Some Dam Hydro News - npdp.stanford.edu...restore flow to the downstream Tobacco River, alleviate strain on the collapsed M-30 bridges, minimize upstream impacts, and address dam safety

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu

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9/11/2020

Dams: (What happened? Didn’t they put enough gas in it?) Plan to remove four Klamath River dams may stall again By Tess Novotny (OPB), Sept. 5, 2020, opb.org Klamath river tribes have been advocating for the removal of four large dams along the river for nearly 20 years. The dams — one in Oregon and three in California — were built in 1918. Before the dams, tribes had stewarded and fished from the Klamath river for thousands of years. But after the dams were built, the health and number of fish in the river dramatically decreased. In 2010, tribes joined the company that owns the dams and other stakeholders in an agreement to remove the dams in 2020. The plan was later delayed to 2022, and now it may stall again because of a recent decision by federal regulators. We hear from Amy Bower Cordalis, general counsel for the Yurok Tribe, https://professionaltales.com/unstoppable-native-american-attorney-amy-cordalis-fights-

Some Dam – Hydro News TM And Other Stuff

Quote of Note: “Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken." -- Warren Buffett

Some Dam - Hydro News Newsletter Archive for Current and Back Issues and Search: (Hold down Ctrl key when clicking on this link) http://npdp.stanford.edu/ . After clicking on link, scroll down under Partners/Newsletters on left, click one of the links (Current issue or View Back Issues).

“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: “Bill Christman undergraduate Red Blend.” “No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap.” - - Thomas Jefferson

Copco dam


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for-her-tribal-community/ about the river’s history and what’s going on with the dam removal project. (Photo of the day.) Three Gorges Reservoir at sunset (Looks like 2 people reading the same thing come to 2 different opinions on what it says.) Letter to the Editor: Article Misrepresented Gov’s Directive on Dam By Dave Fenn, Aug 26, 2020, chronline.com

The Chronicle’s recent article misrepresented Governor Inslee’s letter to the Office of Chehalis Basin. The headline

said he was ordering them to stop planning for a flood reduction dam and consider other alternatives for the next six months. The fact is he did direct that non-dam alternatives be researched, but he did not direct the process that has been ongoing for several years be stopped. The recent process at the Board of the Office of Chehalis Basin has been a two-pronged approach. Habitat improvement projects to aid in fish and amphibian population growth and water retention to reduce flood damage. These are dual tracks that are being planned to support each other. The planned dam is unique in design in that it would block water only during serious flood events. A number of habitat improvement projects have already taken place in recent years and planning for miles more are in the process. The Lewis Conservation was severely flawed in a number of areas, including the fact it did not District as well as neighboring districts has done acres of tree plantings along streams as part of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, usually called CREP. The District has also done numerous culvert replacement projects to open miles of streams to spawning fish and habitat for juvenile fish. The planning for these habitat improvement projects is intended to mitigate issues raised by the Environmental Impact Statement recently released That EIS recognize planning for mitigation to improve stream habitat. The Chronicle had been a strong supporter of a solution to reduce flooding and at the same time to improve stream habitat. The misrepresentation of the governor’s letter makes one wonder why they are apparently turning their back on the community they say they represent and of which they are a


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part. Their office in Centralia is one of the areas that would gain significantly from flood reduction plans. If the Chronicle is going to take an editorial position in opposition of water retention for flood reduction, I would urge them to do that on the editorial page and to report the facts of the news without letting editorializing creep into that reporting. Dave Fenn Curtis, OR Editor’s Note: The Chronicle Editorial Board strongly disagrees with the accusation of intentionally misrepresenting Gov. Inslee’s letters in a news article to promote an anti-dam agenda. Inslee directed the state Department of Ecology to stop work on an Environmental Impact Statement necessary to the development of the proposed dam through the end of the year and divert funding to help the Chehalis Basin Board come up with a plan to find a basin-wide non-dam alternative. The board was also directed to continue work on mitigation for possible environmental impacts of a dam. The Chronicle has long written editorials in favor of the dam and continues to support local and regional flood control projects on our Opinion page. The opinions of The Chronicle’s editorial board do not influence the substance of news stories, which deal in objective facts. The full story and full text of Inslee’s letters is available at https://bit.ly/3hr4KeB. (Moving right along. They’re digging a deeper hole for themselves.) Edenville Dam to see repairs before spring EGLE to issue emergency order to Boyce to get job done Ashley Schafer, Ashley. Schafer, September 1, 2020, ourmidland.com In response to the Tittabawassee River dam failures that occurred in May, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has spearheaded many of the response efforts to move forward after Owner Boyce Hydro Power has failed to do so. “They’ve not hit one deadline or met one milestone that we’ve asked and so in the meantime, state government has been stepping up to take the action on,” said EGLE Director Liesl Clark. The next step for EGLE is to issue Boyce an emergency order to allow for construction and repairs to the Tobacco side of the Edenville Dam to address immediate safety concerns. On Monday, Aug. 31, EGLE gave an updated status report to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and then held a conference with media on Tuesday. During the webinar, Clark said they will be working to address immediate concerns on the Edenville Dam, which creates Wixom Lake. Edenville Dam was one of four in the river system and the first of two to fail in May. It consists of two components – one on the east side on the Tittabawassee River and one on the west on the Tobacco River. EGLE had directed Boyce to hire engineers to analyze the safety of the remaining components of the dam; however, the reports Boyce came back with in June and July were insufficient and incomplete, according to EGLE. So, EGLE completed the work in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation and its engineering consultant, AECOM. AECOM came back with its safety evaluation and four potential alternatives for moving forward, all of which would restore either full or partial flow to the Tobacco River and restore the Tittabawassee River to its pre-failure channel. Based on factors such as safety, construction schedules, resource impacts, risks, input from the public and more, the preferred alternative chosen was a partial breach and lowering of the spillway on the Tobacco side. This project will restore flow to the downstream Tobacco River, alleviate strain on the collapsed M-30 bridges, minimize upstream impacts, and address dam safety concerns. EGLE Dam Safety Engineer Luke Trumble explained this project is a temporary solution within repairing the overall four-dam system. The long-term solution of the dams is four to six years out, he said. “Anything that’s done


