4/17/2015

Some Dam – Hydro News TM And Other Stuff i

Quote of Note: “Real listening is a willingness to let the other person change you.” - - Alan Alda

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 Odette Petite Sirah "Adaptation" “ No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap. ” - - Thomas Jefferson

Dams: (Time to pay up!) Duke, Virginia agree to $2.5M settlement over coal ash spill April 03, 2015, Associated Press, foxnews.com

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia environmental officials say Duke Energy has agreed to a $2.5 million settlement over a massive coal ash spill in the Dan River last year. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality announced the settlement Friday. The settlement would include $2.25 million in environmental projects that Duke would perform in communities affected by the spill in February 2014. The remaining $250,000 would be placed in a fund for the department to respond to environmental emergencies. The spill originated in North Carolina but affected areas in Virginia, too, coating 70 miles of the river in gray sludge. One of the hardest-hit Virginia localities was the city of Danville, where coal ash piled up behind a dam. The settlement is still subject to approval by the State Water Control Board.

(Is anything done on time? It pays to take the time to get it right!) Dam project behind schedule Avista: Mild winter spared project from further delays Apr 7, 2015, by BRIAN WALKER, cdapress.com 1 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu POST FALLS, WA - Even with the mild winter, construction on rebuilding Avista Utilities' South Channel Dam will finish four months behind schedule. "The project is running behind, but it is still on budget," said Debbie Simock, Avista spokeswoman, referring to the $13.5 million project next to Q'emiln Park. "The mild winter did not necessarily help make up the time, but the delay would be longer if it hadn't been such a mild winter." The project has been under construction for a year. As of last fall, it was expected to be completed in March with landscaping done in April or May. However, in an update issued on Monday to Spokane River property owners, Avista said construction is now expected to be completed in July with the addition of a new viewing area, interpretive signs and landscaping expected to be completed in September. Mary Jensen, project engineer, will provide the Post Falls City Council with an update on the project tonight at 6. Simock said causes for the delays were an unexpected redesign of the cofferdam and the discovery of unstable rock. The construction of the cofferdam was delayed when dredging uncovered eroded rock beneath the water level on the north side of the dam.

"This required a redesign of the cofferdam and modification to permits," she said. "There was also a delay with unstable rock above the construction work area on the north side of the dam which created an unsafe situation for workers below. Anchors were installed in the rock and steel netting added to secure the area. Both will remain in place permanently." Both delays occurred in 2014 during the early phase of the project and prior to the deconstruction work on the structure. A milestone was reached in late January when reconstruction of the dam began with the initial pouring of concrete. After concrete work is complete, the new spillgates and controls will be installed, the cofferdam removed and the rehabilitated dam and spillway will be ready for testing and operation. The project is being funded by rate-payers as part of Avista's capital improvement program. The former South Channel Dam was 108 years old and one of three dams that Avista owns on the Spokane River at Post Falls. It is not used to generate power, but helps lower lake and river levels during the spring runoff season. The North Channel Dam was upgraded in 2004 and the Middle Channel Dam was upgraded in 2012. Avista has posted a time-lapse video at avistautilities.com/postfalls on the construction of the South Channel Dam through mid-February. Click on the photo of the dam to start the video. The video will be updated again when the project is complete.

(This is not good!) Homemade bomb at the Allegan dam has investigators seeking tips from public By Rosemary Parker | mlive.com, April 07, 2015

ALLEGAN, MI -- Investigators are asking for the public's help as they seek to learn who made the homemade explosive device found at a dam on the Kalamazoo River last month. Consumers Energy employees found the object at about 11:45 a.m. March 20 while cleaning out the intake screen area of the Calkins Dam, 4130 Allegan Dam Rd. in Valley Township. Allegan County Undersheriff Frank Baker asked anyone with information about the bomb to contact the Allegan County Sheriff's Office at 269-673-0500 or [email protected] or Silent Observer at 1- 800-554-3633; click here for Email. The Michigan State Police Bomb Squad was called in to dispose of the undetonated bomb when it was found just across the road from a popular fishing spot.

2 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu It could have hurt people or the dam had it detonated, said Sgt. Joe Roney of the Michigan State Police bomb squad unit.

"It's dangerous, something that could very easily cause damage to life, limb and property," he said. "I wouldn't want to stand next to it, that's for sure," Roney said. "And if it was lying next to bricks and stones," the potential for harm increases, he said. He said that although the area was not evacuated as his team retrieved the bomb, people were required to stand far back until it was safely dealt with. Roney said the liquid and other components of the homemade device, encased in cardboard, are being analyzed at the MSP laboratory. He encouraged the public to notify authorities any time something looks suspicious, especially if it appears to have the potential to explode or emit a large fireball. "Don't move it or touch it," Roney said. "That can initiate a trigger system."

