9/5/2014

Some – Hydro News TM And Other Stuff i

Quote of Note: “Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." -- George Woodberry

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: 2009 Northstar Merlot "Columbia Valley" “ No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap. ” - - Thomas Jefferson

Dams: (Getting ahead of the potential failure.) DEC works to stop potential dam breach By Anna Norris, August 22, 2014, wbng.com

(WBNG Binghamton) After reports of a possible dam breach in Tioga County, The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation started working on a three-step plan to stop it. On August 21, the Emerald Lake Dam was potentially endangering residents in the Richford and Berkshire areas, according to a news release sent by Tioga County emergency communications. Engineers examined the dam and proposed a three-phase plan to stop the structural deficiency of the dam, according to the release. Phase 1 has been completed and the water has been reduced to a safe level, Tioga County.

(Put up or remove! It always comes down to the money!) New option emerges for Estabrook Dam problems By Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel , Aug. 24, 2014, jsonline.com

1 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu Milwaukee County officials are weighing a new option to address the aging Estabrook Dam, which has deteriorated to the point where the state has ordered that the Depression- era structure be repaired or torn down. Officials are now considering constructing a structure of boulders and large rocks that they say could satisfy concerns of two competing constituencies: ■ It would be engineered to allow fish to have the run of the river by letting them swim over the top. Environmentalists and angling groups are pushing for fish passage at Estabrook and would like to see the dam removed altogether to complement improvements in the river after removal of the North Ave. dam in 1997 and construction of a fish passage system at Thiensville in 2010. ■ It would also hold back water so motor boats could move over the river from near Hampton Ave. to north of Lincoln Park. Motorized boats have not been used on this section of the river since 2008. In 2009, the Department of Natural Resources ordered the county to overhaul the dam, or tear it down after identifying numerous safety problems dating back to 1995. The state's deadline for repairs is Dec. 31, which the county will not meet. But DNR officials say they are willing to give the county more time because they are making progress.

In its order, the DNR also required the county to keep the dam gates open, allowing water to pass through it, to relieve stress on the structure until problems were addressed. With the gates open, water levels have dropped sharply. Many residents who live upstream have said they want to keep the dam, which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. When operating, it creates a pool of some 100 acres as deep as 9 feet. A federally mandated environmental assessment of the project, which was made available to the Journal Sentinel on Friday, concluded that refurbishing the dam would cost the most. Constructing a so-called rock ramp would cost less than repairing the dam. The cheapest alternative would be to tear it down. The cost of rebuilding the dam is estimated at $2.5 million, according to the analysis done by AECOM, an engineering design company. Constructing the rock ramp would cost $2.4 million. Tearing down the dam would cost $1.7 million. When annual maintenance costs are figured in over 20 years, the price tag of reconstructing and operating the dam rises to $5.1 million and the cost of the rock ramp would be $3.3 million, according to analysis. The County Board of Supervisors will be asked to decide which option is best. Supervisors have gone on record as supporting repair of the dam and previously voted to spend $2.1 million to fix it. However, before work could begin, officials learned the federal Bureau of Land Management would require the county to conduct an environmental assessment and evaluate other alternatives. The federal bureau has custody of an island separating two sections of the dam, and by federal law, any work would first require a review under the National Environmental Policy Act, said Kevin Haley, a landscape architect with Milwaukee County Parks who is helping oversee the project. As part of that analysis, a technical team that includes experts from the county, the DNR, an engineering consultant and the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission evaluated strategically piling rocks to keep the river flowing while also creating a lake-like pool that would stretch nearly a mile north of W. Silver Spring Drive. Parks officials see promise in piling rock 6 feet high that would cover a section of the dam on the east side of the river. A rehabilitated spillway would continue to hold back water on the west side of the river, located south of Hampton Ave. It seems like a positive solution — a compromise," said Haley, who said the Parks Department has been briefing supervisors on developments for several months. "You will have one big curtain of water." One advantage of the rock structure is that the pool created by it would be open year around. With the dam, the DNR would require dam gates opened, lowering water levels in all but the summer months, Haley said. "I don't think people have quite grasped that yet," he said. If the dam is rebuilt, county officials would add a fish passage because of a grant from the U.S. Fish and 2 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu Wildlife Service, Haley said. The county has scheduled a public meeting to discuss the project from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 3 at Nicolet High School in Glendale. Haley said the board's Parks, Energy and Environment Committee is tentatively planning to review the assessment on Sept. 9, with the full board voting Sept. 18. Calls and emails on Friday to Gerry Broderick, chairman of the parks committee, and Theodore Lipscomb, a supervisor whose district includes residents affected by the dam, were not returned. Two groups with differing views have been tracking the project for years. The Milwaukee River Preservation Association has favored maintaining the dam while Milwaukee Riverkeeper has pushed for tearing down the dam. Glen Goebel of the Milwaukee River Preservation Association said his group hadn't yet digested the entire report, but he raised concerns about the long-term integrity of a rock structure. While hydrology analysis has shown that the river's pool would be about a foot shallower than a dam, Goebel disagreed. "The only thing that will ply that river is canoes and kayaks," he said. Cheryl Nenn of Riverkeeper said she had not seen the report. She was willing to consider the rock structure, but said, "we still think that removal is the best way to go. “Removing the dam is the cheapest alternative and best for the environment, she said. She questioned whether the county would fund upkeep of a dam or rock ramp in future years.