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right now is anticipated to be temporary in nature,” he said. “So, this would be to be address the immediate concerns with, as we move into the spring, we could definitely get a better chance of high flows again, that the dam is stable and secure and that another failure event doesn’t happen in the meantime.” The next steps in the process is for AECOM to complete the designing and permitting process, with construction to follow this fall. The work is expected to be complete in early spring 2021. Trumble said there will be some lowering of the water level to stabilize the dam; however, how much will be based on the design that’s created. “That’s still to-be-determined, but I think we can confidently say it would involve some degree of lowering on the Tobacco side of Wixom Lake,” he said. In order to get the job done, EGLE will issue an emergency order to Boyce. If they don’t respond, EGLE will step in to complete the work. If the state carries out the job, EGLE Director Teresa Seidel said Boyce will be expected to reimburse the state for the work. Seidel said it’s extremely unusual and rare for the state to have to step in and take over work for a dam owner. Other key updates from EGLE’s report include:

• The investigation as to why the dams failed is still underway, although it was delayed after Boyce failed to complete the contracts with the investigative team. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in consultation with EGLE, stepped in to keep the process moving forward. The team expects that the investigation will take about 12-18 months. • EGLE has begun to take a deeper look into its Dam Safety Program with the help of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials Peer Review Committee, a national nonprofit organization. The committee will analyze the state’s program for staffing levels, budget, organizational structure and strength of existing laws and procedures. Their final report and recommendations for improvement are expected in September. • Based on evaluations with Dow, the State Emergency Operations Center and the Environmental Protection Agency, the Midland Dow Plant did not appear to have had a material impact on contamination in the overall river system due to the dam failures. • EGLE created a Michigan Dam Safety Task Force, which includes representatives from local government, private stakeholders, tribal leaders, academic experts and state officials, who will be announced later this week. They are expected to meet monthly, beginning this month, and create a final report for early 2021.

To learn more about EGLE's work in response to the Edenville Dam failure, click here: https://www.michigan.gov/egle/0,9429,7-135-3313-529696--,00.html (Everybody wants to have an opinion before we have all the facts.) Why the Mid-Michigan Dams Failed New report says failure may have been avoidable mackinac.org, by mackinac Center, August 6, 2020 | MIDLAND, Mich. — A new report released today by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy examines what caused two Mid-Michigan dams to fail earlier this year. The failure of the Edenville and Sanford dams led to widespread flooding that washed away significant portions of the surrounding communities and forced the evacuation of over 11,000 area residents. The report looks at the compounding failures of Boyce Hydro, the dams’ owner, and the governmental bodies charged with regulating the dams, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. The culmination of those failures led to the damage of over 2,500 homes and other buildings in the area. The circumstances that eventually led to the flood, which is currently estimated to have done $200 million worth of damage, suggest that much of this could have been avoided. “Edenville and Sanford dams did not have to fail — they had weathered similar storms in the past,” said Jason Hayes, author of the report and director of environmental policy at the Mackinac Center. “There appears to have been an ongoing string of failures on the part of the dam’s owner,