(Free money to fix a lot of dams.) News Release Release No. 0092.15 Contact: Ciji Taylor (618) 315-0876 USDA Invests in Critical Dam Rehabilitation and Assessment Projects in 23 States New assessments to focus on expanding water supply in drought-affected areas

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2015 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today $73 million to be invested this year to rehabilitate and assess dams across the nation to ensure this critical infrastructure is protecting Americans from harm, securing public health and expanding water supplies in drought affected areas. About 150 projects and assessments in 23 states will be funded. "Millions of people depend on watersheds and dams for protection from floods and to provide safe drinking water. With a changing and shifting climate, dams are also vital to holding stores of water for use during drought," Secretary Vilsack said. "By investing in this critical infrastructure, we are helping to ensure a safe, resilient environment for agricultural producers and residents of rural America." USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Assistant Chief Kirk Hanlin highlighted this round of watershed rehabilitation funding on Thursday near Alpine, Utah, where work is planned on Tibble Fork Dam to increase the water supply and improve flood damage protection for surrounding communities. This project is one of 19 in Utah that will receive nearly $30 million in overall funding. Last year, NRCS made changes to the watershed rehabilitation program to allow for projects that also help increase water supply. Half of this year's dam assessments, including 15 in drought-stricken California, will assess the feasibility of using watershed rehabilitation funds to mitigate drought. "USDA continues to look for new ways to mitigate the impacts of drought across the West, and this change to the Watershed Rehabilitation Program allows us to use existing infrastructure to address water quantity issues," Hanlin said. This investment follows the Obama Administration's call last year for federal agencies to increase investments in infrastructure to accelerate economic growth, create jobs and improve the competitiveness of the American economy. There are nearly 12,000 dams across the United States. In addition to nearly 50 rehabilitation projects, NRCS is conducting 100 dam assessments in 13 states through the Watershed Rehabilitation Program.

2015 projects include: 1. Tibble Fork Dam, Utah: Tibble Fork Dam is located in the American Fork-Dry Creek Watershed within US Forest Service lands of Utah County, Utah. The dam provides protection against flooding within American Fork Canyon, and the communities of Cedar Hills, American Fork, Highland and Pleasant Grove. The rehabilitation project is expected to provide average annual benefits of $535,000 including water supply, recreation and flood protection. 2. Trinity River-East Fork above Lavon, Texas: Located in Collin County, this dam provides protection against flooding to an estimated 1,630 Texans who live and work downstream. Additionally, it protects six city streets and one U.S. Highway that together support over 39,000 3 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu vehicles daily. Among other critical infrastructure, the dam also protects power lines, water lines and fiber optic cables. The rehabilitation project is expected to annually provide about $1.5 million flood damage reduction benefits. 3. Delaney Multipurpose Complex Dam, Mass.: The Delaney Multipurpose Complex consists of two dams, the Delaney Dam and the East Bolton Dam. Originally built in 1971, the Delaney Complex does not meet current dam safety criteria. Dam failure would result in damages to 272 buildings, nine roads, two bridges, other public infrastructure, public utilities and potential loss of life. The dam currently provides $382,130 in annual flood protection benefits to the downstream communities including recreational opportunities, water supply for irrigation, groundwater recharge and base flow for downstream wastewater assimilation. The states and numbers of projects: Ala. (11), Calif. (15), Colo. (2), Ga. (4), Kan. (1), Ky. (1), La. (1), Mass. (1), Minn. (7), Miss. (2), Neb. (8), Nev. (1), N.C. (8), Ohio (3), Okla. (18), Ore. (4), Pa. (12), S.C. (4), Texas (26), Utah (19), Va. (3), W.Va. (1) and Wyo. (1)

See a full list of projects. Watershed projects across the nation provide an estimated $2.2 billion in annual benefits in reduced flooding and erosion damages, as well as improved recreation, water supplies and wildlife habitat for an estimated 47 million Americans. For more information on NRCS conservation assistance, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted or a local USDA service center.

Hydro: (CA is thirsty!) California very first to really feel hydro-power crunch of drought postpioneer.com, 4/4/15

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Flying over the Sierra Nevada as California entered its fourth year of drought, the state's power chief looked down and saw stark bare granite cloaked in dirty brown haze & dash not the usual pristine white peaks heaped with snow that would run the state's hydroelectric dams for the year. Spring is arriving with the Pacific Northwest measuring near record-low-snowfall, and a lot of the rest of the West under typical. But what California is experiencing is historically low snowpack & dash a meager accumulation that has significant implications not only for the state but potentially for the entire West if the drought not just of water, but of snow, persists. Snowpack at 12 % of average in the Sierra Nevada indicates there is less runoff to feed rivers and streams that run via dams to create cleanly developed hydroelectric energy. In spite of the state's ambitious clean-air objectives, officials are turning to dirtier, much more costly fossil- fuel plants to fill some of the power gap. They also will seek a lot more hydroelectricity imports in an area expected to have markedly significantly less to offer this summer.

