposed tunnel that would send up to 1,000 cubic feet of water per second to the Mississippi River poses new complications. Residents have expressed concern over impacts on the Stone Arch Bridge, between whose piers the tunnel would pass. Another issue is the area’s geology, described as fragile by the Department of the Interior in its license comments. The proposed tunnel would be bored through sandstone for its upper end, about 40 feet below a corps parking lot, but be dug from the surface by the time it reaches the bridge, where the sandstone is thinner.

The Interior Department suggested that geologic conditions and previous tunnels in the area create the potential for “a disaster similar to the Eastman Tunnel collapse,” an 1869 incident in which efforts to tunnel from Nicollet Island for water power development threatened to take out the falls. Joel Toso, the project’s engineer at Wenck Associates, said Crown is well aware of an abandoned tunnel that runs near its proposed tunnel. He said that barriers will be installed to prevent eroding of sandstone in the tunnel area. Toso said that the bottom of the tunnel will remain at least 12 feet away and 3 ½ feet above the bridge footing. “We did not identify anything that appeared to be a showstopper,” said David Seykora, a lawyer for the Minnesota Department 8 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu of Transportation, which owns the bridge. Toso added, “Constructing a lock was far more detrimental to the Stone Arch Bridge than what we would be doing.” But the lock opened 52 years ago, after construction removed several arches, in a different era for both historic preservation and the riverfront. Area residents and park officials emphasize the several hundred million dollars in public investments in the central riverfront since then, with such developments as the Guthrie Theatre, nearby condos, and the rising popularity of the bridge and falls since the Crown license was granted. The Park Board has authorized a $26 million Water Works Park next to corps property. The hydro project would install its powerhouse in part of the channel that fed intake water to the locks, introducing a new building to what’s designated a heritage zone. Toso said a large window will allow the public to view the workings of the powerhouse. The project has an estimated construction cost of $10 million — not including about $1.5 million already spent on engineering and also on turbine generators ordered years ago that sit at the Canadian manufacturer that made them. That money comes from a $5 million grant awarded in 2002 and funded by Xcel Energy customers under a legislative renewable energy mandate. Besides the fight to amend its license, Crown Hydro still needs to negotiate a power purchase agreement with Xcel, the largest hydro generator at the falls. Another small hydro project was recently granted a license to make power in the basement of the Pillsbury A Mill, generating less than 20 percent of what Crown proposes. Both entities still need to negotiate with Xcel an arrangement on how to share water when low river flow triggers a clause that requires Xcel to make sure at least 100 feet per second of water flows over the dam. That’s a key issue for the Park Board, which is pushing FERC to raise that minimum 20-fold. Toso said he hopes to start construction in about 14 months. But it took more than five years after licensing for a hydro project at the lower lock and dam to begin generating power.

(Everybody wants to inspect this project!) Plan afoot to develop Hawaii’s Lake Wilson into major hydroelectric project Sep 18, 2015, by Duane Shimogawa, ReporterPacific Business News, bizjournals.com

A plan is in the works to utilize Central Oahu’s Lake Wilson for major renewable energy and water re-use projects, a state lawmaker confirmed to PBN. State Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, D-Mililani Mauka- Wahiawa, has been working on a plan for a pumped hydro storage system at Lake Wilson, incorporating its dam. This past legislative session, he introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 193 to encourage the state Agribusiness Development Corp. to develop a plant to acquire the dam and spillway of Lake Wilson for hydroelectricity. An expert PBN spoke to recently said that there could be between 100 and 200 megawatts of pumped storage hydro potential on Oahu, just looking at existing reservoirs. Those with the most potential for pumped hydro storage include Lake Wilson in Wahiawa and the Upper Nuuanu Reservoir.