(No vegetation, more runoff and flooding) After Wildfires, Dams Fail In North Central Washington By Anna King, boisestatepublicradio.org, 8/25/14

The State of Washington and residents in Okanogan County are concerned that more small dams could be at risk of failing after three of them burst in a thunderstorm event last week near Twisp in northcentral Washington. The tallest dam that went last week was 35 feet high. The longest was 400 feet across. These small public and private are mainly for irrigation water for the lush canyon farms below. Last Thursday’s storm dropped only a couple of inches of rain in that area. But the amount of water running down barren hillsides and funneling into several canyons dwarfed the water let go from the failed dams. State dam experts have been pulling long hours to shore up two, much-larger remaining dams near the ones that failed. And there could be more problems to come. In wildfire-struck Okanogan County 45 small dams hold back more than 3 million gallons of water. If they were to fail in another storm it could threaten lives, farms -- and the irrigation systems they depend on.

(Oh well! It’s amazing what a little flower can do!) would destroy habitat of 2 rare plants Two species thought to exist only in Lone Mesa State Park By Jim Mimiaga Journal staff writer, August 25, 2014 5:52pm Lone Mesa snakeweed (Gutierrezia elegans), a globally rare plant discovered by local naturalist Al Schneider, is being threatened by a proposed reservoir north of McPhee Reservoir.

(Oh oh, we want a dam!) War(n)ing: Local engineer weighs in on Hope Mills dam fayobserver.com, August 27, 2014 3 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

No one would like to see the return of Hope Mills Lake, NC any more than Wilbur Dees. Dees, whose mother and father both worked in the mill, grew up in a small wood-frame house in what is now Hope Mills Lake Park. "We rented that house for 25 cents a month," Dees said. "If I fell out the back door, I would have fell into the pond." Dees is a professional engineer who developed and donated design plans for the newly refurbished Lake Park gazebo, saving the town about $23,000. Now that the dam lawsuit has been settled, Dees is anxious to see the lake return but has great concerns with what he calls the "helter skelter" approach the town appears to be taking as it quickly moves forward with plans to repair the failed dam. Bids for repair of the structure have already been solicited by the town. Dees says he would like to see the town explore some alternatives to replace the dam. He says the lake can be repaired to look much like it appeared before the earthen dam breached on Memorial Day 2003. "The real question is what do the townspeople want?" Dees said. "Do they want it repaired, or do they want it replaced with something that looks more like what they had before?" Dees, who has 54 years of engineering experience, says he would like to see the lake restored to its original state. He does not believe the "concrete monstrosity," as he calls it, can or should be repaired. He questions the concept of the design of the dam and says that a new earthen dam should be built to replace the current one that would restore the original appearance and water level of the lake. "It takes up too much of the water reservoir," Dees said, pointing to the spillway. "We should have water where all that concrete is." The town recently recovered $9.5 million in a settlement over the $15 million spillway that failed 15 months after water was impounded. Dees believes that sum is more than enough to build another dam, restore the lake to its original look and water level, and even make some money in the process. "If a very astute business person invested the money in an interest-bearing note, it could make money while work was underway," Dees said. Dees would like to see them "take down" as much of the current concrete spillway as possible and recycle the material. He would like to see the generation of incorporated into the project as well.