At a minimum, "we'll hold the lights on," said Robert Weisenmiller, chairman of the California Power Commission. "We're not concerned about not having power." "What we're concerned about," Weisenmiller said, "is the power is going to come from diverse sources not as benign" for the well-being of people and the atmosphere as hydroelectricity. A study this previous week by the nonprofit Pacific Institute think tank in Oakland, California, estimated that 3 years of waning hydroelectricity during California's drought already have cost utility ratepayers $1.four billion, 4 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu which includes purchases of energy from all-natural gas-fired plants to make up for reduced hydroelectric power. The increased reliance on fossil fuel also brought on an eight % rise in emissions of climate-altering carbon dioxide in California, the Pacific Institute stated. Robert Oglesby, executive director of the state power commission, said he did not expect the decline of hydro power&dash and the boost in gas-fired power&dash to set back California's purpose of creating 33 % of electricity from renewable energy by 2020. That's simply because large hydroelectric dams, which are controversial mainly because they block organic river flows, are not officially incorporated with solar, wind and other sources in California's renewable energy equation.

Dams developed 12 % of the state's electrical energy in 2013, the most current year for which figures are out there. All-natural gas supplied 61 %. The numbers for hydroelectric power will go down for California in 2015 but not disappear, Oglesby said. That will mean continued higher utility bills for some. "For the locations of the state that have been in a position to rely on affordable hydro, and then they have to purchase extra high priced energy off the grid &mdash these charges are an effect that will be passed along more than time," Oglesby mentioned. Hydroelectricity is even far more important for California's northern neighbors, accounting for a lot more than 60 percent of Washington state's energy and 45 percent of Oregon's, state officials say. Even though California is 14 months into a statewide drought emergency, the governors of Washington and Oregon, exactly where snowpack is hovering at or near record lows, lately declared drought emergencies in sections of their states. Strong winter rain will make up for poor snow totals when it comes to hydro power in Washington and Oregon, energy managers there mentioned. "We're not anticipating that we're going to have any trouble meeting our obligation," stated Michael Hansen, spokesman for the Bonneville Power Administration, which serves utilities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana. "We serve the Northwest initial," he stated. "They get 1st dibs on surplus energy." The federal nonprofit agency can sell surplus power to utilities in California and other Western states, but it is expected by law to serve its consumers initial, Hansen stated. About the West, dam operators will be prioritizing consumers, placing water for farms and cities ahead of water for energy production. At Lake Mead on the Colorado River, the largest water reservoir in the United States and a vital water supply for the Southwest and Mexico, drought by May is expected to practically halve hydroelectric production compared with mid-2014 levels. Maintaining drinking water running from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, and crops watered along the way, would take priority more than keeping the lights on, officials of the power office of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Reduce Colorado division mentioned in an e-mail. "We often have to point out that as vital as energy production may possibly be, by law it is basically priority No. 3," the officials stated.

(A testament to hydro longevity.) Century of service: Turbines at Hauser Dam to be removed for refurbishing AL KNAUBER Independent Record, 4/4/15, helenair.com

Sheets of steel, rusted and crumpled, lie on rocks beneath the dam that Samuel Hauser completed in 1907, only to see it fail 15 months later. The powerhouse, fashioned of rock and mortar, survived the dam’s failure. It rises some three stories or more alongside the 70-foot-tall concrete dam Hauser rebuilt, and remains a testament to his advocacy for hydroelectric power. Electrical generators roar inside this building with the intensity of a hometown crowd’s cheers at a football game. Behind the generators are steel casings that hold turbines which capture the river’s power. The turbines work in pairs inside each of the steel 5 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu casings. On Thursday, April 9, one of these units, which date to the dam’s reconstruction in 1911, will be removed and lifted by crane to where a tractor-trailer will wait atop the dam.

Those who plan to fish below the dam Wednesday or Thursday will find parking is restricted to make room work vehicles, said Butch Larcombe, a spokesman for NorthWestern Energy. Morning traffic on Lincoln Road and Hauser Dam Road will be slowed by the arrival of equipment for the upcoming work. Pedestrians may be temporarily prohibited from walking across the dam as equipment is set up and the turbine unit lifted to the waiting truck. Afternoon traffic on the roads will also be affected as the truck with its cargo begins the journey to Anaconda where the turbines will be refurbished. The goal, said Dan Kokoruda, the Hauser Dam foreman, is to get the turbines out in a single day. In about six month, the process will be repeated. The rush of water from Hauser Reservoir will again give life to the turbines that drive the generator. “It’s more than just the turbines” that will be worked on, said Jeremy Clotfelter, NorthWestern Energy’s superintendent of hydroelectric dams. Pressure casings for the turbines will be repaired and gates that control the flow of water to the turbines will be replaced. New shafts and bearings will be installed too. The budget for the first turbine’s work is about $1 million, Clotfelter said. NorthWestern Energy plans to refurbish one of Hauser Dam’s six turbine units a year. Work is also planned for other of its hydroelectric dams. Hauser Reservoir is almost full at this point in the year, Kokoruda said. Some 80 steps below the reservoir’s surface is the powerhouse and a nearby building where underground cables carry electricity from the generators. Here the power is brought into harmony with the nation’s electrical grid before being sent on its way through a trio of 69,000-volt wires to power homes, offices and businesses. The control room overlooks the floor of the powerhouse, and Kokoruda explained how the operator can monitor power production, water flow and, if needed, adjust floodgates on the dam. Tall windows with arched tops fill the powerhouse with midday light. Cool April air carries with it the smell of the river that rushes beneath the building as water that spins the turbines falls to rejoin the river beneath the building.