At one time, both of these reservoirs were hydropower sources and both of their powerhouses are still standing. Dela Cruz’s office told PBN that he is continuing to talk with the Agribusiness Development Corp. and may introduce legislation in 2016 to address the situation. Besides these renewable energy projects, the senator also noted that he is making significant progress on a key water component involving Lake Wilson. This water reclamation project allows for the use of the city’s recycled wastewater for agriculture and recreation in Central Oahu. The idea is to capture the treated outfall and redirect it to a site owned by the Agribusiness Development Corp. From this site, the water will be distributed to various Agribusiness Development Corp. agriculture lots and reservoirs, according to the senator’s office, which noted that it has been facilitating the discussions since 2014 between the Agribusiness Development Corp., the city’s Department of Environmental Services and the Board of Water Supply. A memorandum of understanding with all three of these parties is currently being drafted. Dela Cruz is leading a $200 million effort to 9 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu revitalize farming in Central Oahu by providing farmers with land, water, housing, packaging and shipping facilities. Nearly $40 million has been invested thus far into the Whitmore Project. Duane Shimogawa covers energy, real estate and economic development for Pacific Business News.

(Squeezing more out of what ya got!) Hydropower Optimization increases energy production at Corps plants U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District, dvidshub.net Story by Mark Rankin

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Aging hydroelectric generating units operated by the District at Dams in Kentucky and Tennessee have gone well beyond their typical design life of 35-40 years and are in much need of rehabilitation. Engineers at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District are focused on a plan to revitalize and rehabilitate the units in the next 20 years. Hydropower Optimization is part of a six-year plan and produces lasting benefits for decades to come. “Hydropower Optimization is extremely important to us because it allows us to maximize the amount of energy produced for a given amount of water discharged by operating individual units and power plants at Robert “Bob” Sneed, Chief of the Water optimal efficiencies and modernize our current Management Section, Hydrology and Hydraulics units,” said Lt. Col. Stephen F. Murphy, Nashville Branch, Engineering and Construction Division explains the Cumberland River Water Basin to District commander. members of Team Cumberland, representatives from the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, This week, Murphy and a team of engineers and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tennessee Valley managers from the District met with Team Public Power Association, Cumberland River System Power preference customers, Tennessee Cumberland, representatives from the Great Lakes Valley Authority and Southeastern Power and Ohio River Division, U.S. Army Corps of Administration gather in Nashville for their fourth Engineers, Tennessee Valley Public Power quarter meeting Sept. 16, 2015. Association, Cumberland River System Power preference customers, Tennessee Valley Authority, and Southeastern Power Administration. All, partners in efforts to promote hydropower in the Cumberland River System. Jamie James, program manager, Customer Funded Section 212 Hydropower Rehabilitation Program, Nashville District explained that Optimization includes: equipment upgrades and controls system changes that will increase energy production efficiency by 2-5 percent.

“Optimization makes business sense,” said Murphy. “The work will begin to produce benefits as soon as work at the first plant is complete, and the investment will be returned within eight years of beginning work. “Financial benefits through increased generating efficiency will continue to accrue well into the future,” Murphy added. The Nashville District operates nine multi-purpose projects in the Cumberland River Basin, which produce about 3.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. Sales of this electricity yield about $40 million dollars each year in revenue for the U.S. Treasury. According to James, a Memorandum of Agreement with the SEPA and power customers provides a funding stream to rehabilitate 28 hydroelectric generating units operated by the District over the next 20 years. The Water Resources Development Act of 2000, Section 212, authorized the Corps to accept and expend a portion of the revenue from power sales to perform rehab work on hydropower equipment. Under this provision of the law, funds that would normally be returned to the general fund of the U.S. Treasury are now available to maintain the hydropower generating equipment. Over the life of the program SEPA looks to direct more than $1.2 billion into the Cumberland River System Hydropower Rehabilitation. “It is very good that we have these strategic partners as we enter into agreements and relationships that

10 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu bring us closer to understand how we need each other,” said Kamau B.A. Sadiki, National Hydropower Business Line manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters.