In 1991, Dees participated in a study to draw hydroelectric power off the dam. He drew up the plans, received government approval, and contracted with a hydroelectric supplier to provide and operate the equipment, and everything was ready to go, Dees says. Unfortunately, a severe storm caused the hydro-equipment to be lost at sea during transport. The supplier asked to be let out of the contract at the last minute, so the project never came to be. Dees said that these days, equipment to produce hydroelectricity has been streamlined. There is equipment that can do the job that can fit inside the back of a pick-up, he says. There are also several dam designs that have been used successfully on water reservoirs about the same size and acreage as Hope Mills Lake, Dees said, and they should be explored. He cites Lake Rim and the Laurel Hill dams as two such examples. "Building a dam is not rocket science," Dees said. Dees said he would like to see the Hope Mills Lake Advisory Committee pulled back together to get the townspeople involved in the direction of the rebuilding of the dam. He is willing to offer his expertise as well. Dees attended one meeting of the group and said he was impressed. "There were a lot of smart people in that group," Dees said. "The lake belongs to the townspeople, and they ought to be the ones to have the say-so." I agree.

The Lake Advisory Committee was disbanded after two meetings because litigation was underway. The committee has yet to be notified as to whether or not it will continue as a group to assist the town in the restoration of the lake. The committee includes knowledgeable people with expertise and experience in engineering, construction and other areas that would prove invaluable in the efforts to restore the lake. They have volunteered their time and offered their service to the community. They possess two things that can't be bought with money - a passion for the lake and the best interest of this town at heart. The litigation is over and it is time for the Lake Advisory Committee to get involved to assist the town in the next steps towards restoration of the lake. Dees is right. The lake does belong to the citizens, and we should have the say-so on how it gets restored. We all want something our community can be proud of and a beautiful lake that will last for generations to come. Lisa Carter Waring, a retired educator and consultant, can be reached at [email protected].

4 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu (Don’t what the photo is supposed to be!) Repairs begin on popular Indiana reservoir's dam Mikel Livingston and Associated Press, August 27, 2014, jconline.com

The water level at Lake Freeman is back to normal. On Aug. 12, water was diverted to the Tippecanoe River to help mussels in the waterway. It hasn't been the easiest summer for residents of Monticello, the White County city that depends on a pair of lakes for a large share of its economy. First, waters levels in Lake Freeman dropped more than 2 feet early this month as water was diverted to endangered mussels in the adjacent Tippecanoe River. Then, last week, the water level in the adjacent Lake Shafer abruptly dropped more than 2 feet thanks to a malfunction at a northern Indiana reservoir's dam.

"It opened further than we needed it to, and we had difficult getting it shut," said NISPCO spokesman Nick Meyer. "That resulted in a drop at Lake Shafer." Meyer said the water drop occurred at Lake Shafer's Norway Dam when a roller track that allows the floodgate to move malfunctioned. Meyer said it's comparable to the malfunctioning track of a garage door. "It's not a common failure that we typically see, and given the amount of inspections that occur this is not something that gave us any indication there was an issue prior to Thursday," Meyer said. Specialized equipment was brought in last week to close the gate. Repair work should be finished by Thursday. Lake Freeman, meanwhile, has also returned to a more normalized water level. The drop at that lake prompted weeks of concern, culminating in layoffs and profit losses to area businesses tied to the lake. Wednesday evening, at the Oakdale Dam meter, the water level — elevation in feet — measured at 610.51 feet, up from the typical 610.35 feet. "Increased rainfall was just what we needed," Meyer said. "The flows along the lakes are running smoothly, and it's nice to be out of the situation we were early this month."