The turbine that is to be refurbished awaits an overhead crane inside the powerhouse to lift it from its framework. Behind the turbine, a small yet steady stream of water races down the 15-foot-diameter steel tubing that would normally be filled with water to spin the turbines and with them the steel shaft that drives the generator. The headgate that controls the amount of water to the turbine can’t be completely closed. Sticks and wood carried to it by water over the years allow this trickle to continue to flow. Clotfelter pointed to wear on the steel shaft that links the turbines and generator. The wear, he explained, is what would be expected. Routine maintenance has kept the turbines functioning, Clotfelter said, “but the metal you’re looking at is original. That’s really a testament to the longevity of the hydro units and how long they last.”

If all six turbine units were operating, Hauser Dam would be capable of producing 17 megawatts, Clotfelter said, and added that the loss of one of unit will reduce production by 2.5 megawatts. A megawatt is currently estimated to power 750 homes for a year, but the addition of more large- screen televisions and other electronic appliances erodes what this volume of power can do. Hydroelectric production at dams doesn’t operate at full capacity, according to a NorthWestern Energy fact sheet. The volume of water flowing through turbines affects production, as does units out of service for maintenance and repairs. However, the temporary loss of this generating capacity at Hauser Dam will be offset by electricity from other of the company’s 12 dams, Larcombe said. Currently, the company is selling surplus power to other utilities, he added. 6 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu After the Kerr Dam is returned to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes by NorthWestern Energy in September, work on turbine units can be scheduled for times of low demand or additional electricity can be purchased to make up for turbines that are out of production, Larcombe said. The five-year average for Hauser Dam’s electrical generation is slightly more than 79 percent and exceeds the 66.1 percent average for the 12 hydroelectric producing dams NorthWestern currently controls. NorthWestern Energy purchased the dams from PPKL Montana in a deal that closed late last year. More than 100 years ago, somebody installed these turbines, said Clotfelter, who joined Montana Power Co. in 1993. Showing the dam and powerhouse to visitors gave him a chance to reflect. He likes that hydroelectric power, which he’s been involved with since 2006, is a renewable resource. He also likes the history -- old turbines that still drive the generators after all of this time -- and being a part of something that was built so long ago. “They probably never thought it would be over 100 years before anybody’s take them out,” he said.

(It took a long time but finally it happened.) Meldahl hydroelectric dam set to open by year-end By Chelsey Levingston, Staff Writer, journal-news.com

HAMILTON, Ohio — Construction on the approximately $500 million Meldahl hydroelectric dam on the Ohio River is in its final stages, but the water- powered electric plant must still be commissioned before it can start producing electricity for city utility customers. Plans are to start turning the first of three underwater turbine units by around July 1, said Doug Childs, Hamilton public utilities director. The other two turbines will follow, one at a time and one about every six weeks. “We are still in the absolute final stages of construction,” Childs said. After construction is over, a months-long commissioning process will test the equipment and operations including individual parts and how they work together. Part of the process will simulate what normal operations will be, he said. Once the project’s general contractor, the city and key equipment suppliers sign off, plans are to begin generating electricity for commercial purposes by the end of the year, he said. Previously, city leaders said hopes were to start operations by the end of March. “It’s behind of schedule. It’s really how fast things are getting done,” Childs said. “It’s just normal construction processes.”

The Meldahl project in Foster, Ky., is being built at the Captain Anthony B. Meldahl Dam and Locks. Three water turbines installed in the facility will generate electricity from the flow of the river. Projections are that Meldahl could generate up to 558,000 megawatt hours per year, enough energy to supply 55,000 homes. Since city leaders visited the construction site last year, most of the massive 10-story high concrete structure has been submerged underwater. Left above water is only the power house. First proposed in 2005, the Meldahl hydroelectric project was licensed in 2008 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The project is in partnership with American Municipal Power Inc., a nonprofit that owns and operates multiple power plants to generate electric for its municipal members in seven states. Hamilton is also a member of American Municipal. Hamilton owns the majority stake in Meldahl, 51 percent, and American Municipal owns the rest. “I think it’s one of the things that’s going to be really attractive and so forth for businesses coming to Hamilton,” said Mel Brown, a member of the city’s Public Utilities Commission, a group of resident volunteer appointees who advise city council and administration on utility operations. The investment will be worth it in the long-run, Brown said. “We’re not sitting out there all by ourselves on this and I think it’s helpful.” 7 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu The Meldahl power plant is the largest of four water-powered stations being built simultaneously on the banks of the Ohio River, according to Columbus, Ohio-based American Municipal. Once operational, 65 to 70 percent of Hamilton’s electric consumption will be generated using carbon-free, pollution-free emission sources, including Meldahl and other power sources, Childs said. Hamilton city government owns its electric generation assets, with ownership stakes in five power plants in Butler County, elsewhere in Ohio, Illinois and the one under construction in Northern Kentucky. In fact, the city already owns one hydroelectric power plant, Greenup, a water- powered plant in Portsmouth on the Ohio River. It has a total 70 megawatts of generating capacity. However, 60 days after Meldahl starts running, a 49 percent ownership stake will be sold to American Municipal Power. Proceeds will be used to pay down the city’s remaining debt on Greenup, Childs said. However, Hamilton staff will continue to operate Greenup under contract with AMP. And eight operators have already been hired to run Meldahl. “The real value of hydro is the fact that not only is it clean, the prices on that hydro is going to be really stable,” Childs said.