Sadiki, said, it is wise to use good business practices to keep costs down and use the best technology available. “Optimization is one example of Corps’ efforts to ensure that this green power remains available, reliable and affordable,” said James. The Nashville District hosted 24 members of Team Cumberland, which requested to visit the Old Hickory Dam during its two-day fourth quarter meetings held in Nashville and organized by SEPA. “I enjoyed the tour and it was a great experience for us to see the facility, equipment and what needs rehabbed,” said Marlene Parsley, director of Resources and Forecasting, Big Rivers Electric Corporation. Sadiki said the District must commit remaining unallocated Memorandum of Agreement funds to system optimization subprojects and aggressively pursue Fiscal Year 2017 Federal appropriations to target specific subprojects. “We have a beautiful Hydropower Rehabilitation Program plan to modernize and increase the reliability of these projects for the future, for the long term,” said Sadiki. “I see this as being very, very positive and look forward to providing services to our stakeholders and customers.” (The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district’s website at www.lrn.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps.)

(Hydropower is cheap.) Rebuilding Idaho Falls hydro plants gives power to the people By LUKE RAMSETH, (Idaho Falls) Post Register, September 20, 2015, idahostatesman.com

BY THE NUMBERS 4 — Number of hydropower plants Idaho Falls operates on the Snake River. 34 — Amount of megawatts the four plants were generating on a recent morning. 96 — Millions of dollars in bonds issued to pay for four new hydropower plants. For more than a century, the city of Idaho Falls has been in the hydropower business. It makes perfect sense for a city bisected by the Snake River and teeming with irrigation canals. Use the water to turn turbines. Generate electricity to power streetlights and home appliances.

Keep rates cheap. But in the late 1970s, it wasn’t so certain the city would continue making its own electricity. When the Teton Dam collapsed, a wall of water reached Idaho Falls on June 6, 1976, tearing apart the city’s three power plants on the Snake. The City Plant was a total loss and the Upper and Lower plants were severely damaged. The plants were old and damaged. The city contemplated getting out of the power business altogether. But they opted to stay in the game. And residents overwhelmingly supported them. Over a span of seven years, voters approved $96 million in bonds to pay for four new hydropower projects. Today, Idaho Falls is the largest of a handful of municipal utilities in Idaho. Earlier this year, the city made its final bond Construction of the Idaho Falls “bulb” turbine plant in March 1981. POST payment. A celebration and “Bond Fire” at Idaho Falls REGISTER FILE Power headquarters Friday will mark the occasion. “We’re debt-free,” said General Manager Jackie Flowers. “You can kind of equate it to paying off your home loan.”

HYDRO HISTORY

11 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu Idaho Falls’ electric department had been relying on hydropower since 1900, when a small turbine generator on a canal powered the city’s streetlights. (During full moons, it was turned off.) Between 1912 and 1940, three hydroelectric facilities were built along the Snake River. Late in 1977, voters signed off on a $48 million bond issue to rebuild the plants and install the new bulb turbines. It was the largest bond in the city’s history, and won 90 percent approval. The city purchased three turbines of European design. In 1984, officials won support from voters for another $48 million to build a fourth power plant. Idaho Falls generated 45 percent more electricity than before the Teton Dam failed — meeting leaders’ hopes to satisfy half the city’s energy needs.

DEBT-FREE Flowers said the city’s hydropower infrastructure is a big reason Idaho Falls Power rates remain low. Per kilowatt hour, Idaho Falls Power customers pay roughly half the national average, according to an analysis by the utility. In August, the city said that paying off the bonds would translate to a rate decrease from 6.25 to 5.35 cents per kilowatt hour. Meanwhile, the City Council approved a monthly service charge increase from $10 to $15. The result? An average customer’s monthly bill has dropped by about $4, while a below-average user will see an uptick of about $3. Flowers and other city leaders hope the investment in the four hydropower plants will serve Idaho Falls for another 50 to 75 years. “It’s the biggest asset the city has,” said Kevin Getsinger, generation foreman. “They’re totally paid off, and they’re sitting here cranking out megawatts day in and day out, and it’s keeping our power rates low.”