(This is crazy!) Licence to thrill! James Bond fans recreate GoldenEye stunt with death-defying bungee jump from iconic 720ft tall dam Daredevil tourists pay more than £125 each to make the thrilling leap The Contra Dam is located on the River in Ticino, Pierce Brosnan made his debut as James Bond in a scene filmed at the dam By Chris Kitching for MailOnline, 29 August 2014 | dailymail.co.uk

5 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu This death-defying leap could leave even the most seasoned thrill- seekers feeling a little shaken or stirred. For more than £125 a pop, people with an adventurous streak can bungee jump off an iconic Swiss dam and replicate the opening scene of GoldenEye. Since the film was released in 1995, daredevils and James Bond fans have been flocking to the 720-ft tall Contra Dam to follow in the footsteps of the fictional MI5 agent. Free falling: James Bond fans have been flocking to the dam since it was featured in GoldenEye The arch dam on the Verzasca River in Ticino, Switzerland is where actor Pierce Brosnan made his stunning debut as 007 in the film. The actual onscreen bungee jump, however, was performed by British stuntman Wayne Michaels.

More... Breathe in! Daredevil jet-skier captures terrifying footage speeding through perilously narrow Colorado River canyon Ryanair passengers stranded at Derry airport for TWO HOURS because no one was manning passport control checkpoint New York coffee shop to serve up treat for Friends fans by creating an exact replica of Central Perk cafe. But you'll have to be quick - It will only be open for one month! It was named the best movie stunt of all time in a Sky Movies poll in 2002, and there is a constant queue of adrenaline junkies who are looking to recreate the stunt. The dam, built in the 1960s, has been featured in a number of films and television shows from around the globe. I always thought it was fictional and impossible, normally dams curve outwards the further down you go as the walls are thicker due to the pressure and therefore unless you start from a platform sticking out at the top you would hit the wall half way down.

Hydro: (An exaggeration of the facts, but it still gets published. You could fill a book answering all the errors. If I had two good hands and could type with more than one finger, i.e.) Hydroelectric Power Damaging World Rivers, Study Shows 8/22/2014, forbes.com

International Rivers is not the biggest fan of hydroelectric dams, but the U.S. based non-profit recently used Google GOOGL +0.05% Earth technology to get river lovers and the curious to finally see things their way. Their “State of the The Three Gorges Dam along China’s Yangtze River is the world’s World’s Rivers”, launched on Friday, largest hydro projects. blames the big dam builders for messing with nature. The online interactive illustrates just how dams have impacted rivers from the Mississippi to the Amazon, the 6 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu Danube to the Yangtze. According to the study, the biggest impact has been on water quality. The Mississippi River basin was considered one of the worst. America’s longest river has 703 dams. No river on earth has more hydroelectric power stations than the Mississippi. The U.S. garners about 9% of its electric power from water-based systems, compared to about 80% for Brazil, the world’s leader in hydroelectric power generation.

International Rivers protested the massive Three Gorges Dam in China. Built along the Yangtze River, it has caused massive environmental damage and cost over-runs. The dam, known as the world’s largest in terms of generation capacity, rerouted Yangtze tributaries that caused the trash of river communities to congregate downstream in what the New York Times called “archipelagos of garbage”. Landslides have also been a problem, especially in the years immediately following Three Gorges launch in 2006. Critics like International Rivers have also complained that China was unable to resettle the 1.4 million people displaced by the dam. In Brazil, along the Amazon tributaries of Para state, private construction firms are currently building the 11,300 megawatt Belo Monte dam, which was supposed to be fully operational by 2015. The multi-billion dollar dam is expected to cost around $16 billion, more than the original plan of $11 billion. It has met with protest since the Brazilian environmental protection agency, AIabama, signed off on its construction some four years ago. River basins fragmented by dams and polluted by mercury accumulation are public health emergencies that impoverish people’s quality of life. International Rivers, an environmental lobby, is targeting big hydropower funders like the World Bank in hopes to persuade them against dam project financing.