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the state government, and even the federal government, to ensure this dam was properly maintained and operated.”\ The report also looks at the efforts of the Four Lakes Task Force, a local group that attempted to get ahead of the persistent lack of maintenance and repairs on the dams. The task force was working with the dam’s owners and various levels of government to purchase, rehabilitate and operate these properties. “Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has used the dam failures and flooding as a platform to argue that private companies should not be allowed to own essential infrastructure,” said Hayes. “But there are over 1,000 regulated dams in the state that are privately owned and properly managed today. It doesn’t necessarily follow that handing these dams over to the same government agencies that already have regulatory authority over these Mid-Michigan dams would be an improvement.” Further investigation into the dam failures is currently underway. The report argues that, given the direct involvement of both Boyce Hydro and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, an investigation should be carried out by a neutral third party, such as the Association of State Dam Safety Officials. You can view the complete report here: https://www.mackinac.org/archives/2020/2020_midland_dam_failure.pdf (Better late than never.) Michigan steps up dam oversight after Midland disaster, but much work remains By Cheyna Roth, Aug 30, 2020, mlive.com MIDLAND, MI -- Luke Trumble was there when the Edenville and Sanford dams failed on May 19, 2020. “I don’t know if I can repeat my reaction,” he said. What he could say that was safe to print was, “scary.” Trumble is one of Michigan’s two dam safety engineers. When the Edenville Dam and then the Sanford Dam failed in May, it triggered massive flooding in the Midland area that destroyed hundreds of homes, businesses and caused the evacuation of around 11,000 people. In the weeks that have followed the disaster, the state filed a lawsuit against the owner of the dams, Boyce Hydro. In Lansing, lawmakers have held hearings with the federal agency that used to oversee Boyce Hydro’s operation of the dams and other agencies. In Washington D.C., lawmakers have opened an inquiry to try to get to the bottom of who is responsible for the catastrophic failure of the two dams. But while the efforts continue to determine what fully caused the Edenville and Sanford dams to fail, there are more than 1,000 dams across the state, many of which pose similar grave risks if they fail. In an effort to ramp up dam safety, the state has announced it will hire a new co-worker for Trumble, and look for more ways to improve oversight of dam safety. But increasing dam safety in the state is easier said than done, and will take more than one additional dam safety engineer. Before the dams failed, Trumble was always busy. Just how busy he was and with what work depended on the season. He and the one other inspector, Dan DeVaun, don’t conduct dam safety inspections in the winter when ice and snow cover the dams. But there was always paperwork - applications for permit review, correspondence, reviewing inspection reports that are done by consultant engineers. When they can inspect the dams, Trumble and DeVaun are on site, each traversing their region of the state: DeVaun covering dams in the Upper Peninsula and the northern part of the Lower Peninsula, and Trumble responsible for the rest. “We don’t have a whole lot of downtime,” he said. Having an extra pair of hands hopefully means Trumble will be able to work on other projects that he hasn’t been able to get to, he said. Trumble and DeVaun do a good job of keeping up with inspections and other statutory requirements, but there’s always a list of pet projects they’d like to do, he said. “The stuff that’s on top of that, some of the compliance and enforcement stuff, that takes a long time and a lot of effort to do,” he said. “We


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have to triage that a little bit to the most critical ones, the ones that take urgency and precedent that are the ones that we have to react to first.” Michigan’s 2,600 dams are collectively rated a C-. That’s according to the most recent report card for Michigan’s infrastructure, put together by the Michigan section of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2018. Within the next three years, 80 percent of Michigan’s dams will be older than their typical design life of 50 years. “There are definitely concerns,” said Mark Ogden, a technical specialist for the Association of State Dam Safety Officials. When the association is assessing a state’s grade for the report card, one of the biggest factors it looks at is the condition of the dams themselves. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has authority over about 100 hydroelectric power dams in the state. Many more are regulated by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), which has oversight of 1,048 dams under various sections of the state’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. Most dams are privately owned, and in those cases the owner is required to hire an engineer to inspect their dam regularly and provide a report to the state. The rest of Michigan’s estimated 2,500 dams are unregulated, which means the structures are not considered significant enough to warrant oversight and inspection. Of the state regulated dams, 89 are high hazard potential, which means a failure would be life-threatening for people who live downstream. The fact that both the Sanford and Edenville dams failed without a single casualty is remarkable. Of the remaining dams, 133 ranked as significant hazard potential. The rest are low hazard potential. Dam locations are approximate. Click Legends tab to add dams with "significant' hazard ratings. When dealing with the dams it regulates, the state has a clearly stated preference for dam removal, as opposed to dam repair. The cost to

maintain hydropower dams often outweighs their benefits or the profits from selling the energy to utility companies. Their negative impact on fisheries has been a key driver in a push by the Department of Natural Resources to remove dams and restore rivers to a natural state. The main problem with dam safety is funding. No agency is putting enough money toward

dams, and many private owners don’t have the money for upkeep either. Ogden said this is a big issue throughout the country. Michigan’s Dam Safety Program has a yearly budget of $350,000. Most of that is for staffing and the state only pays $74,200 per year out of the general fund. The rest of the money comes from permit fees, agreements with the Department of Natural Resources to inspect its dams and a FEMA National Dam Safety Program grant. The 2018 report card for Michigan’s infrastructure recommended more funding for the state’s dams, which is a pretty common recommendation throughout the country, said Ogden. “There’s a lack of funding for many dam owners,” he said. A part of the reason is that dams -- more than half in the country -- are privately owned but don’t make enough money to keep up with repairs, if they make money at all. There’s also been an issue of rural, low hazard potential dams becoming upgraded to high hazard potential because of development occurring around the dams. As a result, the dams need to be upgraded to meet the new higher standards. “So, a funding source is certainly something that some states have adopted [through] different grant programs, low interest loan programs, to help dam owners to be able to upgrade their dams,” Ogden said. More funding for private owners to make repairs on their dams is something Trumble would like to see as well. Repairs and modifications can take years and, in the cases of large dams, cost millions of dollars, he said. That can often mean that owners can’t afford the needed changes. “Because we can do a pretty good job of identifying those deficiencies and


