other stuff - npdp.stanford.edu

1 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu
i 9/04/2009
“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: Bordega Poesia Pasodoble Malbec Rose', Argentina - (Yep, it's a rose", but a good refreshing summer dry wine for $7 bucks! If you like red, this is an interesting wine.) “No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap.” - - Thomas Jefferson OOOttthhheeerrr SSStttuuuffffff::: (From NHA – Excerpts re Harris Poll) The Harris Poll® FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Only One in Ten Americans Are Very Knowledgeable About Sources of Electricity Only one in five are very interested in keeping up to date on energy issues ROCHESTER, N.Y. – July 30, 2009 – While Congress debates the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, much education is needed to enhance public knowledge, understanding and interest in various sources of electrical power, their associated benefits and risks and the value of becoming more energy efficient. These are some of the results from The Harris Poll, a new study of 2,177 U.S. adults surveyed online between June 8 and 15, 2009 by Harris Interactive. Only one in ten Americans (9%) are very knowledgeable about sources of electrical power, while half (50%) are fairly knowledgeable. Further, only one in five U.S. adults (21%) are very interested in keeping up to date about energy issues related to the sources of electrical power and energy efficiency with 53% saying they are fairly interested. When it comes to renewable sources of energy and natural gas, the public overwhelmingly indicates that the benefit of the source outweigh the risks. At least two-thirds of Americans believe that when used, the benefits of solar (82%), wind/turbine (78%), hydroelectric (water) (73%) and natural gas (66%) outweigh any risks associated with the different sources. Coal, which provides approximately half (49%) of electrical power production in the United States and is the most heavily used source of energy, is perceived differently. Two in five Americans (42%) say the risks of using coal outweigh the benefits while 36% believe the benefits outweigh the risks. Further, almost one-quarter of Americans (22%) say they are not at all sure. Nuclear energy, which is seeing resurgence in the number of new plants, leans towards the benefits with 44% of Americans saying the benefits outweigh the risks and 34% believing the risks outweigh the benefits. With regard to biomass and geothermal, large numbers (60% and 40% respectively) are not at all sure. ------------------------. Xcel faces OSHA charges in '07 fatal fire
SSoommee DDaamm –– HHyyddrroo NNeewwss aanndd OOtthheerr SSttuuffff
Quote of Note: "A national debt, if not excessive, will be to us a national blessing." –
Alexander Hamilton
A criminal federal indictment over worker deaths, in this case at a hydroelectric power plant in Colorado, is rare. By STEVE ALEXANDER, Star Tribune, August 28, 2009 In a rare criminal indictment over workplace deaths, Xcel Energy Inc. and a repair firm it hired are facing federal charges in the case of five workers killed in a 2007 chemical fire at a hydroelectric power plant in Colorado. Also named in the indictment are Xcel's Colorado subsidiary, Public Service Co. of Colorado, repair firm RPI Coating of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., and two executives of RPI Coating. Minneapolis-based Xcel issued a statement Friday that said the fire was an accident, not a criminal act. Xcel and Public Service Co. of Colorado could be liable for as much as $5 million in fines if found guilty. The October 2007 fire at Xcel's Cabin Creek Hydro Plant, in the mountains near Georgetown, Colo., occurred during the renovation of a large empty metal pipe down which water normally flowed to create hydroelectric power. Five employees of RPI Coating were trapped in the pipe when chemicals being used in the renovation caught fire and blocked their only exit. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ruled that violations of OSHA safety rules resulted in the fire and the men being trapped. Workers on the other side of the fire were able to escape. The U.S. Department of Justice obtained the indictment from a Colorado grand jury based on the OSHA ruling and OSHA's resulting decision to refer the case to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. The New York Times reported in 2003 that OSHA rarely seeks Justice Department prosecution in cases where worker deaths resulted. Between 1982 and 2002, OSHA did so in only 7 percent of worker deaths, the Times reported.
DDDaaammmsss (This article is full of misstatements, but here it is anyway. The worst statement is that there was little state or Federal regulation until the 1970s) Aging Dams Prompt Call for Federal Bailout BY JAMES HEISER, 27 AUGUST 2009, thenewamerican.com In a culture resounding with motifs of decay and collapse on so many levels, Wired.com is reporting that a breathtakingly large number of dams around the United States have become structurally unsound. Once conceived of as the symbol of man’s “power over nature,” nature is now apparently having the last word. As Alexis Madrigal wrote for Wired.com: While dams have been built in this country for a couple hundred years, the first half of the 20th century saw a building boom. Large dams were built for hydroelectric power, smaller dams to provide water for industrial concerns or irrigation. There was little state or Federal regulation, particularly of the little dams in small watersheds, until the 1970s, when five major dam failures took hundreds of lives and caused almost $1.5 billion in damage. The Carter administration began to put safeguards in place, but the inspections continue to be carried out at the state level. Implicit, of course, is the notion that federal inspectors know more, and perhaps even care more, than the people who actually own or oversee such dams and levees — and certainly they know and care more than the people most immediately affected by the dams. Old age is one of the primary factors contributing to the deteriorating condition of America’s 80,000 dams and levees, which now average more than 50 years since construction. Madrigal writes: “Last year, 140 dams were fixed, but inspectors discovered 368 more that need help. That’s why the American Society of Civil Engineers gave our dams a grade of 'D' in its 2009 report on the nation’s infrastructure. There are just too many aging dams and too few safety inspectors. 'With the huge number of dams getting older every day, it’s becoming a bigger and bigger problem," said Larry Roth, deputy executive director of the ASCE. 'The policing of maintenance and filing of inspection records is relatively haphazard, not because of lack of focus or knowledge of significance, but they just don’t have the monetary resources to do it.’ ” After a while, it is really not hard to sense the theme: The "lesson" of Katrina is the answer to every failure of a dam or levee is a bailout, and the "solution" of every imaginable crisis in the past year has been a federal bailout. How much will bailing out our dams cost us? According to Madrigal, “The Association of State Dam Safety Officials estimate that $16 billion would be needed to fix all high-hazard dams. The total for all state dam-safety budgets is less than $60 million. The current maintenance budget doesn’t match the scale of America’s long- term modifications of its watersheds.” But was not the recent Stimulus/Porkulus Bill supposed to cover such
needs? What happened to all of those “shovel ready” works projects the government was going to pay for with money stolen from our grandchildren? According to Wired.com, “Not even the federal stimulus package directed any money to this particular set of shovel-ready projects. By her organization’s [the Association of State Dam Safety’s] count, [Executive Director Lori] Spragens said very little cash from the Recovery Act was going to repair the nation’s dams.” Thus the catalog of crises continues. Is it possible that a problem exists for which federal regulation and federal funds are not the solution? Many, indeed most, of the dams and levees around this nation are quite local in scope, serving local, even private, interests and affecting a relatively limited community — the overwhelming majority of dams in this country are far from comparison with the massive dams of the American West. Undoubtedly, there is the lure of "free" money at a time when Washington seems to be hemorrhaging cash, but the time has more than come for communities to determine the cost and benefit of local resources. Removal of Dam Expected to Boost Salmon Runs August 27, 2009 Reported By: Susan Sharon, mpbn.net Sometime in the next couple of weeks, a small dam on a tributary of the Androscoggin River on the Topsham-Lisbon Falls line will be torn down and 43 miles of the scenic Little River set free. It's not a major dam, but it's the first time any dam in the Androscoggin watershed has been removed for ecological reasons. And environmentalists see it as a significant step toward restoring sea-run fish, such as endangered Altantic salmon, to their native spawning grounds. Back in the 1800s, before the construction of dozens of small dams blocked their passage upstream, and before pollution from factories and farms took their toll, Atlantic salmon, shad and other sea-run fish frolicked in the cool, shaded waters of the Little River, one of several tributaries of the lower Androscoggin. And in their heyday, an estimated 