11/01/2013

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Dams:

(Human interest story)

Silver Lake drained for dam and gate valve repairsLaura Beaton, Staff Writer, 10/18/2013, plumasnews.com

Visitors to Silver Lake, CA, located in the Bucks Lake Wilderness near Meadow Valley, saw an unusual sight this summer and fall — a lake nearly empty of water.Soper-Wheeler Co. LLC is the entity responsible for maintaining the lake and its dam. According to president Dan Kruger, the company received notification from the California Division of Safety of Dams that the dam and gate valve had to be replaced.The original dam and emergency spillway had a 99-year warranty that ran out some time ago, Kruger said. The company began developing plans for upgrades to the aging, yet serviceable, dam and gate valve more than a year ago.

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Quote of Note: “The world is full of willing people -- some willing to work, the rest willing to let them." -- Robert Frost

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“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas JeffersonRon’s wine pick of the week: 2011 Celler Dosterras Spanish Red "Vespres"“ No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap. ” - - Thomas Jefferson

In November 2012, the company opened the gate valve and water started draining from the historical lake. The first dam was built in 1857 to raise the level of the natural lake for mining purposes. A series of canals were dug down the mountainside and the water was utilized for hydraulic mining in places such as Bean, Badger, Shores and Gopher hills. Once the mining boom was over, lumber companies purchased the dam, ditches and water rights and generated power for sawmills around 1915. As the need for water grew, the height of the dam was raisedseveral times, enlarging the lake by approximately 1,200 acre-feet, according to Soper-Wheeler Chief Forester Paul Violett. When Soper-Wheeler purchased the land in 1968, pre-1914 water rights came with it. The land purchase included more than 15 houses in Spanish Ranch, most of which continue to be rented out today. Silver Lake still serves as the domestic water supply for these homes in Spanish Ranch, as it has done since the 1960s. (That’s why swimming is not allowed in the lake.) Soper-Wheeler is a household name in Meadow Valley and Quincy, where the company owns vast tracts of land it uses for sustainable forestry.Kruger, president of the family-owned company, said Soper-Wheeler was the first timber company to plant trees in California more than a hundred years ago, in California’s earliest known reforestation practice.

In the early logging years when clear-cutting was the industry standard, Soper-Wheeler stood out for its unusual sustainability philosophy. Kruger said the company’s forefathers used to buy up the clear-cut land, which was sold cheap after logging outfits had denuded the forests, laid railroad tracks for access, hauled the timber away and moved on to the next forest. The foresight of Kruger’s wife’s great-grandfather, the first owner of the Strawberry Valley-based Soper-Wheeler Co., allowed it to amass more than 97,000 acres of forestland across 10 counties, Kruger said. He noted that not many companies plant a crop that takes 65 – 80 years before it can be harvested. “We’re planting trees for our grandchildren,” he said. The lake was mostly drained by July, and restoration work began. Officials determined that the dam and gate valve were actually in pretty good shape and did not need major repairs. Violett said that crews dug out about 2 feet of debris from the outflow channel on the creek side of the lake. They cleaned out the box culvert that runs for 54 feet from the gate to the outlet. Violett crawled through the tunnel and was amazed at the workmanship that has withstood the test of time. The first 30 feet of the box culvert are built from hand-stacked rock — with only small areas of the tunnel being grouted.The last 24 feet of the culvert are lined with what Violett thinks is incense cedar, possibly circa 1900. Work crews built platforms to anchor six new vertical posts, did bank and ditch stabilization, reinforced the screw jack, cleaned and treated the original rusty gate, and are nearly finished building the walkway, railings and gate. Now all that remains is for the lake to fill up. Meanwhile, the low water levels allow for exploration of the lake bed and banks below the usual waterline.Concurrent with the dam project, the Forest Service has been renovating Silver Lake Campground, adding picnic tables and more parking spaces. If fall rains and winter snows cooperate, next spring the lake level will be back to capacity. Then recreational kayakers and canoers can resume exploring the pristine mountain lake in its entirety. Anglers can cast their lines and hikers and campers can appreciate the lake situated in the shadow of Spanish Peak and Granite Gap.

Hydro: (It’s amazing, they just figured this out. I was told this over 50 years ago by a wise engineer! So, why is it so hard to convince the U.S.?)Hydropower least risky renewable October 17, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin, fierceenergy.com

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Hydropower is one of the least risky investments when compared to other renewables with the global cumulative hydropower capacity installed increasing from 1,065 GW in 2012 to 1,407 GW in 2020 and investments reaching $75 billion, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData. In 2020, the company forecast the total to be comprised of 1,052 GW of large hydro capacity, 215 GW of pumped storage and 140 GW of small hydropower. Asia-Pacific is expected to add the highest amount of hydropower capacity at approximately 208 GW. China has large-scale hydropower capacity addition plans and is likely to contribute 147.3 GW to its power generation portfolio by 2020. India, Indonesia and Vietnam are planning to add around 23.2 GW, 9.4 GW and 5.8 GW, respectively, according to the research. Europe and North America, which have mature hydropower markets, will also experience growth in installations with the addition of 271 GW and 197 GW, respectively, GlobalData predicts.The increase in hydropower across these regions is expected to be driven primarily by the expansion of pumped storage capacity and the modernization and refurbishment of existing plants. "Although fossil fuels dominate electricity generation across the world, more than 60 countries use hydropower to meet more than half of their electricity needs," said Swati Singh, GlobalData's power analyst. "The technology is the most popular non-polluting source of electricity generation for various reasons, including its ability to respond to changing electricity demand, water management and flood control."