(All you need is rain and the money will start rolling in.) Yuba County Water Agency OKs multimillion-dollar hydropower deal By Andrew Creasey/appeal-democrat.com, 9/23/15

The Yuba County Water Agency took another step toward controlling and selling the hydropower generated on the Yuba River, a new revenue source that could reach about $60 million a year. YCWA directors on Tuesday approved a power purchase agreement with Shell Energy to market the energy produced by the powerhouses below New Bullards Bar and Englebright dams. The agreement is set to go into effect when the agency's agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric expires on April 30, 2016. The takeover of the power facilities on the Yuba River has been a long-anticipated, landmark moment for YCWA and the county. For the past 50 years, PG&E reaped the profit of the hydropower facilities as part of an agreement to repay the $185 million in bonds the agency sold to fund the Yuba River Development Project, which includes New Bullards Bar dam and reservoir.

"When we first bonded for the project to be built, the hope was that there would be a day when the construction cost would be paid off, the power generation would be controlled and prosperity would be brought to Yuba County," said John Nicoletti, chairman of the YCWA board of directors. "This is the beginning of that day." Those bonds have been paid off, and when the agreement expires in April, YCWA will be able to sell the power and secure the associated revenues. YCWA will also assume the operations and maintenance costs, previously funded by PG&E. Power production fluctuates with rainfall and storage in New Bullards Bar Reservoir. On average, the project has produced about 1.2 million MWh per year. Revenue will depend on current market prices, currently ranging from $30 to $40 per MWh. Preliminary analysis projects average revenue of about $60 million per year with a low of about $20 million, which only cover core agency operations, said General Manager Curt Aikens. Under the agreement, YCWA will sell power to Shell Energy, which will immediately re-sell the energy to the California Independent 12 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu System Operation or a third party. The agreement gives YCWA sole authority to determine how much water will be used for generation each week, a provision that will ensure that hydropower generation will not affect YCWA's primary mission to maintain and improve flood protection and water supply reliability.

What will the revenue pay for? With millions in new revenue on the way from the sale of electricity generated by hydropower facilities, the Yuba County Water Agency will be able fund flood control projects, levee repairs and projects to improve water supply reliability, said General Manager Curt Aikens. However, revenues will first be used to ensure reliable operations, including building up a $25 million reserve and paying about $4 million annually to repay bonds the agency sold to fund the $43 million local share of the $186 million Feather River setback levee, Aikens said. The agency will also set aside funds to pay for the relicensing application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is expected to be tens of millions of dollars. YCWA will then focus on flood protection in rural areas, such as District 10 and Reclamation Districts 817 and 2103 along the Bear River, where state and federal funding is unlikely, Aikens said. "There are hundreds of millions of dollars of flood protection improvements needed in Yuba County, including levee stability strengthening and increased New Bullards Bar flood release capability," Aikens said. "Maintaining water supply reliability, including groundwater sustainability, will continue to be a challenging effort requiring financial resources." Power revenues will also fund two projects outlined in the relicensing application. A tailwater depression system at New Colgate Powerhouse would allow the facility's hydroelectric turbines to operate during high flows in the river due to flooding. Previously, the turbines had to be shut down during high water years, which reduces the project's ability to release water by an average of 12,900 acre-feet. The project would cost $12.2 million. The application also includes plans for a new, $126 million flood control outlet to New Bullards Bar Dam, which would double the amount of water the dam can release during floods and add about 100,000 acre-feet of additional flood storage space, Aikens said.

(Great VT scenery too.) Seeking new life for an old North Bennington dam By Edward Damon, 09/24/2015, benningtonbanner.com