50,000 Atlantic Salmon returned from the ocean to this region to lay their eggs. This year, there were 24. John Burrows of the Atlantic Salmon Federation says they face numerous hurdles en route to the same rivers populated by their ancestors. "If you're an Atlantic Salmon, you're coming up the Kennebec River down at Popham Beach and swimming up through Merrymeeting Bay, and then a salmon has a choice: They can continue up the Kennebec or they can make a left hand turn and swim up the Androscoggin." After a couple of miles, the salmon crosses the Brunswick-Topsham town line and then encounters the very first dam on the river at Fort Andross. The dam has fish passage there, but just a few more miles up the Androscoggin is the Pejepscot Dam, also with fish passage. "Once they go past that dam they can hang a right to go past the Little River here or they can continue up the Androscoggin to Lewiston," Burrows says. "There's one more dam, the Worumbo Dam, which is another couple of miles upriver, and after that they have a straight shot to downtown Lewiston, where there's a fourth dam where they don't have fish passage." Burrows says endangered salmon prefer to spawn in smaller tributaries like the Little River. So if they're fortunate enough to bang a right off the Androscoggin, and if the water flow in the Little River is just right, salmon and other fish can actually manage to heave themselves over the low-slung, 70-foot wide dam and make into the upper reaches of the Little River, which stretches 43 miles through mostly woods and farmland. Once the Little River Dam is removed, the journey will be easier. "This is the first time that the public will really see that, yes, our river too can be restored and our fish can be restored," says Neil Ward, the program director for the Androscoggin River Alliance, which has partnered with the Altantic Salmon Federation on the dam removal project. "And on a personal level this is a red banner day for my family. My great-grandfather grew up about a mile- and-a-half up the main stem of the Androscoggin from here and as a little boy he caught wild Atlantic salmon in this river," Ward says. "And this is a kind of a signal for our family that maybe someday my children or my grandchildren will be able to fish for salmon in this river again and that'll be the first time in four or five generations of just my family." As dam removal projects go, Ward says this one is tiny. He says it will cost the partners about $80,000 to do the actual demolition. Most of the funding will come from the federal government. And the dam's owner, Miller Hydro, is not requesting any kind of payment since the dam is no longer in operation. A call to Miller Hydro was not returned by airtime. But Ward says the groups hope to work with the company in the future. That's because Miller Hydro also owns the first dam on the Sabattus River, another tributary of the Androscoggin. (Ever wonder what a navigation lock means economically) New lock takes shape at Chickamauga Dam By: Dave Flessner, Aug. 29, 2009, Chattanooga Times Free Press
Nearly 70 years after President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the Chickamauga Dam and Lock, the outline of a new and bigger lock is taking shape below the dam on the Tennessee River. But the head of the $391 million lock replacement -- $70 million more than the original estimate -- said last week that the project is taking longer and costing more than originally forecast. With much of the available money for lock improvements being absorbed by a major project on the Ohio River, the new Chickamauga Lock probably won't be finished until 2014, at the earliest, project director Wayne Huddleston said. The existing lock, which opened in 1940, is suffering from "concrete growth" caused by a
chemical reaction between the river water and the rock used to build the lock. The Army Corps of Engineers, which is in charge of maintenance on the dam, must spend more than $2 million a year on extra anchors, support devices and engineering analyses to keep the crumbling lock in operation while a new 110-by-600- foot lock is built. "The goal is to keep the current lock open long enough to finish the new and bigger lock," Mr. Huddleston told the Chattanooga Engineers Club last week. An updated estimate of the cost of the new lock just released by the Office of Management and Budget is $70 million above the previous projection, mainly because of the extra four years or more expected for its completion. "The Corps is managing money month to month right now because of the limits on the (Inland Waterway Users) Trust Fund," Mr. Huddleston said. The Corps' lock projects usually are funded jointly with taxpayer money and matching tax collections from river users. For each gallon of diesel fuel they buy, barges that ply the inland waterways pay 20 cents into the Inland Waterway Users Trust Fund, which generates about $175 million annually. Most of at money now is being absorbed by the Olmsted locks and dam project on the Ohio River, which are projected to cost nearly $2 billion and extend until 2021. "There's a great strain on the money available for vital Corps projects like the Chickamauga Lock because of Olmsted right now," said Cline Jones, executive director for the Tennessee River Valley Association, which represents barge operators who use the Tennessee River. "The Tennessee River and its locks are like a chain that is only as strong as its weakest link," Mr. Jones said. "The weak link right now is the Chickamauga Lock, and it's critical that we keep funding for that project." If the lock was not replaced, 318 miles of navigable river would be cut off and more than 100,000 additional truck trips would be added on area highways, Mr. Jones said. Since construction began on the project in 2003, the Corps has spent or budgeted nearly $100 million to design the new lock, reroute Lake Resort Drive, install most of the anchors for the retaining walls to the new lock and erect a cement plant to produce enough concrete for the new structure. With help from Tennessee lawmakers and the federal stimulus plan, contracts for the enlarged lock chamber are expected to be issued by next June, Mr. Huddleston said. The stimulus package provided another $57.5 million for the lock, including $25.5 million for valves, gates and bridges, $27 million to fabricate the new approach walls for the new lock and $5 million to complete the coffer dam to ready the site for the new lock, Mr. Huddleston said. The House Appropriations Committee has recommended an extra $1 million for the lock project in fiscal 2010 under a measure backed by U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, a Republican in Tennessee's Third District, and U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, a Democrat who represents the Fourth District. (Imagine, a life in Russia is worth the price of a Chevy – just $32,000! I now find that 1 million rubles = $32,000. The maintenance of dams is much more than the dam itself.) Tragedy at Russia's Largest Hydro Power Plant Took Over 69 Lives 24.08.2009, Source: newsfromrussia.com
The number of people killed in the accident at Russia’s largest hydroelectric power plant increased from 67 to 69. Six persons are still missing, an official with the Russian EMERCOM said Sunday. Specialists and rescuers – over 2,000 people – are currently involved in the works to liquidate the consequences of the disaster at Sayano- Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Power Plant. Employees of
the plant take part in the works to recover the missing people from the huge engine room of the plant. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a special decree Saturday to assign one million rubles (approximately $32,000) to each family of those killed in the accident. In the meantime, the relatives of the killed workers seek much larger compensations from RusHydro – the company which operates the Sayano-Shushenskaya Plant. They want the company to pay five million rubles to each family. In addition, they want the authorities to guarantee free higher education to the children, whose parents were killed in the disaster. Many of the relatives said that they would be ready to take a legal action against RusHydro. “We are not going to evade responsibility. RusHydro is a state-run company. We are not going to run away from you,” Vasily Zubakin, the chairman of RusHydro’s administration told the people. The Republic of Khakasia, where the power plant is located, is currently bidding farewell to 22 people, whose bodies have been found after the disaster. The ceremony is taking place in the town of Cheryomushki, which has a 10,000-strong population. The majority of the people living in the town work at the Sayano-Shushenskaya Plant. The tragedy affected practically every resident of the town: someone lost their relatives, others lost friends and colleagues. The works to recreate and repair separate engines at the plant have already begun. The recreation of the destroyed part of the engine room of the plant will cost 40 billion rubles. The authorities of the town of Cheryomushki banned the sale of strong alcohol beverages in the town in connection with the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya Plant. “It was decided so to make people stop drinking. Yes, there was a tragedy, funerals are being held, but the uncontrollable consumption of alcohol will cause a greater damage,” an official with the local administration said. RusHydro hopes to completely repair the power plant in three years.