However, in countries like Brazil and China, long-term financing from multilateral lenders is not needed. Belo Monte, for instance, is almost entirely government financed by BNDES, a government run development bank that has more disbursements than the World Bank. The World Bank approved financing for 12 hydroelectric projects throughout the emerging markets this year. The most recent was a $46 million commitment to Kabeli Energy Limited to build a $108 million hydroelectric in Nepal. Dams have few fans outside of government and big industry. Environmental groups have been targeted them for years. International Rivers is just one of them. Amazon Watch and the Hydropower Reform Coalition (HRC) is another. It’s not that they’re entirely against dams — though most come down against the monster projects like Belo and Three Gorges. They just think the state EPAs have to do a better job assessing future risks to water supply. And that dams should be small. The larger the dam, the bigger the mess, scientists agree. Organic materials from within and outside a river now partially blocked by heavy power generating turbines tend to get built up behind dams and start to consume a large amount of oxygen as they decompose. Without the dam, they would have washed up down river, broken apart, hit the shore or hit the open sea. In some cases, this build-up can trigger algae blooms where none ever existed, creating river “dead zones” incapable of supporting life. Water temperatures in dam reservoirs can differ greatly between the surface and depths, further complicating survival for marine life. And when dam operators release oxygen-deprived water with unnatural temperatures into the river below, they harm downstream environments as well, according to the HRC. Thanks to the Mississippi River, the U.S. is home to more dams than any other country with 887 American dams making up part of the International Rivers study. According to the U.S. EPA, hydropower plants alter large swaths of land where dams are constructed, requiring the flooding of land that may have once served as wildlife habitat, farmland, or residential areas. Hydroelectric dams can cause erosion along the riverbed upstream and downstream, which can further disturb wildlife ecosystems and fish populations. They can affect various fish populations in different ways. Certain salmon populations in the Northwest depend on rivers for their life cycles. These populations have been dramatically reduced by the network of large dams in the Basin. When young salmon travel downstream toward the ocean, they may be killed by turbine blades at hydropower plants. When adult salmon attempt to swim upstream to reproduce, they may not be able to get past the dams. For this reason, some hydroelectric dams now have special side channels or structures to help the fish continue upstream.

7 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu Hydroelectricity is touted as the cleanest source of energy around. But governments, contractors and civil society are becoming more aware of the environmental impacts of construction. Small hydro power plants emit between 0.01 and 0.03 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour and large-scale ones emit approximately 0.06 pounds of carbon dioxide. By comparison, the second clean fuel available on a mass scale for commercial and residential use is natural gas, which emits between 0.6 and 2 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt- hour. Old school coal fired power plants, which is how most of the U.S. and China keeps their lights on, emit at least 1.4 pounds to as much as 3.6 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour.

(Here’s the other side of the story.) Head in the Sand on Dams and Hydropower Posted by Carl from Chicago on August 24th, 2014, chicagoboyz.net

The popular (untrue) image of the ostrich as a bird that puts its head in the sand came to mind as a I read a recent NY Times article titled “Large Dams Just Aren’t Worth the Cost“. This article describes the usual culprits that plague dam construction: 1. Cost overruns 2. Dams take much longer to construct than originally planned 3. Dams displace local residents (many in impoverished third world countries) who rarely thrive in their new locations 4. Dams that are paid for with foreign loans (for many years the World Bank provided funding) often do poorly because the dam revenues come back in local currency and the loans are denominated in dollars; thus even if they hit their “nominal” returns, they don’t reach their “planned” returns when adjusted for currency depreciation