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making the owner know that they need to do something,” Trumble said. “But we have to have a plan in place, or work at having a plan in place, that will allow those dam owners to make those repairs in a timely fashion such that, you know, funding and stuff is available for them to be able to do that.” Michigan has a dam rehabilitation loan program, but more funding for that would help, Ogden said. Additional funding could also be used for even more dam safety officers. While the state is bringing the number up to three, a 2006 informal audit of the dam safety unity by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials recommended adding two more full time officers, a recommendation that was reiterated in the 2018 report card. Dam money is on the mind of the state Legislature, but it’s focused on damage control for the victims of the Edenville and Sanford dam failures. Midland state Representative Annette Glenn, R-Midland, introduced legislation on June 10 to send $6 million to areas impacted by the flooding. It passed in the state House with only one Representative voting no and is now waiting to move through the Senate. Glenn hopes the Senate will be able to find additional funds, said her legislative director, Kaylee Mead. While Glenn has had conversations about dam safety and what changes the state could make going forward, her focus for the time being is on relief, including clean up, food and supply distribution, and helping residents with insurance and FEMA claims, Mead said. For those victims of the dam failures, money will help but they’re still confused about how the dams failed in the first place. “I did know that the dams needed some attention, said Robert Sievewright. Sievewright, 61, lived in Midland. He and his wife fled their home with a suitcase and his wife’s new cochlear implant equipment. Units in their condo complex have been condemned and they’re living with their daughter while they try to get a mortgage. “I’m not going to be naive about it, but it was a surprise to us that they were collapsing the way they were, especially when they knew they were going to be getting this rain for how many days?” Andrew Szornyi, 45, had followed the drama between the companies that owned the dams, Boyce Hydro, and the federal government and then the state for years. Szornyi has a vacation home on Sanford Lake. The house has extensive damage, and he’s trying to do a lot of the repairs himself because he’s not getting enough help from insurance. Szornyi knew that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had pulled Boyce Hydro’s license to generate electricity in 2018. FERC justified the move saying Boyce Hydro has a long history of not complying with maintenance orders and failing to meet safety standards. Once FERC pulled Boyce Hydro’s license, it fell on the state to oversee the dams. “I knew that there was some risk there,” Szornyi said. “But I thought it was more like a 100 year or 500 year event. Not, five inches of rain would cause this to happen. It was not at all, didn’t seem possible in my mind.” With an additional safety inspector, Trumble hopes to be able to attack some of his “pet projects.” Those include updating the dams database into a more web-based format so they can have remote access and share it better. “Having more staff will allow us to hopefully revisit some of those, and kind of modernize some of our technologies,” he said. “And think of better ways to be more efficient right, rather than, just kind of the day-to-day stuff.” More changes could be on the way for the state’s dam safety program, said Nick Assendelft, spokesman for EGLE. The Association of State Dam Safety Officials is performing a review of the program. “We’ll have to wait and see what they recommend after they really take a deep dive into our program,” Assendelft said. “And what recommendations they have and which ones we would be inclined to accept, or which ones might need legislative input, or which ones might be budgetary, or which ones are things that we can change ourselves.”


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(Jumping the gun!)

Michigan department publishes dam failure report By Anna Liz Nichols, Associated Press, September 4, 2020, clickondetroit.com LANSING, MI – What caused the dam failures in Midland that destroyed 150 homes and altered the natural landscape will likely not become completely clear for more than a year, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) said in a report released on Tuesday. (They’re going to study this to death before they report on it.) EGLE Announces Creation Of Michigan Dam Safety Task Force keweenawreport.com, Sept 4, 2020 Houghton, MI - Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has announced the creation of the Michigan Dam Safety Task Force, and three of the 19 members have ties to the Upper Peninsula. Michigan Tech graduate Marty Holtgren, executive director of Muskegon’s River Watershed Assembly, Stan Vitton, Michigan Tech professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Jim Kovechar, GM of Michigan operations for Cleveland-Cliffs all made it to the task force. The task force is charged with providing recommendations on policy, budget, legislative and enforcement reforms to prevent future dam failures across the state. Key dam safety stakeholders, representatives from local governments and state agencies make up the task force. On Monday, EGLE sent Gov. Whitmer its Preliminary Report on the Edenville Dam Failure, Response Efforts, and Program Reviews report summarizing the department’s actions during and following the failures of the Edenville and Sanford dams, and outlining the status of reviews of the state’s dam safety operations. They will hold their first meeting Tuesday at 1pm. . (Let’s hope their optimism is not in vain.) Sanford Lake residents optimistic things will return to normal The village of Sanford was hardest hit by flooding in mid-Michigan in May clickondetroit.com; Sept 4, 2020 LANSING, Mich. – Labor Day Weekend on Sanford Lake is typically filled with boats and people having fun on the water. After May’s dam failures emptied the lake, many residents are left wondering how long it’ll take to come back. Residents are still hopeful things will return to normal. The state ordered Boyce Hydro -- the owners of the dams -- to make emergency repairs Tuesday, but since the company filed for bankruptcy, the state will likely be forced to foot the bill. Edenville faces Labor Day weekend without their beloved Wixom Lake (Photo of the day.)