HHHyyydddrrrooo El Dorado County to get hydropower projects Sacramento Business Journal - by Melanie Turner, Staff writer, August 24, 2009 The El Dorado Irrigation District Board of Directors Monday approved two hydropower projects in the district's 2009-2013 capital improvement program and authorized funding for the projects’ design phases. The district expects to net at least $400,000 a year from the two projects, which are expected to be operational in 2011, according to a news release. The projects were identified during a year-long study in conjunction with the El Dorado County Water Agency to seek hydroelectric power generation opportunities within the county. The projects are designed to take advantage of existing water flows and infrastructure at two local reservoirs. The projects will be made up of in-conduit generators, concrete vaults and a series of valves that change the direction of water flows. The systems will capture energy and send it to Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s grid. PG&E offers “feed-in tariffs” for projects such as the two the district approved. Once a number of criteria are met, including state certification of clean power, PG&E will guarantee the district a price for energy produced for more than 20 years. Once it's up and running, district officials said they expect the project to generate revenue immediately. District staff will work with consulting firm Domenichelli and Associates during the project’s design phase. The district could not be reached for further details. (Maybe, it’s about “dam” time) Small Hydropower Dams on Rise As Concerns Grow About Big Projects August 25th, 2009 by Ceylan Oney, cleantechies.com The number of small hydropower projects in the U.S. is increasing as utilities try to avoid concerns about the environmental impact of large dams, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission now has applications for 14,000 megawatts of hydropower projects — enough to power 7 million to 14 million homes — and most are located on small rivers, streams, and creeks. That figure is a 20 percent increase from two years ago. As the number of projects grows in states such as Washington, Colorado, and Montana, environmentalists are beginning to raise objections to the small dams, which critics say can still block fish runs, interfere with whitewater rafting trips, and carve up wilderness habitat with
roads, power lines, and other infrastructure. “One plant here, one plant there, maybe we would support that,” said an official at American Whitewater, a rafters’ group. “But with so many… this really gets to be an issue of cumulative impacts.” Utilities argue that the smaller dams often have minimal environmental impact and, most importantly, emit no greenhouse gases. (Some people still don’t get it. Doing both efficiency upgrades and adding new capacity to existing dams is cheaper, environmentally better, and more efficient than something like wind energy.) Improving Efficiency at Washington's Hydropower Projects Could Boost Output 3x More Than Building New Dams by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY, 08.25.09, treehugger.com
The environmental problems with large-scale hydropower are well documented, with small-scale hydro often seen as a more benign way to exploit the power of rivers for electricity. However, as the Wall Street Journal points out, when you start putting hundreds of small-scale hydropower projects together the impact builds, and won't equal the gains from just improving what's already there: 500 Potential Small-Scale Sites Identified WSJ highlights the small (7.5 MW, enough for 3,500-7,500 homes) and remote (5 miles from any town) Youngs Creek hydropower project in Washington state as a potential sign
of things to come. “Small hydro plants like Youngs Creek are sprouting up across the country, with around 500 potential sites identified by a federal study in Washington State alone. Power managers are seeking ways to meet the growing demand for electricity without turning to sources like coal plants that are widely thought to contribute to global warming.” Gotta love the WSJ's slightly conditional language about coal and climate change, but moving on... Efficiency Improvements = 2,500 MW More Power All told, the US Hydropower Resource Assessment for Washington (done in 1997) says that by simply improving efficiency at existing hydropower plants, and adding electricity generation capability to current non-generating dams, some 2,500 MW could be added to the state's prodigious hydropower capacity. However, developing all of the state's identified yet untapped hydropower sites, including all the small-scale ones, would only add 762 MW. Efficiency a Too Often Overlooked Tool The original article goes on to discuss the pros (potential backup for wind power) and cons (en masse, disruption of rivers for wildlife and rafters) of small-scale hydro, and while it's an interesting read, you can really stop here. The whole thing illustrates a point made over and over again, most recently by President Obama's science advisor: Improving efficiency of things we already have can be one of the most powerful ways to address our future energy needs. Whether that's improving existing hydropower, making our buildings more energy efficient, or structuring our towns, cities and farms to reduce the need for so much private transportation, energy efficiency should be in the first tier of energy options. City moves forward with small hydropower facility Steve Grazier, Cortez Journal Staff Writer, 8/21/2009 Cortez, CA is powering up for the construction of new hydroelectric plant. The city established a hydroelectric power enterprise during its Aug. 11 regular meeting and authorized loan documents for the approximately $2 million hydropower center, said City Manager Jay Harrington. "Basically, we'll be taking energy (water pressure) that's not utilized ... to create electricity," Harrington said. "It's a 20-year project to recoup money. But in 20 years, the city will have an asset as a moneymaker." Harrington noted that an agreement is in place with Empire Electric Association to produce power through the city hydroelectric plant. That power will go into Empire's grid and help the cooperative's renewable energy needs. "The pieces are continuing to move forward on the project," he said.
In addition, a hydroelectric plant could generate electricity off an existing pipeline to provide enough power to run the water treatment facility altogether and produce additional power used for other resources, according to Jack Nickerson, the city's public works director. "We could generate enough power to run the entire (water treatment) plant and have some left over to sell back to Empire Electric for credit," Nickerson has said. "We want to utilize the energy that's there, and lower the city's carbon footprint (in burning electricity) at the same time." The loan between Cortez and the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority is for approximately $1.46 million with the total project cost coming in at about $1.96 million, Harrington said. A $500,000 grant for the hydroelectric plant has been awarded to the city by Gov. Bill Ritter's energy office. Harrington said the 20-year financial loan at 2 percent interest with the state's power authority is scheduled to close Wednesday, Aug. 26. The power plant will be located one-quarter mile from the city's water treatment facility northeast of Cortez along County Road N. City officials hope construction will begin in mid- to late November on the 600-square-foot structure. Corps says Garrison Dam generators to be upgraded The Associated Press - BISMARCK, N.D., August 28, 2009, thedickinsonpress.com The Army Corps of Engineers plans more work to upgrade generators at North Dakota's Garrison Dam, with help from federal stimulus money. The corps says in a statement that the work will "lead to more nonpolluting electricity from the 22nd largest dam in the world." The agency is says it's awarded an $8.9 million contract to Yellowstone Electric Co., of Billings, Mont., for transformer equipment to update the Missouri River dam's five generators. The work is to be finished in June 2011. It's the second phase of the dam's upgrade. The first phase, started in 2000, replaced turbine runners, which are the spinning parts inside turbines that use water to produce electricity. The corps says the Garrison Dam generators produce enough electricity for more than 200,000 customers and return about $34 million a year to the government. US Department of Energy provides $11m funding for marine, hydrokinetics and hydropower projects 28th August 2009, newenergyworldnetwork.com The US Department of Energy (DOE) is to invest $11m in four national laboratory-led projects in marine and hydrokinetics and conventional hydropower. These projects, to occur at laboratories in Colorado, Washington, Illinois, Tennessee and New Mexico, will undertake research into the viability market acceptance and environmental performance for the two areas. The first project, at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, aims to produce new science and technology to support industry as it develops more efficient, less costly and more robust marine and hydrokinetic designs and will receive funding of $2.5m. The second marine and hydrokinetic project, at the Sandia National Laboratory, will receive funding of $1.5m and aims to develop further understanding of the environmental impacts of devices in this sector, with the goal of minimizing time, costs and environmental risks in the deployment of marine and hydrokinetic systems. The third project, to be undertaken at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has been chosen to develop and test new hydropower technologies in the areas of efficiency and environmental performance. The final project, again at the Sandia National Laboratory, will involve the development of cost-effective ways to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of conventional hydropower technologies. The projects will receive funding of $2m and $1m respectively.
(Excerpts) Enabling Wind, Sun To Be Our Main Power Supplies: Quest for Storage -- "Holy Grail" of New Energy Economy -- Nears Goal by Craig A. Severance, Aug 29 2009 by Energy Economy Online (Full Article: http://www.energybulletin.net/49983) _______________. Pump Water Up and Let it Fall Back Down. Pumped hydro-electric storage is just that simple -- when you want to store energy, use electricity to pump water to a high level. Then, whenever power is needed, let the water fall through hydroelectric turbines to generate power. You don't get all your electricity back (about 22% is lost), but you get it when you need it. This enables you to accept power from renewable sources when not needed, and store it for use later. Pumped hydro storage is the largest utility energy storage method in the world, with 20,800 MW already in use in the U.S. However, its use has slowed because of limited sites for hydroelectric power dams. Enter Riverbank Power Corporation, with its simple idea: combine two well- established technologies into one. First, use standard deep mining techniques to create a large cavern
2,000 feet deep, under a body of water such as a river or abandoned quarry. Then, install 4 gigantic 250 MW hydroelectric turbines at the bottom of shafts, for a massive 1,000 MW power supply available on demand. When power is needed, let water fall down the shafts and generate power. When renewable power is available, pump the water back up.
Riverbank Power is now actively exploring 15 sites in the U.S. and Canada, for selection of its first five 1,000 MW pumped hydro (AquabankTM) facilities. Wiscasset, ME is high on the list, where Riverbank has already performed successful bore hole tests of the underlying rock. The Wiscasset site is very symbolic, as it is the home of the former Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, decommissioned more than a decade ago. A boon to Riverbank Power is the site is still set up to connect directly to the transmission grid.