These are all true objections to dam construction. However, these same criteria can be applied to virtually any energy construction project, from coal plants to nuclear plants to major LNG efforts. One key point that the article completely misses is that dams don’t require spending for “fuel” once they are up and running, and often it is fuel and distribution of fuel that bankrupt energy companies in the third world. The dam requires rain / water to generate power, and if this changes significantly, it can change the amount of power provided, but this is still generally better than “nothing”. There simply would not be electricity in many areas of the third world without hydropower, and the choice really isn’t between other alternatives and dams, it is a choice between power and no power. Once a dam is built they often can be run with a few individuals and if there are major problems you can bring someone in to fix them. You don’t need to find coal or fuel oil (which moves in price and is denominated in dollars that the country often doesn’t have). On the other hand, complex machinery and distribution systems can’t be left in the hands of areas with revolutionary governments and broken economies because in short order they are often taken apart and destroyed. Many of the problems with dams being unprofitable are actually the fault of the local un-functioning and corrupt economy. In third world countries ill-enforced laws encourage people to “steal” electricity and prices are often kept low to avoid unrest (who really cares if that loan to rich countries is repaid, anyways?). These problems are endemic to all of the alternatives and are “a feature, not a bug” of any of these local projects.

As far as the damage to locals and their livelihoods, this is true and absolutely sad. However, since Western companies have largely gotten out of the dam building business (due to environmentalist pressure), the actors that have come into this space have zero compunction about locals as long as they don’t actively destroy the site with military tactics. From the article. All this runs directly counter to the current international dam-building boom. Chinese, Brazilian and Indian construction companies are building hundreds of dams around the world, and the World Bank announced a year ago that it was reviving a moribund strategy to fund mega-dams. Thus by forcing Western companies out of the act of building dams, all of this business just migrated to comparatively ruthless firms from China, Brazil and India. While these countries are nominally “non-aligned” and the left loves them for tweaking America, in practical terms they just partner with dictators, have little compunction about offenses that get Western firms in hot water (like bribery or displacing local tribes), and build the same exact dam, anyways. This compounds 8 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu the economic model where Western firms can’t compete in the third world because of our restrictive laws, and then the Chinese and other unchecked state sponsored or ruthless firms just fill the vacuum. As a result, the West goes from having SOME influence to having NO influence, and the same exact dam is built anyways. The article should have focused on the advantages of dams which are: 1. They require little local skills once completed, which is often a big benefit in countries where experts leave or are replaced by political appointees 2. They require nothing for fuel to keep running, meaning that it will keep running even when the country runs out of dollars to purchase and transport fuel 3. They leverage local assets, which are the river, and turn them into something useful for the country, power, which is absolutely needed for everything from cell phones to modern medicine to the basics of a functioning economy

And finally, they should have noted that the “West” does not have a monopoly on construction skills or funding and as soon as we abdicate the field, any ability to impact the morality or processes involved with dam building exits and we hand it over to ruthless state sponsored and funded enterprises who will build that same dam. The final impact of all this is that these third world economies are all enmeshed in the orbit of state actors from other countries that pay lip service to human rights in public (at the UN) but pay little respect to them in actual practice. Cross posted at LITGM

(Excerpts - Brief history of a more 100 year-old hydro project.) Edison Sault Hydroelectric Plant August 26, 2014, michpics.wordpress.com

Hydroelectric projects are unique in that as long as the water is flowing and the mechanicals are periodically upgraded, there are few reasons their turbines won’t continue making electricity into the next century. The energy source may be renewable, but so is the plant itself. An exceptional example is Michigan’s 107-year-old Edison Sault Hydroelectric Plant, which combines historic architecture with modern technology to successfully generate 25 to 30 MW of electricity when operating at full load.

…Excavation of the hydropower plant’s canal began in September 1898 and was completed in 1902. Concurrently, construction of the Edison Sault Electric Hydroelectric Plant began in March 1900 and was completed in 1902. Official opening of the facility was held on October 25, 1902. At the time of completion, the plant was second only to Niagara Falls in terms of hydro development. The facility is constructed of stone and steel. Much of the stone that was used was excavated from the power canal during its construction. Additional stone was used on other local landmarks throughout the City of Sault Ste. Marie.