Piles of household debris


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(Everybody is pointing fingers.) EGLE points to Boyce Hydro for dam failures, despite state lawsuit over freshwater mussels By Bruce Walker, The Center Square, michiganfarmnews.com, September 3, 2020 EGLE representatives did not address whether a lawsuit filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on May 1, on behalf of EGLE and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources contributed to the failure of the dams on May 19. The lawsuit sought $300 million in damages, and alleged Boyce had illegally lowered lake levels, which the state claimed endangered or killed freshwater mussels. Boyce claimed lowering lake levels was necessary to ensure the dams’ safety as well as perform necessary repairs. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) conducted a webinar with media and municipal leaders on Tuesday afternoon to discuss what the agency is doing to mitigate safety hazards in the aftermath of two dams failing in mid-Michigan in May. Although webinar participants were told EGLE representatives would not discuss ongoing litigation regarding the state’s role in ensuring the dams’ safety, EGLE staff members directed barbs at Boyce Hydro LLC, the private owner of the Edenville and Sanford dams that failed on May 19 as well as the owner of two other dams upstream. EGLE Director Liesl Clark; Teresa Seidel, director, EGLE Water Resources Division; Luke Trumble, EGLE dam safety inspector; and Hugh McDiarmid, EGLE communications manager all indicated Boyce was solely responsible for the subsequent flooding that caused an estimated $200 million of property damage, forced the evacuation of about 11,000 residents and damaged 2,500 buildings after the dams failed. “[Boyce] have not met one deadline or met one milestone that we have asked, and so in the meantime state government has been stepping up to take the action on,” Clark said. Addressing a media question, Clark said EGLE was hoping to release interim findings from the forensic investigative team working on determining the cause of the failure of the Edenville dam, but “the timeline was a bit delayed because, as usual, Boyce didn’t do what they were supposed to do.” During the webinar, officials failed to mention an October 2018 report by EGLE (then called the Department of Environmental Quality or DEQ) hydrologist Jim Pawloski in which he rated the Edenville Dam in “fair condition” in an inspection report. The dam had its license to produce hydroelectricity revoked the previous month by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, after which the DEQ assumed authority.


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Since May 2020, however, EGLE has characterized Pawloski’s report, in which he wrote: “[T]here were no observed deficiencies that would be expected to cause immediate failure of the dam,” as only a “preliminary assessment … not intended to determine if the dam met state safety standards,” a claim made in EGLE’s Tuesday news release. Nor did EGLE representatives address whether a lawsuit filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on behalf of EGLE and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources contributed to the May catastrophe. The lawsuit sought damages in $300 million, and alleged Boyce had illegally lowered lake levels, which the state claimed endangered or killed freshwater mussels. Boyce claimed lowering lake levels was necessary to ensure the dams’ safety as well as perform necessary repairs. As part of the webinar, EGLE leaders addressed the content of the agency’s initial report on the dams’ failures submitted to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday. Among the steps the agency says it is taking to safeguard against another dam failure is hiring a third dam inspector, although the state government is currently operating under a hiring freeze. The fact that the dams were upstream from the Dow Chemical facilities in Midland generated concerns about chemical leaks as a result of the floods. However, EGLE’s preliminary findings reported: “The Dow Midland Plant does not appear to have had a material impact on contamination in the overall river system because of the upstream dam failures. The results of 2020 post flood samples taken by EGLE at long-term trend monitoring stations were consistent with levels seen after non-2020 seasonal flooding events.” (It’s a dangerous sport that isn’t respected.) Kayaks involved in 37% of Iowa fatal boat incidents As popularity soars, state says wear a life jacket By Erin Jordan, The Gazette, September 04, 2020, thegazette.com When people shopping for kayaks and gear ask Eric Grodt, owner of Up a Creek kayak and canoe store in Central City, about his recommendation for the best life jacket, he tells them “the one you’re wearing.” That’s because kayaks skim close to the water’s surface and can tip easily. A paddler who has his or her life jacket in the bottom of the boat or tucked into the front rigging likely won’t be able to find it if the kayak flips, Grodt said. Kayaks were involved in 10 percent of boat incidents in Iowa over the last three years, but 37 percent of fatalities, according to data from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Iowa boating deaths and accidents Kayaks were involved in 10% of boating accidents in Iowa over the last three years, but 37 percent of fatal accidents. State officials and retailers say many kayakers don't wear life jackets. “People do not feel that canoes and kayaks are boats,” said Susan Stocker, Iowa DNR boating law administrator. “Therefore, they don’t connect that you have to have the same safety equipment.” State trains retailers Iowa law requires everyone riding in a boat, including a kayak or canoe, to have a life jacket. Kids 12 and under must wear one when the boat is moving, but Stocker would like to see everyone follow that rule. Stocker and Todd Robertson, river programs outreach coordinator, planned earlier this year to visit many of Iowa’s 48 paddle sports retailers and train sales people about how to educate would-be paddlers to use safety gear and avoid hazards on the water. But then COVID-19 limited in-person interactions, so Stocker and Robertson made a video they shared with all retailers. Grodt watched the video and one part stuck in his mind. Robertson described a test he did in which he wore a life jacket in a kayak, but strapped another to the stretchy rigging over the front of the boat. He then intentionally tipped on a river and timed how long it took to free