Source: Riverbank Power Costs. Because Riverbank Power has to dig out its own cavern, its cost to construct is significantly higher than a CAES plant -- estimated at $2 Billion for the 1,000 MW facilities, or roughly $2,000/kW. Also, instead of dozens or hundreds of hours of storage, Riverbank plants are designed to run for 6 continuous hours before the water would need to be pumped back up. The timetable is good for hour-to-hour or minute-to- minute fluctuations but not long stretches with no wind or sun. Riverbank is confident of its business plan, and is not asking for taxpayer or utility dollars. Its turbines use no fossil fuels, and the facility should last 100 years. The company plans to buy power at cheap prices, and sell power when it is needed more, at a higher price. If it does that for 100 years, the Company feels it should pay for the initial $2 Billion investment many times over, while creating jobs and giving green energy developers a solid market for their power. ___________________.
EEEnnnvvviiirrrooonnnmmmeeennnttt Opinion
Jo Elg and Will Hart: Dam-breaching will hurt climate - and may not help fish READER'S VIEW ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT BY JO ELG AND WILL HART - Idaho Statesman, 08/29/09 For the past several weeks, Idahoans have read many stories about salmon recovery, hydropower and biological opinions. You have seen newspapers across the Pacific Northwest advocate for dam breaching, quote retired scientists, politicians, judges and environmental activists. Unfortunately, the opinions and needs of the hard-working citizens of Idaho and bordering states who count on the clean, emission-free, reliable and affordable power that the dams provide are more often than not left out of these articles. Over 120,000 Idahoans have their electricity needs met by member utilities of the Idaho Consumer-owned Utilities Association (ICUA). Farmers, ranchers, hospitals, schools, churches, and businesses large and small rely on the rural electric cooperatives and municipal power companies who make up the membership of ICUA. Collectively, ICUA can be considered the second largest utility in Idaho based on the number of customers served. ICUA is extremely concerned that our ability to continue to provide clean, reliable, and affordable power to our friends and neighbors will be drastically reduced and the cost drastically increased if the will of those minority interests who favor removing the Snake River dams comes to fruition. Our members also are
concerned that the unprecedented billions of dollars of their customers' money that has been used effectively over the past decades to provide for fish recovery will have been spent in vain if the dams are destroyed. In order to make additional fish recovery progress and despite the additional investment of billions of dollars that will be committed by our members, ICUA supports the 2008 Federal Biological Opinion (BiOp) on Columbia and Snake River hydro operations. The BiOp was crafted through an unprecedented collaborative process including the majority of affected states, treaty and non-treaty tribes and the federal government. The science behind the BiOp is sound. All factors that might limit survival of these complex species were analyzed, including factors throughout their life cycle from freshwater to the ocean and back. The members of ICUA also care about the environment. Public power in Idaho has been on the forefront in providing energy efficiency programs for our members and in pursuing additional "green" power resources including wind, solar and biomass. We find it ironic in a time where there is much debate and anxiety regarding global climate change that any person, organization or news outlet that shares our environmental concerns would be in favor of eliminating this clean, renewable emission-free source of power. If the dams are eliminated, an estimated additional 4.4 million tons of carbon dioxide would be released into the atmosphere every year. That doesn't include the emissions from the thousands of trucks that would be required to move the multitude of products that are now shipped by barge down the rivers. Consumers are saying "enough" to those interests who are more committed to making political statements and causing additional regional strife and controversy than they are in supporting sound science for fish recovery and clean renewable power for our state. We urge our congressional delegation to maintain their long-standing support of this critical power source. Together, the collaborative process has brought us to the precipice of a solution. Let us now see it through for the benefit of the fish, our environment and our economy. Jo Elg is president of Idaho
Mont. SC orders hearings on Kerr Dam lawsuit BY CHRIS RIZO, AUGUST 29, 2009, LegalNewsLine.com Consumer-Owned Utilities Association and Will Hart is executive director of the Idaho Consumer- owned Utilities Association. HELENA, Mont. (Legal Newsline) -- The Montana Supreme Court has ordered new proceedings on a lawsuit against electric utility PPL Montana over its management of Kerr Dam. The 1999 class action lawsuit was filed by a group of landowners in Flathead Lake, Mont., who allege that PPL Montana and its predecessor Montana Power Co. caused shoreline erosion by keeping the lake too full. For its part, PPL Montana has argued that the properties in question are subject to longstanding easements that allow the dam operator to flood, sub-irrigate, drain or otherwise affect their properties with the waters of Flathead Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. MPC managed and operated Kerr Dam until December 1999, when it conveyed its interest to PPL Montana LLC. At trial, the District Court of the Eleventh Judicial District ruled in favor of PPL Montana, finding that the lands are subject to easements. Now, the state high court says hearings are in order to determine if released lake water caused unreasonable damage. "Nothing in the easement language establishes a limiting contour line or ceiling at 2,893 feet above mean sea level on each Landowner's parcel such that all 'flooding, sub-irrigating, draining, or otherwise affecting' must occur below this elevation," the court said. As for the lawsuit's class action status, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday vacated the district court's order certifying the case, and has asked the trial court to reconsider whether class action status should be granted. PPL Montana has argued that the class action status should not remain since PPL Montana took over management of Kerr Dam from Montana Power Co., the original defendant in the case. Collaborating for salmon by Scott Corwin and John Saven, guest opinion, August 31, 2009 As policymakers grapple with climate change proposals, one aspect is clear to citizens in the Northwest: We are blessed with the largest clean and renewable power system in the country. The Columbia and Snake River dams bring enormous economic and environmental benefit to our region and the nation. And the dams do this while serving the needs of salmon, navigation, flood control, power, irrigation and recreation. In this light, it's frustrating to see those outside our region preaching the destruction of these dams in the name of salmon. The timing of these attacks is transparent -- the Obama administration currently is reviewing the plan for operating the federal hydro system, and review of that plan is pending in U.S. District Court. A claim
among the dam-breaching proponents is that there has not been adequate collaboration on the plan. But the only ones making that claim are the few who did not get their way on extreme measures they proposed. Meanwhile, federal agencies have worked for years with the Northwest states and tribes to create the most thorough and comprehensive approach to species recovery ever seen. This so- called "biological opinion" under the Endangered Species Act is based on the best available science, and the effort over the past decade has helped push the best science to even higher levels of understanding of the needs of these important fish. Throughout both the Clinton and Bush administrations, what the best independent scientists found was that breaching dams was not necessary in order to enhance salmon runs. Rather, they proposed a reasoned approach incorporating measures for hydro passage, harvest impacts, hatchery practices and habitat improvement. Because salmon runs are impacted by all these areas, this approach just makes sense. Another inconvenient fact for the dam-breaching proponents is that fish passage through the hydro system has improved greatly, and continues to improve all the time with new information and technology. Salmon returning to the Columbia River have increased from less than 500,000 fish passing Bonneville Dam in 1938 to well over 1 million fish each year. With respect to the runs that have been of particular focus lately, Snake River sockeye have seen their highest returns in decades, and Snake River fall Chinook returns are meeting recovery goals and are orders of magnitude higher than during the 1990s when much of this effort got underway. Residents living in cities and towns served with clean, renewable hydroelectric power generated in the Columbia and Snake Rivers have paid for this success. Through power rates paid to consumer-owned utilities served by Bonneville Power Administration, these electricity consumers have funded an unprecedented effort that should and must continue. The pieces are in place for further success if this extraordinary regional collaboration for salmon is allowed to move forward. Scott Corwin is executive director of the Public Power Council. John Saven is chief executive officer of the Northwest Requirements Utilities. iThis 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 to those who have an interest in receiving this information for non-profit and educational purposes only.
i 9/11/2009
“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: Errazuriz Estate Chardonnay (Chile) 2007 “No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap.” - - Thomas Jefferson OOOttthhheeerrr SSStttuuuffffff::: (Oh oh, NIMBY has arrived. Ya gotta admit a bunch of wind mills or solar panels aren’t a thing of beauty. And, you can’t go fishing or boat riding on those ugly ducklings. Come to think of it, playing on a coal pile like we did when we were kids is not a good idea either.) Renewable Energy, Meet the New Nimbys Solar and Wind-Power Proposals Draw Opposition From Residents Fearing Visual Blight; a Dilemma for Some Environmentalists September 3, 2009, Wall Street Journal
Technology changes, but human nature doesn't. Environmentally friendly energy projects are running into the same cries of "not in my backyard" that stymied a previous generation of alternative-power efforts. Even as Americans tell pollsters they are eager for alternatives to fossil fuel, some are fighting proposals for solar and wind projects and for the thousands of miles of transmission lines that would be needed to carry the cleaner energy to market. The protests echo grass-roots opposition that has blocked nuclear plants and energy-producing trash incinerators for decades. The new backlash is fueled by worries that renewable-energy projects would occupy vast amounts of land to produce significant amounts of power.