(That was quick 50 years!) Duke Energy files with FERC for hydroelectric project August 27, 2014, By Editors of Electric Light & Power/ POWERGRID International

Duke Energy filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) an application for a new license for the Keowee-Toxaway Hydroelectric Project in South Carolina. The license would allow Duke Energy to continue operating Lake Jocassee, Lake Keowee and their associated hydropower stations in the Upstate region of South Carolina. The existing license expires in August 2016. The next license term will be for 30 to 50 years. Duke Energy's proposal is the result of more than four years of collaboration with government and community stakeholders The project was originally licensed for 50 years in 1966 and included Keowee Hydro Station, Lake Keowee, Jocassee Pumped Storage Station and Lake Jocassee. Together these two hydro plants have a generating capacity of 868 MW. FERC's relicensing process encourages people to recommend the balance they would like to see adopted in the new license, including water resource protection enhancements, public recreational amenities, land conservation, species protection and shoreline management. Following an issuance by the FERC of a Notice of 9 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu Acceptance and Ready for Environmental Analysis, future major milestones in the relicensing process include inter-agency reviews culminating in the issuance by the FERC of a final or draft Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement. Duke Energy will also file a request for 401 Water Quality Certification from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. http://www.elp.com/articles/2014/08/duke-energy-files-with-ferc-for-hydroelectric-project.html

(Why aren’t we doing more of this?) Gov't eyes small-scale hydropower generation from public water supply August 29, 2014, globalpost.com

The government has begun investigating the generation of hydroelectric power from the public water supply using newly developed small-scale generators, environment ministry officials said Friday. The Ministry of Environment has earmarked 300 million yen in its budget request for fiscal 2015 from April to carry out a nationwide survey into the viability of the small hydropower generators, which can be installed at relatively a small cost and take up little space in the surrounding environment. Small hydropower installations running off public waterworks can offer a more stable power supply than other types of renewable energy such as solar and wind. In order to take advantage of gravity to move water through their turbines, the generators would be installed where water flows downwards from reservoirs to purification plants. According to the ministry's estimates, a system of many small hydropower generators across the country could reach an output of at least several hundreds of thousands of kilowatts, equivalent to the power from one whole thermal power plant, and thus help to reduce Japan's greenhouse gas emissions. Some local authorities have already installed small hydro generators, but the poor cost performance of existing technology has limited their use. Recently, a firm working on improving the generators with backing from the ministry has developed a prototype with an output capacity of between 22 and 75 kilowatts that takes up a small space and is cheap to produce. In addition to carrying out the feasibility survey within fiscal 2015, the ministry will work with Japan's roughly 1,500 water utilities to identify locations throughout the country where the new generators could be installed. The sale of the energy from the generators would fall under the "feed-in tariff" fixed price purchase scheme for renewable energy introduced in July 2012, and profits could be used to lower consumers' water bills or in the improvement of local services.

Water: (Sent by a Newsletter reader. New to me too!) This creek divides the US connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

10 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu The Panama Canal is not the only water line connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. There's a place in —deep in the Teton Wilderness Area of the Bridger-Teton National Forest—in which a creek splits in two. Like the canal, this creek connects the two oceans dividing North America in two parts. Yes. You read that right: North America is divided in two parts by a single water line that—no matter how hard you try not to—you will have to cross to go from North to South and vice versa.

The creek divides into two similar flows at a place called the Parting of the Waters, pictured above. To the East, the creek flows "3,488 miles (5,613 km) to the Atlantic Ocean via Atlantic Creek and the Yellowstone, Missouri and Mississippi Rivers." To the West, it flows "1,353 miles (2,177 km) to the Pacific Ocean via Pacific Creek and the Snake and Columbia Rivers." 11 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

Of course, unlike the Panama Channel, you can't navigate these waters—unless you are a fish: At Parting of the Waters, water actually covers the such that a fish could safely swim from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean drainages. In fact, it is thought that this was the pass that provided the immigration route for Cutthroat Trout to migrate from Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.

12 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.