(If water runs downhill, take advantage of it.) Editorial: Bend should not abandon hydro idea Apr 5, 2015, bendbulletin.com

The hydroelectric project initially planned for the end of Bend’s water supply pipe from Bridge Creek was scrapped. But there’s reason for the city to think about it again. The 10-mile pipe has an elevation drop of about 1,009 feet. The water that the city diverts through that pipe builds up a lot of pressure. It’s dissipated through valves. The pressure could generate clean electricity and revenue. And as we’ll explain, it could also lead to water conservation. In 2012, a consultant estimated the hydro project could be built for $5 million or $6 million. The revenue estimates were about $500,000 a year. Presumably, most of that revenue would at first pay off the debt for the project. Operations and maintenance costs were not estimated to be significant. After several years, the hydro could be making nice piles of money. The city dropped the hydro because of how much it would add to the initial cost of the pipeline and the new water filtration and also because of the questions about the availability of incentives. There is another possible concern, as well. The existence of the hydro plant would provide an additional reason to keep diverting water into the pipe. Opponents of the Bridge Creek pipeline are not going to like that. They wanted the city to stop taking water from the diversion altogether. But one way to make this project work might be for the city to find a company that is interested in building and operating the hydro plant itself. The revenue the city earns from that arrangement could in turn be used to help pay for water conservation projects, such as piping Tumalo Irrigation District canals to enable the district to take less or no water from Tumalo Creek. Clean energy. Revenue. And water conservation. That’s a great combination if the city can find a way to make it happen.

Santa Barbara ready to fire up hydroelectric power plant BY RANDOL WHITE. kcbx.org, 4/8/15

The City of Santa Barbara will soon be in the business of generating hydroelectric power with the completed upgrade of a plant connected to Gibraltar reservoir. The facility was built in the 1980s and went online in 1985, but it was taken offline in 1998 when the costs to run the plant— including federal regulatory fees—exceeded the revenue from power sales. Cathy Taylor is the Water Systems Manager for the city and says Mayor Helene Schneider was passionate about restarting the power plant. The Mayor even took the issue to the lawmakers in Washington D.C. "She was definitely a huge proponent of this project and with her support the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 was passed," said 8 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu Taylor. "With the passage of this act, the plant was found to be exempt from the extensive federal regulations that caused us to have to decommission it initially." The city was given the chance to buy the land under the plant, which was previously owned by the federal government. This removed some of the federal regulations associated with running the facility. The project cost $875,000 but should generate more than $200,000 a year in power sales at first, according to the city. Over time, the city estimates the electricity generated annually will be enough to power about 300 single-family homes.

(Everybody is waiting for someone else before they throw the monkey wrench!) Grant Lake hydroelectric project open to comments By BEN BOETTGER, April 8, 2015 - Morris News Service – Alaska, homernews.com

Plans for a controversial hydroelectric plant are available for public examination in their most detailed form to date. On March 27, Homer Electric Association, working through its subsidiary Kenai Hydroelectric, submitted a draft of its license application for the Grant Lake hydroelectric project to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the national power plant licensing agency. The draft license application contains plans for the Grant lake project that HEA has been developing since it received a preliminary study permit from FERC in 2009. It will be open to comments from government agencies, interest groups and the public during a 90-day period that will end on June 29. HEA has posted the license application on their website and mailed copies to 100 individuals representing interested parties. Grant Lake, near the town of Moose Pass, feeds its water into Trail Lake via the approximately one-mile long Grant Creek. Although the draft application describes several alternative projects, the design that HEA plans to pursue would consist of an underground pipe opening below the surface of Grant Lake that will feed water through a pair of turbines generating a combined 5 megawatts before returning it to Grant Creek approximately one half-mile from its source.

One detail that remains undecided is whether HEA will open the project’s access road to the public, making the area surrounding Grant Lake vehicle accessible. “That will be part of what we anticipate hearing comments on, both from the general public and the (state and federal) landowners,” said HEA’s Manager of Fuel Supply & Renewable Energy Development Mike Salzetti, who has overseen the Grant Lake Project. Seward resident Mark Luttrell has spoken against the development of Grant Lake as a former president and current member of the Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance, part of a long-standing opposition movement to the hydroelectric project. He said creating a public access road to the site would be a bad idea. “They’ll come up against a lot of opposition if they try to make it public access,” Luttrell said. “It’ll bring all the bad habits of humans just a little bit deeper into the wildland.” Other concerns Luttrell named included possible reduction of salmon spawning ground, the exposure to vandalism of historic artifacts that may exist below the current waterline of Grant Lake, and the possible negative cultural and economic effects of “an industrial facility there in that small town” of Moose Pass.