Either renewable projects would have to be centralized and sprawling, covering many square miles apiece, or they would need to be distributed in pieces across millions of rooftops and lawns. Renewable-energy projects would reduce pollution and combat climate change. The trade-off is that many more people would have to see wind turbines, solar panels and other energy infrastructure near their homes in order to diminish the need for coal mines and other fossil-fuel facilities. "Anywhere I walked on this property, we'd be able to view them and we'd be able to hear them," says Tina FitzGerald, who lives with her family on a 12-acre Vermont farm near where a developer has proposed erecting five wind turbines, each about 400 feet tall. "There should be a place for these -- someplace that isn't going to impact families quite
Quote of Note: “A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the
bricks that others throw at him or her." --David Brinkley
so much." In California, which is considering a goal of producing a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, some residents are fighting proposals to build vast solar-energy plants in the Mojave Desert, one of the most remote and reliably sunny spots in the U.S. Up and down the East Coast, meanwhile, residents are opposing plans for wind farms, fearing they will mar views and lower property values. Americans aren't alone in their skittishness. In the U.K., which also aims to generate about one-third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, local opposition is holding up proposed wind projects. Resistance in Ontario led the Canadian province to pass legislation in May establishing a framework for locating renewable-energy sites; local opponents will be able to challenge projects on environmental or safety grounds, but not for aesthetic reasons. In a report last year, the Paris-based International Energy Agency cited "not in my backyard" sentiment as among the top five threats to the growth of renewable energy world-wide. The U.S. has to make a tough choice, says Jason Grumet, president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank that supports giving the federal
government more authority to push renewable-energy projects forward. That will be necessary, he says, to curb the country's dependence on foreign oil and its greenhouse-gas emissions. "You have to ask yourself: At what point do priority national interests need to override local goals?" The clash over whether it is more important to produce nonpolluting domestic energy or to protect environmentally valuable places poses a dilemma for some longtime activists. Calvin French, a 72-year-old retired high school English teacher, has belonged to the Sierra Club all his adult life. Leaders of the environmental group are working with California officials to help pick sites for big renewable-energy transmission lines as a way to combat climate change. But many club members, including Mr. French, want to protect their favorite places.
His battlefield is the Carrizo Plain, a 460-square-mile swath of grassland about 115 miles north of Los Angeles that is traversed by the San Andreas Fault. The parched, rugged expanse is home to species including the endangered kit fox and the antelope-like pronghorn. It also is one of the most alluring spots for solar panels in the nation's most populous state. There is prolific sunlight. Much of the land has been subdivided into farms, meaning that acreage no longer can be defended as untouched. And there is a high- voltage line nearby, with capacity to carry solar power to the public. Amid local opposition, county and state officials for months have been mulling three big solar-energy projects that
together would amount to some of the biggest solar arrays in the world. "Big things like global warming" are difficult to understand, says Mr. French. "But you can go out into a beautiful place and say, 'This needs to be protected.' That's easy to understand." Around the world, countries that have rolled out fossil-fuel alternatives most aggressively have used heavy- handed government action to address such sentiment. France, for example, now produces about 80% of its electricity from nuclear energy. But France's national government manages the country's nuclear- construction program, and it has pushed ahead for decades despite sometimes-heated public protests. Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress now are fighting over how much power the federal government should have in getting energy projects built. Many renewable-energy proponents say a massive network of new transmission wires would have to be built to bring large supplies of renewable power to population centers. A Senate committee passed a bill in June that would give the federal government authority to decide where to put new power lines if states, which now make those decisions, move too slowly. The drive for more federal control has the support of many executives in the electric industry, who say the new transmission lines should be available for energy from all sources, including fossil fuel. But there is plenty of opposition to giving Washington that power. Some lawmakers from densely populated states don't want big new transmission lines running through their land. Many state utility regulators also object to an increased federal push. Caught in the middle are states where renewable energy suddenly is big business. Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal likens his state's wind boom to the coal rush that hit Wyoming three decades ago in the wake of an energy shock. At a wind-energy conference in Wyoming last month, Gov. Freudenthal, a Democrat, delivered a stern warning to wind-turbine developers, telling them to make sure their projects don't harm a small bird called the sage grouse. "What I have is an obsession with making sure that the economy of this state continues to function, and it won't if that bird gets listed," according to his office's
transcript of his remarks. Anything that nudges the sage grouse toward the federal government's list of endangered species, he explained, would trigger land-use restrictions that would jeopardize Wyoming's main economic engine: the production of coal, oil and natural gas. "Generally in this state, we support economic development," he told the wind developers. But "when all of a sudden it ends up in our backyard, our view changes a lot."
DDDaaammmsss (Well, maybe some of the facts are a little off target, but he’s gotta point) Dam busters Turlock Journal, Sept. 1, 2009 In the last 12 years, over 400 hydroelectric dams and their associated reservoirs have been dismantled in the United States of America. While China is building dams all over the place, the United States is tearing them down. Why? The reason given for the destruction of our dams is to restore wild rivers and endangered salmon and other species. In short, it’s to restore the environment to its original natural state. But global warming is a reality. The primary cause of global warming is the burning of fossil fuels. The associated rise of sea levels and unstable weather patterns are caused by heat and burnt gases trapped in the earth’s atmosphere. The global ice sheets are melting off of continental land mass and thus are adding water volume to the sea. The willful destruction of hydroelectric dams and reservoirs contribute to global warming, not diminish it. Because electrical power consumers have to then buy their power from fossil fuel powered plants. There has been no new nuclear power plants built in the United States in 30 years. The destruction of the reservoirs causes increases in surface temperatures, a decrease in water quality and an increase in reliance on subsurface water sources, which often contain chemical contaminates. Thus there will be an increase in cancer rates. People like to gather around reservoirs for recreation. They like to camp. It’s one of the cheapest forms of recreation today. Destroying reservoirs forces campers and boaters to concentrate around other natural and man-made lakes. People have to drive further and spend more on gas and such to restore endangered salmon species. One has to remember that international corporate-controlled fishing fleets over-fish the oceans and decrease the numbers of endangered salmon species returning to their natural spawning streams and rivers. By increasing salmon hatcheries and encouraging more commercial fish farms, fewer species of salmon will go extinct. Creating artificial water channels which bypass natural streams down stream of hydroelectric dams should end damage to spawning areas and see more returning fish. Also, increased efforts by environmentalists to move the large salmon beyond reach of dam turbines will insure species survival. One has to wonder if the wholesale destruction of America’s clean and paid for hydroelectric industry by the “dam busters” is really for the salmon and natural environment, or if it is really for the international corporate fossil fuel industry. — Michael Maggetti (Very long article, but interesting for dam safety folks) Dam Safety: Investigating Failures of Post-Tensioned Anchors ANCHORBOLTS.BLOGSPOT.COM, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 FULL ARTILE: HTTP://ANCHORBOLTS.BLOGSPOT.COM/2009/09/DAM-SAFETY-INVESTIGATING-FAILURES- OF.HTML WA considers possible dam failure Water seeping through Green River dam prompts warnings, disaster planning BY ZACHARY HOFFMAN | SEATTLE | September 3, 2009, disasternews.net If a Washington State dam fails this winter, the resulting flood could cause more than $3 billion in damage to residents and businesses in the Green River Valley say officials who are concerned about water now leaking through the Howard Hanson Dam. The dam is currently only able to operate at 75 percent capacity due to increased seepage caused by record rainfall from last January. If prolonged rains come again this year the
excess water could surge down river to areas that have not seen flooding since the dam was built. “An entire generation has lived without flooding,” said Lynne Miller of King County Emergency Management. “There hasn’t been any flooding damage because of the dam and the levees for 50 years now.” Patricia Graesser of the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) said, “We raised water levels to typical flood levels (tiered pool raise); we found that above 1155 feet above sea level the rate of seepage was significantly higher.” The question for cities in the Green River Valley is would it be fiscally sound to temporarily move critical infrastructure and people during flood
