HYr e p Do rRt erO 2 0 12 CONTENTS Flood of 1986 Challenged Cooke Dam Tours Employees and Machines Featured During Centennial Celebration 4 Cooling Outflow Water wenty- five years ago, as Consumers Croton Hydro Temperatures in 2011 5 Energy celebrated the 100th anniver- Tsary of its 1886 founding, a two-day Foote Dam Tailwater storm of epic proportions tested its Mus- Access Being Readied kegon River dams and the people of west for Reconstruction 6 Michigan like no weather event has, before or since. By the time it was over, west Mich- Hardy Pond Trail igan was swamped with more than a foot Development and a half of rain, at least six people died, 89 Effort Delayed 7 more were injured and public and private property suffered millions in damages. The Trumpeter Swans of storm posed a real threat to the integrity of the Au Sable Valley 8 Rogers, Hardy and Croton dams. Had they Mio Dam Tailwater Fishing failed, the scope of the disaster unquestion- Access Improvements 9 ably would have been much worse. The week of Sept. 7, 1986 started out as As dawn approached on Improving Fish Habitat 10 routine as any for the Muskegon River dam Thursday, flow passage operations and maintenance staff. Periodic unit inspections were getting under way had to increase at all three for Croton unit 1 and 2 and Hardy Pond plants as rising pond levels had been lowered one foot to decrease the chances that it would need to pass flows need to be controlled. through the spill gates at Croton while the two units were out. On Sunday, Hardy It had been a dry summer and that Monday, unit 1 had experienced a brake failure and Sept. 8, the Muskegon reached its lowest also was pulled out of service for repair. flow in two years, about 1,100 cubic feet per Such activities were a common occur- second (cfs) at the Croton plant. Work was rence and that September seemed a good proceeding routinely on Tuesday Sept. 9, as choice for completing the unit inspections. a storm front began moving into Michigan. Unlike most storms, however, this storm Consumers did not move across the area and continue Energy Muskegon River east. This front would stall over the Lower hydro plants Rogers Peninsula. were tested Hardy By 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday Sept. 10 during the epic about two inches of rain had fallen in 1986 September rain event. Croton the Croton and Hardy area. Consumers Energy’s Muskegon superintendent Charles Muskegon J. Smith contacted the U.S. Weather Bureau office in Ann Arbor to obtain additional CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 2 • 2012 Hydro Reporter 2012 Hydro Reporter • 3 THE HYDRO REPORTER Consumers Energy publishes The Hydro Reporter annually in conjunction with the Manistee- Flood of 1986 Challenged Men and Machines CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Muskegon-Au Sable Coordination (MMAC) Team to keep neighbors of the hydro plants and other weather information and the latest forecast. interested citizens informed about progress in The Weather Bureau said it had no reports of heavy storms elsewhere and wasn’t implementing the Federal Energy Regulatory predicting severe weather at that time. Still, Commission 40-year licenses issued in 1994. with the increasing river flows from the rain, The MMAC Team, which includes representa- Smith decided to take a cautious approach tives from Consumers Energy, state and federal and discontinue the planned unit inspec- Resource Agencies and an environmental coali- tion on Croton units 1 and 2. He ordered the tion, coordinates the license implementation crew to reassemble the units and place them process. Contact information for MMAC Team back in service. The units were ready by 2:30 members is listed below. The principal writer / p.m. that day. Hardy Hydro Rogers Hydro editor of The Hydro Reporter is James R. Bernier, Hardy Hydro intake building Throughout the day on Sept. 10, while the Consumers Energy Hydro Generation. regulates water flow rates through crew has been working on the Croton units, the generating facility. the rain never let up. The severe rain inun- concern has arised that the tremendous maintenance staff remained on duty in the dated all of west Michigan. By 10:00 p.m. an amount of debris being dragged down the plants at considerable personal risk to moni- MANISTEE-MUSKEGON-AU SABLE additional four inches of rain has soaked COORDINATION TEAM MEMBERS river from upstream was starting to plug tor and operate the equipment in order to Measuring River Flow the area, and all available hydro units were up the Rogers spill gate area. Additional safely pass the flood waters. online. Spill gates were opened at