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the additional jacket. “It took me 45 seconds to get that out of the deck rigging,” Robertson said on the video. And that was while he was buoyed by the vest he wore. Boating crash data The Iowa DNR reported 88 boat incidents from July 1, 2017, to June 30, with the largest share — 61 percent — involving open motorboats. The DNR is required to track incidents that cause death, personal injury or property damage of $2,000 or more. Motorboat crashes were linked to nine deaths, or 47 percent, of the total 19 fatalities in Iowa for the three-year period. Kayaks were the next highest with seven fatal mishaps, and then there was one fatality each for personal watercraft, canoes and sailboats. One fatality listed in the database had an unknown boat type. Other injuries reported include broken bones, hypothermia, concussions, burns and a hand amputation. Alcohol was involved in 27 percent of all crashes, although that data often is underreported as some accident investigations don’t happen immediately after the crash, officials told The Gazette in 2017.The bulk of boat crashes happened on Iowa’s most popular water bodies, including Okoboji, Clear Lake and Coralville Lake. Multiple crashes also were reported on the Mississippi River, Des Moines River and Cedar River. Two years ago on Labor Day, an Eastern Iowa man drowned after his kayak capsized on Indian Creek in Linn County. John Michael Conley, 34, and his wife, Samantha Conley, went into the water when their kayak hit debris in the swollen creek, officials said. Samantha Conley climbed onto the debris and was rescued, but John Michael Conley’s body was found in the creek a few days later. Neither was wearing a life jacket. A Florida woman who drowned in the Upper Iowa River in July 2018 was found with her life jacket partially off. Susan Ann Fechhelm, 65, of St. Petersburg, was wearing the life vest when she left the access point on July 22 and officials didn’t know when or how it came off, the Mason City Globe Gazette reported. Popularity explodes Interest in paddle sports was increasing before 2020, Stocker said, but COVID-19 has caused more people to invest in outdoor recreation gear, including pools, bikes, tents and boats. The Iowa DNR has turned several low-head dams into white-water courses in communities including Manchester, Elkader and Charles City, which brings out more paddlers. Many Eastern Iowa kayak retailers have struggled to keep boats in stock. “I have not had a kayak to sell since July,” Grodt said. “This year, the demand has far outweighed the supply.” Grodt continues to order kayaks for his customers, but it is taking a couple of months for the boats to come in because many manufacturers are working at half-staff to maintain social distancing because of COVID-19, he said. Grodt sold his set of rental kayaks earlier in the season, thinking he could get more, but the new ones haven’t come yet. Stocker said the Iowa DNR wanted to make the kayak safety video because the number of stores selling kayaks has boomed, with Walmart, Menard’s, Fleet Farm and other general merchandise stores joining sporting goods stores. Sales people at big-box retailers often don’t have the same expertise as paddlers like Grodt.

The Iowa DNR is seeing a lot of used kayak sales, Stocker said. Buyers need to make sure the kayak they are purchasing on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace has everything intact. Stocker has seen some inflatable kayaks sold without plugs. She also advises kayak owners not to leave their boats unattended. “You can’t find any kayaks on the market, so we’re having challenges with people getting their kayaks stolen off the roofs of their cars because they aren’t locked down,” she

said. Tips for better kayaking safety Todd Robertson, river programs outreach coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said kayakers and other paddlers need to watch out for these hazards on Iowa rivers:


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• Low-head dams: Iowa has about 200 low-head dams on rivers throughout the state. These small dams, which the Iowa DNR calls “death machines,” have recirculating hydraulics that can trap and drown river users. Although the state has removed many of these dams, the agency recommends paddlers get a copy of the map of remaining dams so they can avoid them on river trips. • Strainers: A strainer is a pile of fall tree branches and logs that collects along the sides of rivers. When the channel gets narrowed near the strainer, the current and pressure increases and it can be tough for kayakers or canoers to get out. • Sweepers: Sweepers are tree limbs stretching over the river that can knock someone out of a boat or catch on a person’s life jacket.

The Iowa DNR also released these boating safety tips ahead of Labor Day weekend: • Wear your life jacket. Children 12 and under must wear a life jacket at all times on a vessel underway in Iowa. • Every boat or vessel must have a wearable life jacket for everyone on board. A U.S. Coast Guard-approved throw-able flotation device is also required on vessels 16 feet or longer. • Alcohol and boating don’t mix. Wind, sun glare and heat can enhance the effects of alcohol, hindering the operator’s ability to make necessary decisions. • The same limit of 0.08 for operating a motor vehicle under the influence applies to boating. • Make sure there is a charged fire extinguisher on board, as well as a horn/whistle. • Slow down and watch for other boaters or personal watercraft; have patience. • Obey posted warning signs and rules.