season? The valley could lose $46 million a day in economic losses. On Monday, the King County Council gave Executive Kurt Triplett the ability to declare a state of emergency before floodwaters come into the valley. Miller said, “We have a pre-comprehensive help outreach strategy, compiling brochures and letters to give resources about the dam and flooding, pushing flood insurance and coordinating personal alert systems -- every landline could get a phone call.” The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is also involved in public outreach by launching a very aggressive flood insurance campaign, not only to the green river valley, but also to those who suffer from flooding across the state. Family Insurance Agency’s Michael McCaughan in Kent, WA said in years past no one bought flood insurance unless it was mandated; this week he has sold 12 policies. “There are a lot of people living in the valley who are not doing anything about it, McCaughan said. “There are 25,000 people, and I sold 12.” One Farm Bureau Insurance agent said, when the waters rise people will flock to agents to buy policies, but they do not realize that there is a 30-day waiting period. It is like trying to buy life insurance after you have been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Graesser said, “The dam is an earthen dam and on the right side (right abutment) the dam is tied into landslide material, water moves through that material and it always has.” “The landslide material is made up of big boulders, sand, clay, pebbles and all sorts of material; gaps are there,” said Graesser. “We don’t want water to move through the abutment and move material.” Injecting grout slurry into the gaps in the abutment will help temporarily fix the excessive seepage while more permanent fixes are being explored. “If the dam itself (the constructed structure) was the problem, we have construction drawings and specs to know the problem and be able to fix it,” Graesser said. “If we don’t get a big flood this year we need to prepare for one next year,” said Miller. “Next year we are going to be talking about this again, every year until there is a permanent fix we’ll be talking about this.” Nearby, in Walla Walla, WA the USACE has also classified the seepage problem at the Mill Creek Dam as Class 1 “urgent and compelling.” During normal operations the reservoir contains only five to 10 percent of capacity and there is no evidence to suggest an emergency situation exists. “The Corps is screening all of its (635) dams and assigning safety classification ratings. The new dam safety classification system, entitled Dam Safety Action Category (DSAC), spotlights dams and navigation locks with compelling problems first,” according to a USACE news release. The Clearwater Dam in Missouri is another dam that has been the Class 1 rating through the DSAC. Ratings under the DSAC range from 1 to 5, DSAC-5 being the safest. PA DEP Completes Enhanced Inspections of 42 Coal Facilities, No Major Structural Problems Found reuters.com, Sep 3, 2009 Inspections Ordered in Wake of Tennessee Ash Spill HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- DEP dam safety inspectors found no major structural problems during enhanced inspections of 42 coal ash, slurry and waste impoundments around the state, Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger reported today. Hanger ordered the inspections to ensure the structures are being maintained and operated safely and in compliance with Pennsylvania's dam safety regulations following the sudden collapse of two coal ash impoundments in Tennessee last December. The accident flooded nearby homes and fouled miles of waterways and several hundred acres of farmland. "Pennsylvania has one of the most comprehensive dam safety programs in the country, with strict regulations for the construction, inspection and maintenance of these structures, and a program of regular
inspections for dams that could endanger lives and property in the event of a failure," Hanger said. "I ordered that these enhanced inspections in addition to regularly scheduled inspections for Pennsylvania's coal ash and other waste impoundments so that we can reassure the public that these facilities are being monitored and maintained in good condition." Under Pennsylvania law, dams and impoundments that could endanger downstream residents in the event of collapse are classified as "high-hazard" dams and must be inspected annually by a professional engineer hired by the owner. In addition, these dams are inspected annually by a DEP dam safety inspector. High hazard dam owners must create and maintain a current emergency action plan that provides a blueprint for the dam operator and local and county emergency management officials to respond to structural or other problems at the dam. In January, DEP began conducting inspections of 10 coal ash basins that were large enough to require dam permits and a Westmoreland County dam that contains chemical sludge. Those inspections revealed that the dam inspection reports were up to date and that no significant structural problems were evident at these impoundments. The department recently completed inspections of 31 additional impoundments, most of which contain coal slurry. Although some common maintenance issues were noted at some dams, no serious structural or operation problems were discovered. The department is currently reviewing the inspection reports and will assist dam owners with correcting any potential safety or structural problems that may be identified. In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is conducting independent inspections of coal ash storage facilities nationwide and will inspect three small coal ash basins at the Bruce Mansfield power plant in Beaver County and the coal ash basins at the Martins Creek power plant in Northampton County. DEP dam safety inspectors will accompany EPA on these inspections. DEP regulates approximately 3,200 dams in Pennsylvania. (This should get your “goat”) Dam Goats allthingsgoat.com, September 5, 2009
ATLANTA, Ga. — Jen Davis’ daily commute has been enlivened since she discovered the goats on a steep and rocky hillside where water exits Lake Lanier’s Buford Dam. “It just seemed so out of place out in the ‘burbs! So I started to look for them every morning,” Davis said. “They’re not always visible, and I didn’t know if I just couldn’t see them or if they were kept like zoo animals and herded inside for the night.” When an online search revealed no information about the goats, Davis persevered and found a contact within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, charged with maintaining the dam. She learned the goats have lived on the dam for vegetation control since it was built in 1956 on the Chattahoochee River as a flood control project, in large part to protect Metro Atlanta. Davis says the Corps keeps between four and eight mixed-breed does on the dam, supplying them with water and additional food, and bringing in a buck when the herd size needs to be increased. “Several goats can be found grazing, leaping, or laying about the rocks, taking advantage of the overhangs for shelter, said Davis, who Twitters under the name Jend420. Davis’ enthusiasm for the little-known goats recently led her to create this Facebook Page dedicated to learning more about, and preserving, the goats’ three- decade history. She’s asking anyone with photos and reported
sightings to drop a note to her on Twitter, or to the goats’ page, and she welcomes one and all who share her fascination with Buford Dam’s best-kept secret. (Well, this is interesting. Duh, where do people think those great rides in a raft come from? When the weather is nice, it’s probably low water and good to have a dam spike the flows.) RAFTING COMPANIES SAY DAM REMOVAL COULD HURT BUSINESS mailtribune.com, September 04, 2009 Local whitewater rafting companies worry that plans to remove dams from the Klamath River could put some of their business under water. PacifiCorp, a utility company that owns four hydroelectric dams on the river, is in the middle of closed-door talks with federal energy officials and representatives from Oregon and California concerning the fate of the dams. Recent talks have suggested a willingness on PacifiCorp's part to
remove them as part of an effort to restore fish and wildlife to the Klamath Basin. Among the interested parties not involved in those talks, however, is Bart Baldwin, co-owner of Noah's Rafting and Fishing Trips in Ashland. The developments worry Baldwin, who says removing the J.C. Boyle Dam, northernmost of the PacifiCorp dams, would deal a huge blow to local rafting businesses. The dam generates much of the water current necessary to support high-class rapids to the south. Were they to be removed, the water level would rise, but the rapids would be effectively buried. While noting he's not a dam supporter, Baldwin said, "The bottom line is, if the dams come out it would be a pretty big hit for us." Twenty miles west of Klamath Falls, the dam sits at the mouth of the John Boyle Reservoir on the Upper Klamath River. From May through October, Noah's Rafting runs one- and two-day whitewater excursions below the reservoir's mouth. Baldwin called the area "unique." "It's probably the best whitewater day trip for a family that you can take in this region," he said. "There really isn't much that you can compare it to." Another local rafting company, Kokopelli River Guides, views the situation in a similar light. Though owner Matt Dopp does not think the dam removal project would be drastic enough to push rafting companies out of business, he said dam workers generate 1,500 cubic feet of water per second to bolster the river's current, which puts the stretch of river in a league of its own when it comes to whitewater rafting. No firm deadline is in place to conclude the negotiations, which have been ongoing since early in the year. (I’m going squeal on these people and tell American Rivers about this one.) Low Dam on Beaver Creek Helena National Forest, Lewis & Clark County, Montana flickr.com, 9/6/09 [water is impounded here so it can be diverted for use in watering cattle.]
HHHyyydddrrrooo Microhydro lands in the San Juans The Durango Telegraph, September 3, 2009 Ouray, CO A new take on a tried and true source of renewable energy is coming to the far side of the San Juan Mountains. Town officials in Ouray hope to secure a $20,000 grant that will allow them to generate electricity from the power of falling water. Ouray has had one hydroelectric plant since the 1880s, one of the four longest-continuously operating plants in the world. It generates 800 kilowatts, which used to be enough to supply much of the town’s electrical needs. But Ouray’s electrical use has grown in recent years. To help reduce reliance upon coal-generated electricity, the town has taken several measures. First it replaced incandescent lights with LEDs, which use far less electricity and last considerably longer. Next, the town hopes to harness the power of gravity through a small hydroelectric plant, called a microhydro unit. The proposed plant could generate 20 kilowatts of electricity and would offset the energy required to pump water from the town’s geothermally heated hot springs through a water purifier.