Rogers maintenance staff responded to the problem In addition to the Muskegon River flows BILL SCHOENLEIN Dam and at Croton Dam because there is and were able to cut and dislodge the worst being passed through Hardy Dam, Croton MMAC Chair n Thursday Sept. 11, 1986 at 6 p.m., the more water flow than can be handled by also was receiving the flow of the Little Consumers Energy Hydro Generation the generating units. By Wednesday eve- O Muskegon River flow at Croton Dam was mea- Muskegon River. At 6 p.m. on Sept. 10, the 330 Chestnut Street ning, Smith decided to place operators on sured at 18,020 cubic feet per second. It was the high- Consumers Energy’s operations flow at Croton peaks at 18,020 cfs with 56 (231) 779-5504 extended overnight duty at all three dams. est river flow ever recorded at Croton Dam. For many and maintenance staff feet of spill gates open, in addition to the e-mail: [email protected] Croton’s spill gates were opened to four feet. plant’s four units operating at 100 percent that number is difficult to understand or relate to. How remained on duty in the plants The one-foot drawdown at Hardy for the capacity. much water is one cubic foot per second (cfs), and by Croton routine unit inspections had been at considerable personal risk BOB STUBER Over the next 12 hours, the rain finally extension how much water is 18,020 cfs? almost entirely refilled. U.S. Forest Service to monitor and operate the relented. The flows slowly decreased and A gallon of gas. A quart of milk. Or even a two liter Constant heavy rain accompanied by 1755 S. Mitchell Street equipment in order to safely pond levels gradually were restored to nor- bottle of Coca Cola. We all are accustomed to these thunder and lightning, fell throughout mal levels. The crisis at the dams was over, Cadillac, MI 49601 forms of liquid measurement. Measuring stream flow Wednesday night and into the early morn- pass the flood waters. though many downstream residents would (231) 775-2421 presents a different challenge, rather than measuring ing hours of Thursday, Sept. 11. At 2 a.m. continue to battle flood waters and extensive e-mail: [email protected] a stationary volume as in a bucket, a volume passing a spill tubes at the Hardy plant were opened. of the debris in the highly hazardous setting damage in the coming weeks. given point must be determined. As dawn approached on Thursday, flow to maintain flows through the spill gates. For Consumers Energy many lessons passage was increased at all three plants KYLE KRUGER At its stream gauging stations, the United States By midday the worst of the storm finally were learned. Programs to evaluate and Michigan Department of Natural Resources to help lower rising pond water levels. An Geological Survey uses actual measurements to cal- passed and flows into Rogers Dam begin to make repairs and improvements to the 191 S. Mt. Tom Road emergency crew was brought in to get the culate an area across the stream at different heights or abate slightly.Hardy and Croton were by no dams to ensure they were safe were redou- Mio, MI 48823 damaged Hardy unit 2 repaired so it can means out of the woods. bled. Consumers Energy also has worked stages. At a dam the process is similar. The area of the go back online to help pass the increasing (989) 826-3211 ext 7073 At 2 p.m. on Thursday, water begins to extensively with local units of government intake tubes for the units and the area of the spill gates volume of water. Flooding was discovered in e-mail: [email protected] flow across 36th Street and down through to strengthen Emergency Action Plan or tubes is measured. In both cases the resulting area the basement of the Rogers plant and local the Hardy Dam emergency spillway. At procedures for its dams. One of the most is expressed in cubic feet. volunteer firemen respond with pumps and this point the total flow at Hardy was important lessons learned was the value of BURR FISHER A cubic foot is one foot on both sides and one foot sand bags to help keep machinery dry and approximately 17,700 cfs. At 4 p.m. the dedicated Consumers Energy employees U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service deep, and it holds about seven and one-half gallons of prevent the units from tripping offline. Emergency Action Plans (EAP) for a pos- who stand by their post throughout the East Lansing Field Office liquid. The cfs measurement uses the number of cubic At 9 a.m. the amount of rain recorded in sible failure of Hardy and Croton Dams storm and performed admirably under very 2651 Coolidge Road feet of area taken up by the water at any point in time, the past 24 hours range from about seven were initiated.