Luttrell plans to express his concerns to FERC, although he said he is uncertain if FERC gives adequate consideration to comments from the public. “FERC traditionally is in the business of promoting hydroelectric power,” Luttrell said. Executive Director Ricky Gease of the Kenai River Sport Fishing Association said that while his group was initially worried about the impact of the Grant Lake project on salmon and trout, revisions to the project have lessened those concerns. Previous designs for the project included a dam at the head of Grant Creek, which was removed in favor of the underwater pipeline opening. Gease said that concerns about the project’s effect on stream temperatures had also been addressed by removing the dam and placing the intake pipe below the surface of the lake. Grant Creek is used as a spawning ground by sockeye, coho, and chinook salmon, as well as rainbow trout and Dolly Varden. HEA has maintained that the portion of the creek between the intake structure and the release point, which will have decreased flow as a result of the project, is poor spawning ground due to its steepness and swift flow. HEA has proposed removing obstacles from the creek downstream of the release point, which it said will enhance its use as spawning ground. Gease said he believed this measure would be effective. 9 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu After the comment period is over, HEA intends to make any modifications to its plans recommended by FERC, then submit a final license application in December 2015. “Typically it can take FERC anywhere between 9 months and two years to rule on a license application,” Salzetti said. In addition to the final license, HEA will need to acquire leases on the site, which will occupy state land and federal land managed by Chugach National Forest, as well as construction permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and Grant Creek water rights from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Natural Resources Manager Carl Reese of DNR’s Division of Water, who will examine HEA’s water rights application, said that he is waiting to see the comments submitted to FERC. “Typically what we do on water rights is we track the licensing process and comments coming from different agencies, like Fish and Game,” Reese said. “And when we write the water-right, we usually mirror what Fish and Game has said, and what FERC has said. We may put in comments based on water-rights related issues, which may make their way into the license as well. Ultimately, once the FERC license is written, we typically write the conditions on the water-right to match that.”

Energy Department to Fund R&D to Advance Low-Impact Hydropower Technologies einnews.com, 4/10/15

The Energy Department today announced $7 million in funding for the research and development of innovative technologies for low-impact hydropower systems. This funding will help advance hydropower drivetrains, which transfer rotational energy from turbines to generators, and structural foundations that will minimize environmental impacts and reduce the lifetime costs associated with operating and maintaining new hydropower projects. While hydropower already supplies roughly 7% of America’s electricity and is the leading source of renewable power, the nation still has significant untapped resources across the country where new hydropower generating capabilities could boost our supply of carbon-free energy. Recent Energy Department reports show that the United States has an additional 65 gigawatts of hydropower potential in undeveloped rivers and streams and more than 12 gigawatts of hydropower potential—if fully developed—at our nation’s non-powered dams. New and advanced hydropower technologies will help harness these major opportunities for clean, renewable energy that can help address climate change.

While this funding opportunity supports a wide variety of technological innovations for new hydropower development, specific areas of interest include: • New, rapidly deployable and removable hydropower technologies, such as innovative prefabricated structures, water impoundment structures, and water conveyance systems. • Innovative methods and materials for the construction of hydropower facilities. • Innovative hydropower powertrain and generator components, such as advanced composite materials and replaceable turbine blade technologies.

This effort to develop advanced water power technologies is part of the Energy Department's broader Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, which aims to increase American competitiveness in the production of clean energy products and boost U.S. manufacturing competitiveness across the board by increasing energy productivity. Continued innovation and advancements in hydropower technologies and manufacturing will help deliver more renewable energy to American homes and businesses than ever before. Read the full funding opportunity announcement on the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Funding Opportunity Exchange. The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. Learn more about the Water Power Program’s research and development efforts to advance hydropower manufacturing. To learn more about how hydropower captures energy from flowing water, watch this Energy 101 video. 10 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu Petersburg OKs bonding for hydro dam raise By Joe Viechnicki, April 9, 2015, kfsk.org

Petersburg elected officials this month signed off on the Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s proposal to take on more debt to finance a hydro-electric dam project near Ketchikan. SEAPA is planning to sell bonds to raise its dam at Swan Lake, one of two hydro plants the organization owns. SEAPA sells power to utilities in Petersburg Wrangell and Ketchikan from its two projects at Swan Lake and Tyee Lake. The agency is looking to refinance existing debt to get a better interest rate and at the same time sell new bonds totaling around seven million dollars. That money will fund the raising of the Swan Lake dam near Ketchikan, a project that will expand the storage capacity for that lake and lessen the need for backup diesel generation in Ketchikan.

The SEAPA board approved the bond issue and refinancing at a meeting in March and the three communities have to give approval for it to move forward. Petersburg Municipal Power and Light superintendent Joe Nelson is on the SEAPA board of directors and voted no on the bonding issue at that March meeting. He updated the Petersburg assembly this month. “I still feel that it would be cleaner and better for future generations if that money that’s borrowed for the Swan raise project stayed with the Swan project but I was not successful,” Nelson said. Nelson was the only vote against the bond measure when it was considered by the SEAPA board. Petersburg assembly members wondered why a resolution in support of the bond issue did not mention the Swan Lake project. “What they’re doing is they’re tying this bond issuance, the collateral for it is the entire SEAPA system,” said borough manager Steve Giesbrecht. “That may be why they don’t specifically call out in the resolution that it’s for the dam raising.”