Mayor Bob Risch, who ran for office on the platform of making the town “energy responsible,” says it costs $2,000 a month to operate the pump. The town, he said, hopes to save $20,000 annually through installation of the microhydro unit. Meanwhile, work continues on a bigger hydroelectric plant in Aspen, one able to produce 5.5 million kilowatt hours annually. Aspen voters agreed to issue $5.5 million in bonds to pay for the facility on Castle Creek. The Aspen Times says that when the hydroelectric plant goes into production, likely late next year, it will reduce the community’s carbon footprint by 0.6 percent. At a recent meeting of several mayors from Southwest Colorado, including those from Ouray and Telluride, electrical providers noted that there are many new ideas for electrical generation. However, they added that more efficient use of existing electricity is even more important. “We have a responsibility to serve our members’ demands,” said Wes Perrin, a Telluride resident and president of the Board of Directors for San Miguel Power Authority. “But, if we can make members more aware of energy efficiency, we can lessen that demand.”
(Whoa, not so fast – the Corps of Engineers will pay the bill. And, the judge gave them 8 % on their money. Does anyone know where I can buy a 5 year CD at that rate?) Plaintiffs awarded millions Santee Cooper flooded land when building plant BY Nadine Parks, The Post and Courier, September 5, 2009 J. Edward Bell was a young attorney when he stood on the banks of the Santee River in the 1980s to survey the land after an electric-generating hydroelectric plant was turned on in St. Stephen and nearly 60 waterfront properties flooded. About 40,000 acres -- some of the most beautiful property in the state -- were now under water, devastating the farmers, poor and elderly who lived there, the Georgetown attorney said. Houses and cabins floated away, vegetable gardens were ruined, nearly 3,000 boar drowned and timber rotted and toppled over. The property still floods to this day. The property owners in Georgetown, Berkeley and Williamsburg counties must have thought the rookie attorney was the only one who would take their case, he said, and he told them they couldn't fight the government. He took the case anyway. On Friday, more than two decades later, U.S. District Judge Patrick Duffy ruled against Santee Cooper and for the property owners. He awarded a group of them, including a Mount Pleasant man and two sisters from Charleston, about $55 million plus 8 percent interest, compounded each year since the state-owned utility fired up the plant in 1985. The total figure could reach in the hundreds of millions. Several years ago, a judge ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which built the plant, had to reimburse Santee Cooper for any lawsuit payments, Bell said. So, in the end, the federal government will foot the bill. "They (power company officials) haven't lost anything. They haven't learned anything, and they made millions of dollars doing it, all on the backs of the landowners," Bell said. A spokeswoman and an attorney for Santee Cooper weren't available Friday night for comment. It's the second judgment against the company over flooding of property downriver from the hydroelectric plant at Lake Moultrie. The plant's massive turbines generate electricity and push water down the river, causing it to rise, Bell said. The idea was to also cut the volume of water flowing into Charleston Harbor. "When men try to take over God's work, they don't seem to get it right," the lawyer said. About seven other landowners won a previous settlement for nearly $14 million, and another group of about a dozen land owners are awaiting their turn in court, Bell said. Some of Bell's clients dropped out or died years ago, fighting against the water and never seeing their due. Friday's victory for one group is bittersweet, Bell said. "Finally, it’s over (for them)," he said. "The amount of money really is very small when you think of something over 25 years."
WWWaaattteeerrr (It’s scary when CA politics makes National politics look efficient) Slow start to negotiations for water legislation Leaders have trouble deciding who will serve on water panel. Sep. 01, 2009, By E.J. Schultz, Fresno Bee
SACRAMENTO -- With only 10 days to go in the session, state lawmakers are taking a final stab at solving California's water woes. But the last-minute push for legislation got off to an inauspicious start Tuesday after leaders had trouble deciding who would serve on a newly formed committee charged with drafting a plan. Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, announced his members for the joint Assembly-Senate 14- member panel in the morning. He promised to make water his top priority in the remaining days of session, which ends on Sept. 11. "Water is the best opportunity we have right now to show that we can do something
big," said Steinberg, who named himself as the panel's leader. "Maybe we won't get it done in the next 10 days," he added, "but I'm sure going to do my darnedest." But the Assembly delayed its announcement of who would serve on the committee, forcing the postponement of the first meeting until today. Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, eventually decided to name herself to the panel, which includes Valley Sens. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, and Dean Florez, D-Shafter. The delay meant one less day to craft a solution that has eluded Republicans and Democrats for years. The conference committee must complete its plan by next Tuesday. It would then need approval of the full Assembly and Senate. "This is a longshot," said Assembly Member Tom Berryhill, R-Modesto. But we "desperately need something to happen to move this forward." Democrats, who control the conference committee, are pushing for an independent council to oversee the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the source of farm and drinking water for much of the state. Republicans are skeptical about creating such a council, which they fear would block a proposed canal that would pump water around the delta southward. Delta residents, who strongly oppose the canal, look at the council very differently -- they worry its sole mission would be to build a canal. The Schwarzenegger administration believes it has authority to build the canal -- known in the water world as "conveyance" -- but approval by the proposed council would give the project momentum. Water users, including Valley farmers, have said they are willing to pick up the tab for the canal, which would cost billions of dollars. State water officials already are studying various alternatives, including a canal around the delta or a tunnel under it. Steinberg said "conveyance must be a part of this package," but "what the recommended method or mode of conveyance still remains to be seen." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he won't sign any bills that don't include a bond to pay for water projects such as dams, which have long been favored by Republicans but opposed by Democrats. Previous bond proposals have run near $10 billion. But Democratic leaders -- if they agree to a bond at all -- likely will push for a smaller dollar amount. Several Latino Democrats, including Florez, have bucked more liberal members in pushing for a bond, which would have to be approved by voters. They have been spurred on by the Latino Water Coalition, a Valley- based group pushing for new dams and canals that they say are needed to secure water for farms and jobs for farmworkers. But on Tuesday, a union coalition that includes the United Farm Workers union appeared to jump into the battle on the other side. The "Change to Win" coalition, which also includes the Teamsters and other unions, on Monday gave $1 million to the "United Farm Workers' Committee to Oppose State Water Bonds," according to campaign filings. The UFW could not be reached for comment late Tuesday afternoon. Adam Mendelsohn, a Schwarzenegger political adviser, speculated that the donation was an "intimidation tactic" meant to get the governor to sign a bill on his desk that would make it easier for farmworkers to join unions. The governor has vetoed similar "card check" bills in years past. "The fact that they would oppose a water bond to get a union organizing bill signed is totally inappropriate," Mendelsohn said. North Platte River is lake’s lifeblood By David Hendee, WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER, September 6, 2009 CASPER, Wyo. — The North Platte River is one of the most tightly harnessed streams in the West. Saddled with a series of dams, the North Platte provides irrigation water from central Wyoming to central Nebraska from more than 2,000 miles of canals and ditches. “It’s complicated plumbing,’’ said John Lawson, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation engineer in charge of federal dams on the North Platte. It’s also vital plumbing to western Nebraska’s Lake McConaughy, the largest reservoir on the river. North Platte water — whether it’s trickling runoff from irrigated cropland along the old Oregon Trail or flood flows from melting snow in the Rocky Mountains — is the lifeblood of Lake McConaughy.
