Hamann, Blaine
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ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS BLAINE HAMANN Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë STATUS OF INTERVIEWS: OPEN FOR RESEARCH Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Interviews Conducted and Edited by: Brit Allan Storey Senior Historian Bureau of Reclamation Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Interviews conducted–1997, 2000 Interview edited and published–2015 Oral History Program Bureau of Reclamation Denver, Colorado SUGGESTED CITATION: HAMANN, BLAINE. ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW. Transcript of tape-recorded Bureau of Reclamation Oral History Interviews conducted by Brit Allan Storey, Senior Historian, Bureau of Reclamation, in Boulder City, Nevada. Edited by Brit Allan Storey, further edited and desktop formatted by Andrew H. Gahan. Repository for the record copy of the interview transcript is the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland. Record copies of this transcript are printed on 20 lb., 100% cotton, archival quality paper. All other copies are printed on normal duplicating paper. i Table of Contents Table of Contents.. i Statement of Donation. iii Editorial Convention. v Introduction. vi Oral History Interviews. 1 Early Life. 1 Going to Work at Grand Coulee Dam. 2 Construction of the Third Powerplant. 4 Modernizing the Grand Coulee Powerhouses. 5 Blasting Away the Right Abutment. 6 Equipment Life Cycles.. 7 Becoming a Permanent Reclamation Employee. 8 Replacing Circuit Breakers. 9 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. 11 Issues with Modernization Efforts. 12 Need for Automation . 13 Issues with Labor Unions over Modernization. 14 Working with Craft People. 15 Control and Instrument Points. 16 Evolution of the Job.. 17 Moving into the Power Side of the Business. 19 Automating the Central Arizona Project (CAP). 20 Region's Role during CAP Construction . 21 Evolution of Computer Systems. 22 Establishing Responsibilities between the Region and Project Offices.. 23 Assistant Project Manager at Hoover Dam. 24 Uprating Hoover's Generators. 25 Working with Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). 27 Problems with the Hoover Uprating. 28 Regional Officers. 28 Routine Maintenance at Hoover Dam. 30 Project Manager of the Colorado River Storage Project. 32 Fontanelle Dam. 32 Fontanelle Dam Repairs.. 33 Managing the Colorado River Storage Project. 35 Project Funding. 36 Working with Unions.. 38 Morrow Point Dam. 38 Colin Fletcher.. 39 Interviewed for the PBS Series Cadillac Desert. 41 Bureau of Reclamation's Transition.. 44 Becoming a Water Resources Management Agency. 45 Oral History of Blaine Hamann ii Personnel Changes Stemming from the Reorganization. 46 Interviewed for the "American Experience" Series. 47 Control Systems.. 48 Integrating Computer and Manual Control Systems. 50 Teton Dam. 52 Interrelationship Among Lower Colorado Powerplants. 53 Coordinating Efforts with Western Power Administration. 55 Operating Lower Colorado Powerplants as One Unit. 57 Rewinding Hoover Generators.. 58 Managing the Powerplants.. 60 Establishing Operational Priorities. 60 Powerplant Staffing Needs.. 62 Colorado River Storage Projects. 63 CRSP Operation and Maintenance Issues. 64 Glen Canyon Environmental Studies.. 64 Glen Canyon Environmental Impact Statement.. 66 Ben Wilkinson. 67 Applying for New Positions within Reclamation. 69 Learning to Manage Different Facilities. 70 Funding Challenges. 71 Reclamation's Relationship with Its Customers.. 72 Regional Directors. 73 Employee Parking at Hoover Dam. 76 Deregulation of the Power Industry. 77 Hoover Dam Financial Returns to the Federal Government. 78 Congressional Oversight. 79 Reclamation Assumed Management of Hoover Dam O&M. 80 Staffing Up for New O&M Responsibilities at Hoover Dam. 80 Union Pay Rates.. 83 The Effects of Power Industry Deregulation. 85 Impact of Deregulation on Reclamation. 86 Reclamation's Role in the Western Power Grid.. 87 Computerization of.