NORTH BENNINGTON — Bill Scully doesn't think anything is impossible. That's what many people told him and his wife about their idea to bring new life to the polluted former Vermont Tissue Mill on the Walloomsac River and establish a hydroelectric operation. But now, that idea has become the second hydroelectric project commissioned in Vermont in the last 35 years. "This site has become a model for hydro-development in the state," Scully, a North Bennington resident and entrepreneur, said Thursday during a tour of the property. "There are about 1,250 unused dams in the state, and between 300 and 400 that are the same size as this and are ready for development." The Scullys and their partners, Armin Moehrle and Claus Maier, worked six years to make the vision a reality. Under a multi-phase, $2.5 million project, contamination has been cleaned up, the building has been renovated, the river's flow has been improved, and a hydroelectric system in the mill building started generating electricity on Sept. 15. Two state-of- the-art generators and turbines, manufactured by German company Ossberger, make up a 360 kilowatt system which Scully says will generate 1.64 gigawatt hours of electricity annually. That's enough to power 211 average Vermont homes and avoid releasing some 650 tons of carbon dioxide into the air each year. Local entities which have signed onto the net-metering group to 13 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu purchase the power are the town of Bennington, Powers Market, Kevin's Sports Pub and Restaurant, Allegro Ristorante, the Village School of North Bennington, and Pangaea Restaurant, a North Bennington business that Scully owns. The project also cleaned up contamination on the property, restored the flow of the river and created new recreation space for a park along the Walloomsac, Scully said.

He and Maria already have their first tenant signed on to lease part of the 12,000-square-foot mill building, which was built in 1887. Spirits of Old Bennington, a distillery recently founded by Ken Lorenz, will be housed in a 3,000-square-foot space. The project's commissioning will be celebrated in a small ceremony this weekend. The site was home to commercial operations beginning in 1790, predating the state's admission into the union by a year. It was home to the former Vermont Tissue Mill, a paper manufacturing and processing facility. The company ceased making paper in 1986 and, until it shuttered in 2006, cut paper purchased from and made elsewhere into sizes that customers ordered. The idea came to Scully on Christmas of 2008 as he and Maria were driving along the Farmington River in Connecticut, returning from her mother's house. He said he was motivated because he wanted to change state energy policy. "Someone was talking on the radio about oil prices reaching a record high," he remembers. "I had an epiphany and realized I couldn't sit idly by anymore while we're the only country that still debates the existence of climate change... We live in an old mill town with all these dams. I started looking around and this became the one." His company, AEO, Inc. bought the property in 2009, taking ownership of the mill building, two dams and two other parcels on either side of Murphy Road. He and Maria then formed Zero Carbon, LLC to redevelop the mill. It took time, he said, because there was no mechanism in the state for issuing a license.

The property was a Brownfield site, meaning there was environmental contamination from polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and dioxin. Both substances built up in sediment around the property and behind the two dams, Scully said. The Vermont Economic Development Authority issued a $683,278 energy loan to the project. It took over 200 volunteers a few years to clean up the spaces on either side of Murphy Road and the covered Paper Mill Bridge. Scully said early on, they pulled 130 tires from the river, and two full 55-gallon trash bags were taken off the property each week. Kayakers, fishermen and tourists regularly visit the parks and "self-police" themselves, he said, and littering is nearly nonexistent. And upgrades to the dams have increased water flow and make it possible for fish to pass upstream for the first time in over 200 years, Scully said. Spirits of Old Bennington will start by distilling vodka and gin, Lorenz said, using electricity from the generator. His distillery application has been submitted to the state, he said, and equipment has already been delivered. The rest of the building is still being renovated, Scully said. Until he finds a business to move in, he will use the space for storage for other ventures, including Pangea. He said he will apply what he's learned about permitting and environmental cleanup from this project to one in Pownal. He and partner Dennis Candelora seek to install a hydroelectric operation on the town-owned dam that once powered the former Pownal Tannery Co. A third project is in the early stages of development, he said.

(More hydro at Locks and Dams.) Utility Explores Option of Using Dam for Electricity constructionequipmentguide.com, 9/25/15

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) A power utility is considering using a Dubuque dam to generate electricity, part of a nationwide move toward use of renewable energy. Energy Resources USA Inc. has applied for a preliminary permit to build a hydropower plant at Lock and Dam No. 11 on the Mississippi River, the Dubuque Telegraph Herald reported Sept 5. The proposed 19,800-sq.-ft. plant would produce 119,655 megawatt-hours per year — enough to power 10,000 to 11,000 homes. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Celeste Miller said the permit would give the company the right to explore for three years the feasibility of developing the plant. It would not authorize construction or operations. The commission oversees hydroelectric projects in the United States and is the entity that will consider the permit application, Miller said. The city

14 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu of Dubuque and residents have 60 days from Aug. 20 to submit comments on the application, motions to intervene or competing applications.