Born in the Rockies, the North Platte tumbles northward from Colorado and flows through dams in central Wyoming’s mountain valleys and granite canyons. Then it arcs southeasterly into Nebraska, passes through McConaughy, joins the South Platte and creates the Platte River. Lawson regulates the North Platte’s flow by raising or lowering reservoir levels. The keystone of the system is 100-year-old Pathfinder Dam. Completed in 1909, Pathfinder was one of the first dams built under a mandate by President Theodore Roosevelt to reclaim the arid and semi-arid West with farmland irrigated by water stored in mountain reservoirs. Farmers in Nebraska’s North Platte valley were among the first beneficiaries of reclamation water. Like McConaughy, Pathfinder and other Wyoming reservoirs sustained big drought declines during the past decade. But better mountain snowpacks started to replenish the reservoirs in recent years. Lawson has a hunch that more water could be heading out of the Rockies and into McConaughy next year. “This has been such an unusually cool year that if we go into fall cool and wet, it could be an indicator that we may have a fairly good year coming up,’’ he said. “But we’ve had two unusually strong snowpack years, and history says the next year drops off. So who knows?” Still, Lawson wants to avoid the nightmare of 1983 in which late spring rainstorms hit a big snowpack, creating historic runoff that caught the bureau with too much water in its reservoirs. Floodwater surged down the North Platte into western Nebraska. Then the Rockies had another big snowpack in 1984. Lawson is hedging his bets by filling Pathfinder with more water than usual this fall, lowering upstream Seminoe Reservoir in preparation for a big snowmelt next spring. The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, the owner of McConaughy, hopes a big snowpack this winter forces Lawson to evacuate water from the Wyoming reservoirs to flow directly to Nebraska and refill McConaughy. “I wouldn’t mind doing that as long as it’s not a repeat of 1983 and ’84,’’ Lawson said. “We are totally dependent on snowpack.’’
EEEnnnvvviiirrrooonnnmmmeeennnttt (Old - Long article) Full article at: http://naturalsystems.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/penobscot-river-restoration-trust/ Removal of dam from Maine river a success Posted ooriginally by: PENOBSCOT RIVER RESTORATION TRUST, 4/24/09 iThis 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 to those who have an interest in receiving this information for non-profit and educational purposes only.
i 9/18/2009
“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: Strong Arms Shiraz 2007 “No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap.” - - Thomas Jefferson OOOttthhheeerrr SSStttuuuffffff::: Short news week!
DDDaaammmsss EPA Releases Survey Results on Coal Ash Impoundments 09/08/2009, Contact Information: Latisha Petteway, [email protected], 202-564-3191, 202-564-4355 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is making information publicly available from electric utilities on the management of coal combustion residuals contained in surface impoundments and similar management units. Following the coal ash spill at a Tennessee Valley Authority facility in Kingston, Tenn., EPA requested the information from electric utilities to inform an assessment of the structural integrity of the surface impoundments. The responses from electric utilities cover 584 units from 219 facilities. In addition, EPA is conducting on-site assessments of the coal ash impoundments and ponds at electric utilities. EPA will assess by the end of the calendar year all of the units that have a dam hazard potential rating of "high" or "significant" in the responses provided by electric utilities to EPA’s information request. The hazard potential rating refers to the potential for loss of life or damage if there is a dam failure. The ratings do not refer to the structural stability of the dam. Dams assigned the high hazard potential rating are those where failure or mis-operation will probably cause loss of human life; dams assigned a significant hazard potential rating are those where failure will not probably cause loss of human life but can cause economic loss, environmental damage, or damage to infrastructure (for example, roads and bridges). The results of this effort will be posted on EPA’s Web site as final reports are completed.
Quote of Note: “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those
who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” - - Thomas Jefferson
Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu
(Excerpts- What was this guy thinking? This is no little pond in the backyard? The guy seems a little loony!) Nashville at law: Feds sue businessman over unauthorized dam Civil penalties sought against Rich Roberts could top $27M -----------------------. By E. Thomas Wood, nashvillepost.com, 09-14-2009
At $37,500 a day, defying the federal government can be an expensive pastime. That’s how much the U.S. Department of Justice is asking Nashville’s U.S. District Court to assess local entrepreneur Richardson M. Roberts in civil penalties. More than two years have passed since the Environmental Protection Agency ordered him to restore wetlands and streams on a farm he owns in Humphreys County where he built a large dam without state or federal permits. With Roberts "liable for a civil penalty of up to $37,500 for each day of each violation" of the Clean Water Act, according to a lawsuit filed Sept. 4, the full bill could theoretically top $27 million. Acting on behalf of the EPA, Justice Officials filed the complaint four months after The City Paper first reported that Roberts was under federal investigation. In addition to civil penalties, the government is seeking court orders prohibiting Roberts from "causing the
discharge of dredged or fill material or other pollutants into the water" and making him pay for the "complete restoration of waters" on his property. In 2005, Roberts built the large earthen dam in the Egypt Hollow area, on a more than 2,000-acre tract of farm and forest land north of Interstate 40 along State Route 230. It created a 58-acre lake. He had spent years in discussions with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation about how he might obtain a permit for the dam, but he never got one. Roberts has built and sold two large companies in the field of electronic payment processing. With business partner Greg Daily, he started PMT Services Inc. in 1984 on less than $2,000 in capital. It grew into a publicly traded company that sold out for $1.3 billion in 1998. Roberts' next venture, Verus Financial Management Inc., was sold in 2006 for $325 million. It emerged in subsequent litigation that Roberts had made more than $50 million from the Verus deal. He faced a felony aggravated assault charge after a 2005 altercation with a pedestrian who had yelled at him to slow down while motoring down Windsor Drive. Roberts stopped his car, got out and hit the man hard enough to fracture his skull and knock him unconscious. Just before he was to go on trial in November 2007, Roberts was allowed to plea down to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault while paying an undisclosed amount in restitution to the victim. The criminal case has since been expunged from his record. Roberts’ attorney, J.W. Luna of Nashville, would not comment on the new lawsuit. But in April, he told The City Paper, “We believe the thing was built where it should have been built and that a permit wasn't needed there.” Three different environmental engineering consultants hired by Roberts have concurred that the dam and lake are exempt from permit requirements, Luna said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa S. Rivera is the government’s local counsel in the case, filed by DoJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. ---------- ----------------. (This one is news to me also. Always thought it happened in Norway too – does anybody out there know more, please let me know?) Juneau likely was pioneer in lake taps Letter to the editor, September 15, 2009, juneauempire.com The Sunday article on the Bart Lake part of the Lake Dorothy hydroelectric project implied that lake tap technology was pioneered in Norway. The problem with that statement is that more than 90 years ago, when the Annex Lake project was under construction, the engineer in charge, H.L. Wollenberg, wrote to consulting hydroelectric engineer L. Jorgenson in San Francisco to ask him if he knew of anyone who had successfully tapped a lake at 150 feet under the surface and not lost the water. He did not. Annex Lake was successfully tapped Feb. 14, 1916. That lake is supplying electric power to Juneau as you read this. Unless someone comes up with an earlier date, Juneau was the pioneer in lake taps. Albert Shaw, Juneau
Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu
HHHyyydddrrrooo August 31, 2009 - Three Hydropower Projects Achieve LIHI Certification at LIHI's August Governing Board Meeting
(Do these projects look like they could be a great threat to the environment? Then, in 5 years, they have to do it all over again! And, why do consumers need assurance? Isn’t the assurance needed to protect the environment?) Portland, Maine (August 27, 2009) -The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) Governing Board announced today that the Harris Bridge Project in Virginia, the Dodge Falls Project on the Connecticut River in New Hampshire and Vermont, and the Tallassee Shoals Project in Georgia earned LIHI's Low Impact Certification. The effective certification dates for the projects are shown below photographs: LIHI certification means that the hydropower facility has been found to meet or exceed the Institute's Certification Criteria which address eight key areas: river flows, water quality, fish passage and protection, watershed protection, threatened and endangered species protection, cultural resource protection, recreation, and facilities recommended for removal. The certification term is 5-years. Certification is designed to provide consumers with assurance that a facility has avoided or reduced their environmental impacts pursuant to the Low Impact Hydropower Institute's criteria. Each of the three Projects received their certification with conditions that must be satisfied to maintain certification; however the Board's vote to certify each of the projects was unanimous.
(Excerpts) Quincy approves bonds for hydropower By Staff reports Hannibal Courier-Post, Sep 09, 2009 Quincy, IL — Quincy aldermen have approved almost $14 million in bonds for hydropower and two other projects. The hydropower plan has been scaled back to $6.6 million from the original $10.2 million. The revised proposal would put the focus on building turbines at Lock and Dam 21 at Quincy and drop plans for construction at Lock and Dam 22 at Saverton. The new turbine technology eventually could be considered at
Tallassee Shoals (Re-cert), Georgia (4/23/09 expires 4/23/14)
- Harris Bridge Virginia (1/17/09 expires 1/17/14)
Dodge Falls, Vermont/New Hampshire (6/1/09 expires 6/1/14)
Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program:

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