Hydro: (Meanwhile, on the other side of the country we have this battle going on and on. You gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them) Opinion: We can’t afford to gamble on breaching hydroelectric dams By Kurt Miller – Northwest RiverPartners, Aug 10, 2020, bizjournals.com My father was a successful professional gambler for a period of his life, so we spent a lot of time at horse and dog racetracks across the Western U.S. While some may think that gamblers make their living by instinct, my dad did it by studying. For instance, he would watch the greyhounds run schooling races during the off-season, so when the official racing season began, he already knew which dog to bet on. While I didn’t inherit his acumen for betting, I will never forget the best lesson he shared with me about gambling: “Never bet more than you can afford to lose.” I recall that lesson now, because the stakes for the future of the Northwest’s clean, affordable energy have never been higher, and the outcome is something we cannot afford to gamble on. To give you a sense of what’s at risk, the federal government just released its Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the operations of 14 of the Northwest’s federally owned and operated hydroelectric dams, known collectively as the Columbia River System. The EIS included an examination of the cost of dam breaching (i.e., removal). The federal study showed that it would cost nearly $800 million annually to replace the full capabilities of the dams with other forms of renewable energy and battery backup. That cost would translate to roughly a 25% increase in monthly electricity bills for millions of homes and businesses across the Pacific Northwest. Three of the Columbia River System’s largest customers happen to be Snohomish PUD, Seattle City Light and Tacoma Power, so the impact would be deeply felt across the Puget Sound area.


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The EIS also recognizes that the region’s efforts to decarbonize the grid would face a significant setback if the lower Snake River dams were removed. It is highly doubtful, for example, that Washington would be able to meet its Clean Energy Transformation Act goals without the lower Snake River dams in place. Fortunately, the EIS concluded that the best way to meet the environmental and socioeconomic objectives of the Columbia River System is to keep the lower Snake River dams in place and adjust hydroelectric operations to aid salmon populations .(Hope they know what they’re doing and what the costs and benefits are. Regardless of the outcome, somebody is going to get hurt.) The future of hydropower will be determined in the Pacific Northwest By Kurt Miller, Aug. 6, 2020, utilitydive.com The following is a contributed article by Kurt Miller, executive director of Northwest RiverPartners, that serves nonprofit electric utilities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada and Wyoming. It may surprise you to learn that hydropower is now viewed by many Pacific Northwest residents in the same light as coal and natural gas. A regional survey showed this shocking result, despite the region's remarkable hydropower resources on the Columbia River and its tributaries. This perception is especially surprising in light of the incredible success story of hydropower in the Pacific Northwest. The region has the least carbon-intensive electric service territory in the nation and the most affordable renewable power in the nation. In other parts of the country, utilities are fighting to import more hydroelectricity from Canada to help reach their clean energy goals in an affordable way. However, in the Pacific Northwest, the average resident — especially younger adults — would like to see less of their energy coming from hydropower, despite their strong desire to fight climate change. As a result, there are almost-daily calls in the media to tear down dams that provide great benefits to society. How did we get here? The continued debate over hydropower dams is related to their potential effect on salmon. To address those concerns, billions of dollars have been invested in fish habitat improvements and to upgrade dams with advanced fish passage systems. The result has been a significant jump in juvenile salmon survival. The challenge is in the ocean, where some salmon species spend 75% of their lives. So, despite the in-river survival improvements, Columbia and Snake River salmon — like most salmon populations along the West Coast — are not returning from the ocean in healthy numbers. Is it the dams' fault? Columbia River Basin salmon populations were nearly decimated by commercial overfishing in the mid-to-late 1800s, and have never recovered. This was well before the first federal dam was completed in 1938. In terms of the hydroelectric system's role in helping or hampering salmon recovery, it's fair to say that the science on this topic is very mixed. The Columbia River Basin isn't a good laboratory, because river conditions are constantly changing. The focus on the river system may be poorly placed. Notably, the International Panel on Climate Change believes that ocean-warming and acidification caused by increased carbon levels and climate change is probably the biggest threat to all marine fish. NOAA researcher Lisa Crozier has stated that scientists around the world are seeing "a near synchronous decline" of critical salmon populations across the globe, likely due to climate change.