Besides the two power projects SEAPA also owns transmission lines connecting the three communities. SEAPA’s debt is a responsibility of that agency only and not the three member communities. The debt responsibility could become an issue if the three communities ever decided to dissolve the organization and have Ketchikan take ownership of Swan Lake while Wrangell and Petersburg take over Tyee Lake. The electrical power from Swan is first dedicated to Ketchikan while Wrangell and Petersburg have first right to the power at Tyee Lake. However, both projects also provide backup power to all three communities. Mayor Mark Jensen thought the Swan dam raise was a benefit to all three. “I have the same reservations about the whole SEAPA system being collateralized to upgrade the facility that is Ketchikan gets the first rights to its power but actually I think it benefits the whole system to have more water reserve.” Officials in Wrangell have already approved SEAPA’s bond issue and their counterparts in Ketchikan are expected to vote on the issue this month. Borough assembly member Cindi Lagoudakis wanted to add wording to Petersburg’s resolution authorizing the bond issue. “I would like to make a motion that we add wording that specifies that this is tied to the Swan Lake project and the refinancing or the collateralizing of the whole system for that purpose.” Lagoudakis’ amendment passed 4-3 with Kurt Wohlhueter, Bob Lynn and Nancy Strand joining her to vote yes. The assembly then passed the amended resolution 6-1 with Mayor Mark Jensen voting no. In an email this week, SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson said the wording change is not a problem. He says the process is proceeding and does not foresee any delays with the bond issue. The Swan project still needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Alaska Power and Telephone, the Cape Fox Corporation and city of Saxman, a partnership pursuing another power project in Ketchikan, have protested the licensing amendment required to raise the Swan Lake 11 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu dam. SEAPA has some state grant money for the project and was initially hoping to secure more. However, the downtown in oil prices and the outlook for the state capital budget have the agency relying instead on bonding to pay for the project.

Water: (A little humor from my friends in CA!)

Environment: (Does this make fish more expensive?) Howland fish bypass construction to start next month By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff, April 04, 2015, bangordailynews.com

HOWLAND, Maine — Construction of the $3.5 million fish bypass at the former Howland tannery site is likely to begin next month, ending 11 years of preparation, officials said Friday. Construction crews already demolished the former powerhouse attached to the Howland Dam on the Piscataquis River. On Friday, they continued shaping the channel leading to the bypass, said Laura Rose Day, executive director of the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, which is overseeing the work. “Probably in a couple

12 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu of weeks things will start taking shape more in terms of the actual shape of the bypass and we will be starting to move into the next few construction phases,” Day said Friday.

The bypass is due to be finished by fall. It is part of the Penobscot River Restoration Trust’s plan to open nearly 1,000 miles of habitat to endangered Atlantic salmon, sturgeon, American shad, alewives and seven other species of migratory, sea-run fish now largely blocked from going past Howland. Those species help support other commercially important species, such as cod and lobster. The restoration trust bought the Veazie, Great Works and Howland dams from PPL Corp. in December 2010 in a historic deal worth $24 million. Under an agreement brokered in 2004, PPL in return gained authorization to increase power generation at six other dams along the river, entirely offsetting the generation losses incurred when the three dams were decommissioned. The Veazie Dam was breached in 2013. The Great Works Dam, which stretched across the Penobscot River from Bradley to Old Town, went down in 2012. The Howland Dam near the Piscataquis and Penobscot rivers remains in place but does not generate electricity. As part of the project, the town demolished the tannery site, which decades ago was the town’s largest single employer. Town officials are developing a plan to market the site. The Board of Selectmen has been concerned the site was getting overrun by large piles of rocks, dirt, coal ash and slag created during the initial site preparation work in December, Chairman Glenn Brawn said. But selectmen met with trust officials, who agreed to amend the easement by which byway builders access the site. The amendment should lead to the site being substantially cleaned up, Brawn said. “I guess I will hold my judgment until I see the finished project,” Brawn said Friday. “I will be glad when it is over so we can have our site and we can move forward with the plan we have for the economic development of that site.” The bypass work has included improvements to an old fish ladder at the Howland Dam that should help more fish access habitats north of Howland, Day said. Its cost initially was set at about $3.2 million but Day said she expected a slight increase.

(This not something you hear often.) Letter - Salmon runs depleted long before dams union-bulletin.com, April 6, 2015

Brett Haverstick rebutted my letter about wind power not replacing hydropower. The same day, Ron Dunning’s guest column appeared entitled, “Snake River dams are an asset that must remain.” Haverstick took exception to my “opinion” that when the wind doesn’t blow, wind turbines don’t generate. I have observed enough times that when the wind does not blow, the blades don’t turn. When the blades don’t turn, the generators don’t generate. Furthermore, when wind generators don’t generate they use hydropower-generated electricity for safety beacons and other maintenance requirements. Internet facts about wind power by the Bonneville Power Administration show Dunning’s article was more factual than Haverstick’s. Haverstick said the Northwest Power and Conservation Council reported 8,975 megawatts where the BPA reported in December 2014 that wind generation capacity within their administrative area was 4,782 megawatts.