“We are asking council be aware of it,’’ Assistant City Manager Teri Goodmann said. “Staff will do research on our response and will bring that back to council for their approval.’’ Comments on the application may be submitted at www.ferc.gov . Hydropower is the largest source of renewable energy in the United States, providing about 7 percent of the nation’s power, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. But of about 80,000 dams in the United States, only 3 percent have hydropower equipment. Development of hydroelectric power stagnated in the 1980s. But the size of the country’s hydropower fleet has grown over the past decade. At least $6 billion has been invested in refurbishments, replacements and upgrades to U.S. hydropower plants, the Energy Department’s Web site said.

Water: (Everybody has an opinion, but some rain right now will help the problem.) OPINION California reaps bitter harvest of environmental extremism BY DARRELL ISSA / Contributing writer, Sept. 20, 2015, ocregister.com

California has always prided itself on setting an example for the nation. From its early Gold Rush days, through the rise of its tech industry and the Silicon Valley, the Golden State has repeatedly positioned itself on the cutting edge of the next significant undertaking in American society. Today, unfortunately, California’s lack of preparedness for this multiyear drought is an example of what happens when the state’s historic boldness and ingenuity take a backseat to a radical political ideology. How could such an industrious and forward-thinking state – which is also the world’s eighth-largest economy – ever allow itself to get in this position?

In the 1970s, the environmentalist movement began to take shape in the United States. Many California lawmakers and the state’s youthful first-term governor, Jerry Brown, embraced the tenets of this movement and set ambitious goals to create a futuristic Golden State in the vein of environmental idealism. While the notion of making California the greenest state in the country at all costs probably seemed as exciting and ambitious to politicians as building a high-speed bullet train to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles, the consequences of environmental extremism have proven to be, at best, problematic and, at worst, detrimental during times of crisis. Lawmakers could have never prevented a drought from occurring. However, they could have prevented a crisis from ensuing. The current drought facing California has developed into a crisis because the political motivations of lawmakers over the past 40 years sided with environmental extremism over pragmatic foresight more often than not. Despite having the ability to preserve and expand infrastructure that would store water attained during the wet years so that it would be available during the dry years, lawmakers chose to put a deliberate halt on such reasonableness. Despite a century of Californians striving to ensure that all corners of the state were adequately supplied with water and despite the ever-growing population of the state, environmentalists

15 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu decided to abandon all notions of foresight and preparedness and call for an end to the construction of new dams, reservoirs and other water storage facilities. Even the endurance of a drought in 1977 could not dissuade proponents of this new line of thinking from abandoning such ideals. Rather than seeking out water storage solutions, Gov. Brown called for a 25 percent reduction in personal water use statewide.

Thirty-eight years later, the same Gov. Brown is not just calling for a 25 percent statewide reduction in water usage, but mandating one – the first involuntary statewide water restriction in California’s history. This is not a long-term solution. Now is the time to reverse policies that have put political interests above people. At the federal level, California Republicans have put forward legislation to address this crisis. In July, the House of Representatives passed the Western Water and American Food Security Act, which aims to make water more readily available to drought- stricken communities through the relaxation of many extreme environmental restrictions that have hindered the maximized use of California’s water. The bill also aims to expedite the construction of new dams, by placing a time limit on feasibility studies that can currently last for decades and, to the delight of environmental extremists, prevent dams from ever being constructed. Those that oppose this solution must do more than hope for rain. California can stop exacerbating the crisis through ill-conceived policies and instead prepare for what is to come by making the people of the state the top priority. It is time for common sense to prevail and California to reclaim its position on the cutting edge once again. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, represents California’s 49th Congressional District.

(Keep reading!)

16 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu (Where’s it going to rain, not much in CA!)

17 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 from those who have an interest in receiving this information for non-profit and educational purposes only.