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Policy implications Scientific uncertainties have divided those who seek a better environmental outcome for the Northwest. For certain groups, hydropower's renewable aspect is often eclipsed by the contention that it may hamper salmon recovery efforts. Accordingly, we have seen some of the largest environmental groups in the nation weigh in against the lower Snake River dams in eastern Washington. Advocacy groups with combined annual revenues of almost $500 million submitted comments in favor of breaching the dams, bringing heaps of political clout to bear with elected officials. But, from a climate change and societal perspective, those dams are worth fighting for. They produce enough annual electricity — 1,100 average MW — to fully power Seattle. They can also provide upwards of 2,500 MW of peaking capacity during the winter months. Their fast-acting capabilities are relied upon by the federal Bonneville Power Administration to help integrate thousands of megawatts of intermittent renewables, like wind and solar power within BPA's significant footprint. Bonneville credits the dams as some of the most cost-effective generating resources in its portfolio. Federal agencies recently estimated that it would cost regional customers almost $800 million per year to replace the full capabilities of the lower Snake River dams with other renewable energy sources backed up by grid-scale batteries. That cost would result in a 25% increase in the electric bills of millions of Northwest residents — something the region and its most vulnerable communities cannot afford. We routinely hear from anti-dam groups that the successful removal of the Elwha River dams and Condit Dam on the White Salmon River are proof that removing the lower Snake River dams would be good for salmon. However, neither of the former dams had fish passage facilities, and they served very little societal benefit. It's an apples to oranges comparison, but if the lower Snake River dams are breached, it will certainly be used as justification for other breaching efforts across the nation. By eliminating the best energy storage source in the nation — carbon-free hydropower — we will be fighting climate change with our hands tied behind our backs. A challenge on every front A new threat to the hydropower system has recently emerged — in the form of river temperature management —that may provide Oregon and Washington state with control over the federal Columbia River System. This development is important because Oregon's Governor, Kate Brown, has called for the breaching of the lower Snake River dams. Washington's Governor Jay Inslee is said to be sympathetic to that view. Concerningly, in an attempt to help salmon, Oregon and Washington established river temperature limits that are significantly below the summertime river temperatures entering into their respective state borders. That means that the states' water quality standards couldn't be met, even if all the downstream dams within Washington and Oregon were removed. This unattainable criterion opens the door for states to require very costly, unproven measures that could greatly reduce the region's hydroelectric capabilities and increase its operational costs. It feels like the hydroelectric system is being set up to fail. But if we're serious about addressing climate change and reaching our clean energy goals in a socially equitable way, hydropower must be considered a crucial part of the solution.

Environment: (Rocks of ages.) PGE project allows fish on the Clackamas River to rock on Portland General Electric gravel project creates habitat for steelhead, salmon and trout in the Clackamas River By: Emily Lindstrand, Estacada News, Aug 29, 2020 / koin.com


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ESTACADA, Ore. (ESTACADA NEWS) — Every other September, an amount of gravel approximately the size of Estacada City Hall is transported to the banks of the Clackamas River near the River Mill Dam. “We spent a lot of time thinking about how to do it,” said Tim Shibahara, Westside Biological Services Manager manager for Portland General Electric, noting that the project at the River Mill site uses approximately 28,000 tons of gravel to enhance what was previously bare bedrock. “It emulates what the river does and captures it from the banks during flood events.” Teams at PGE add gravel downstream from the River Mill, Timothy Lake and Lake Harriet dams to enhance habitats for fish, including salmon, steelhead and trout. Because dams typically stop the flow of gravel downriver, the project creates beneficial areas for the animals. “It impacts where the fish can spawn,” Shibahara explained. Near the Oak Grove fork of the Clackamas River, 500 tons of gravel were placed at Lake Harriet and 90 tons were placed at Timothy Lake earlier this month. Both of these sites present unique considerations when receiving their annual amounts of gravel. For example, Timothy Lake requires finer sizes of gravel because of the size of its fish, and Lake Harriet has steep canyon walls that teams must navigate when adding the gravel. Staff at PGE noted that this is the only gravel augmentation program they’re aware of that specifically targets cutthroat trout conservation. A PGE projects brings gravel to the Oak Grove fork of the Clackamas River every year to create habitats for fish (PGE courtesy photo) “For cutthroat trout, gravel is a very critical material for spawning habitats. There are limited amounts in that upper area,” said Shibahara, noting that the healthiest population in the Clackamas River is between the Timothy and Harriet dams because they are isolated from the rest of the fish. The gravel project, which began in 2016, is part of PGE’s most recent license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which allows them to operate hydroelectric projects on the river and requires a 97% survival rate for fish. Additional work under the license has included adding a surface collector at North Fork Reservoir, a fish ladder at River Mill Dam, sorting facilities for both juvenile and adult fish and extending a fish pipeline. “The response from the spawning was very dramatic. You could see it right away,” Shibahara said. “All fish have benefited.” Juvenile fish are sorted at a Portland General Electric facility near the River Mill Dam. Both PGE’s updated facilities and habitat projects like the gravel one have benefited fish on the Clackamas River (Portland Tribune file photo) Along with supporting fish, the projects have also presented benefits for those visiting the river for recreation. Multiple log jams on the Clackamas that create habitats for salmon have been appreciated by people seeking adventure on the water. “The stand-up paddle boarders and kayakers love that stuff. It creates a complexity that’s fun to discover,” Shibahara said. He described the work as a river health project. “It’s like a quick shot in the arm,” he said. “We’ll analyze how the river utilizes the gravel and then set a new amount. We’ll adjust going into the future.” 1This compilation of articles and other information is provided at no cost for those interested in hydropower, dams, and water resources issues and development, and should not be used for any commercial or other purpose. Any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment from those who have an interest in receiving this information for non-profit and educational purposes only.

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Some Dam Hydro News - npdp.stanford.edu...restore flow to the downstream Tobacco River, alleviate strain on the collapsed M-30 bridges, minimize upstream impacts, and address dam safety