In total, hydropower provides about half the regions, electrical power followed by natural gas and coal-fired generators with wind power providing only about 7 percent. Haverstick is correct that the Lower Snake River dams are run-of-river projects with limited reservoir storage. Each reservoir has a designed fluctuation of 3 to 8 feet. The intent was that during lower flow periods, water could be stored at night, and power peaking could supply the morning hours when people get up, shower, prepare breakfast, then go to work or school, and again in the evening when people return home, fix dinner, watch TV, then go to bed. However, fishery interests don’t allow such power peaking. They want the reservoirs held within 1 foot of minimum operating pool to hasten the migration of juvenile salmon downstream. The Snake River dams rely on flow from storage dams mostly in Idaho. Dworshak Reservoir can store over 2 million acre feet of water while Lower Granite can store only about 45,000. If 60,000 cubic feet per second arrive at Lower Granite Dam, that can turn two 135-megawatt generators there and at each of the next three 13 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu dams downstream. Wind turbines range in size from 0.6 megawatts to 2.0 megawatts. It would take 450 of 0.6 megawatts ones or 135 of the 2.0 megawatts ones to replace two 135-megawatt hydropower turbines. Gene Spangrude was correct in his recent letter that Idaho’s salmon runs were depleted many years before the Lower Snake River dams were built. Why then do so many Idahoans think those dams destroyed their runs? John McKern, Walla Walla

(This is unusual!) Judge Rules Against More Protections for Salmon and Shad at Maine Dams By TOM PORTER • 4/7/15, news.mpbn.net

PORTLAND, Maine - A federal judge has ruled against efforts by Maine environmental groups to introduce more protection for endangered Atlantic salmon and American shad at four hydro-electric dams on the Kennebec River. Taryn Hallweaver is with Environment Maine, one of two plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Brookfield Asset Management, which operates the dams. Under the terms of the Clean Water Act, she says the company should be obliged to take action to protect the fish, many of which are killed by the turbine blades.

"We're disappointed by the decision," Weston Dam Hallweaver says, "and believe we should be doing all we can to protect endangered Atlantic salmon and American shad or we really risk losing these fish forever." U.S. District Court Judge George Singal threw out the lawsuit in an opinion issued on Thursday, effectively saying that Brookfield's efforts to provide alternative fish passage mean the turbines can continue running as usual.

(Just a dam proposal will get you on this exclusive list.) Proposed dam puts Pearl River on endangered rivers list The Associated Press, April 7, 2015, sunherald.com

JACKSON, Miss. — A conservation group has declared the Pearl River one of the Top 10 Endangered Rivers for 2015 because a dam project proposed south of Jackson might threaten areas of the river downstream. "Building a new dam on the Pearl River would be an expensive boondoggle that would cause irreparable damage. Now is the time to protect and restore our rivers, not build new dams and destroy the health of rivers and fisheries," Ben Emanuel, with American Rivers, told The Sun Herald. The Washington, D.C.-based group announced the designation Monday.

The Pearl River contains seven million acres and drains an area of 8,760 square miles, draining all or parts of 23 counties in Mississippi and 3 parishes in Louisiana. It flows about 421 miles before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico through Lake Borgne and the Mississippi Sound. A flood and damage control district is proposing a dam that would create a reservoir nine miles downstream from the Ross Barnett Reservoir northeast of Jackson, which is the largest provider of drinking water to the city and the state. The project would also widen, deepen and straighten seven miles of the river. American Rivers said Jackson is unlikely to see flood control benefits, areas immediately downstream would feel negative effects of faster flowing water and it would submerge riverside habitat in LeFleur's Bluff State Park. In January, the Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources in Biloxi passed a resolution opposing the dam project. The agency said it is concerned about anything that could have a negative impact on marine resources, particularly the oyster reefs that need freshwater from the river flowing into the Mississippi Sound. The agency said it will hear from members of the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control 14 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu District at its April meeting. American Rivers has called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reject the Environmental Impact Statement and feasibility study on the project.

It argues reducing the flow of the Pearl River, could jeopardize three threatened species, flood prime bird habitat, change the levels of saline in the Mississippi Sound and impact the basin that includes the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area and Honey Island Swamp. Andrew Whitehurst, Water Program director at Gulf Restoration Network, said Mississippi can't encourage upstream dams and still expect success with long-term coastal restoration projects downstream that depend on the river's freshwater flow, like the ongoing $50 million BP early restoration project to rebuild marshes and oyster reefs in Heron Bay at the mouth of the Pearl River. Mary Stripling, vice president of the Jackson Audubon Society, said, "The bird habitat along this major migration corridor provides one of the most important and diverse avian communities in our state. This project threatens to remove valuable bottomland hardwoods and wetlands that are vital to many species of birds, especially those in decline.”.

15 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.