(Someone’s thoughts on the Columbia River Treaty)Canada: US should provide more hydropower in exchange for benefits of Columbia River treatyBy Gosia Wozniacka Associated Press, October 17, 2013 - therepublic.com Portland, Oregon — Canada says the U.S. should provide greater compensation for the benefits it gets under a treaty governing operations of the Columbia River. That's the opposite of what the U.S has recommended if the treaty is renegotiated — the U.S. wants to provide less for benefits such as reduced flood risk. Under the treaty, Canada stores water behind three dams. The U.S. paid Canada $64 million for the flood control. And every year, it sends Canada half the electricity generated downstream. The treaty dates to 1964. As of next year, it will allow either side to give 10 years notice of intent to renegotiate or cancel. So, this year, both sides are laying out their bargaining positions.

(Well, each side is bidding high! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out this would be the first salvo!)Canada, U.S. at odds over hydroelectric payment obligationsBy Gosia Wozniacka, The Associated Press, October 19, 2013, vancouversun.com

Canada says the United States should pay more in hydroelectric power for getting recreational and other benefits under an international treaty governing operations of the fourth-largest river in North America. The U.S., however, has recommended the opposite. It wants to send less hydroelectric power across the border if the Columbia River treaty is renegotiated.

The treaty dates to 1964 and has no expiration date. But as of next year, it will allow either side to give 10 years notice of intent to renegotiate or cancel. So, this year, both sides are laying out their bargaining positions. Under the treaty, Canada stores water behind three dams for flood control and to maximize hydroelectric power generation. The U.S. paid Canada $64 million for the flood control. And every year, it sends Canada half the electricity generated at downstream U.S. hydropower dams. Earlier, when Canada didn't need the power, the U.S. instead paid about $250 million annually, and Canada used the money to finance the construction of its three Columbia River dams. For the past 20 years, however, the U.S. has sent power to Canada now valued at up to $350 million. The U.S. now says that because it has paid off the cost of the dams, the U.S. should send less power as part of its Canadian entitlement obligations. If those obligations are

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reduced, officials say, the financial benefits would be used to reduce power costs in the Pacific Northwest and to help improve the river ecosystem. But in draft recommendations released by the British Columbia government on Wednesday, the Canadians say the U.S. also needs to provide compensation for benefits other than flood control and hydropower, including recreation, navigation and ecosystem benefits.

(No dam, no hydraulic head, no power! Developers figured that out a millennium ago! It’s not like wind power which gets huge subsidies for building inefficient power facilities. 7.9 kW, is that all there is?)Turbine company spurns Mississippi River for lake damsOctober 18, 2013, Associated Press, sunherald.com Vicksburg, Miss. -- A company has dropped plans to sink power-generating turbines in the Mississippi River. Retired Brig. Gen. Robert Crear has told a Vicksburg civic club that Free Flow Power will place the turbines on existing dams, such as recreational lakes maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Crear is a member of the Boston-based company's board of directors. "Looking at the economics, we decided to give up the hydrokinetic business," Crear said. Crear said the turbines were put in "mothballs" and smaller-scale projects on Arkabutla, Enid, Grenada and Sardis lakes in north Mississippi were on the way to being permitted by federal regulators.

The Vicksburg Post reports the company originally planned the turbines to sit on pylons and spin like propellers at the bottom of the river between Cairo, Ill., and New Orleans, including Vicksburg and Natchez. The company had said each turbine would produce 40 kilowatts of power, about the same as home generators. Crear said the company and potential manufacturers from Germany reviewed data from the historic 2011 flood on the river and near-record low-water marks set in 2012, which exposed millions of cubic feet of sediment deposited by the flood. Differences in regulatory rates in Europe and the United States played a role the investors pulling out and the company changing course on the entire project, he said. "In Europe, there's one regulatory body setting the rates," Crear said. "In the United States, each municipality sets the rates. So, to them, they just couldn't see how they could be guaranteed a proper rate to allow them to bank on their investment." Turbines planned in the four Corps of Engineers lakes -- all strung to existing flood control dams -- are smaller in scale and capacity. Together, they would produce 20 kW of power and are on track to be licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2015, Crear said. "We try to save money in terms of cost," Crear said. "We don't have an unlimited amount of money. With consultants, you end up paying, paying, paying. So, we developed our own expertise, in engineering and in regulatory." Four smaller turbines are planned along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in northeast Mississippi, which would generate 7.9 kW of power, according to Free Flow's website. Other company projects are on river systems in the Midwest, including the Ohio, Monongahela and Allegheny rivers.

(All these years and still ticking! That is grand! Hydropower built the NW and keeps it going. Don’t you wish more people appreciated that fact.)Grand Coulee Dam's Third Power Plant Undergoes Refurbishment10/22/2013, power-eng.com

Grand Coulee Dam is the largest hydropower project in North America with a capacity of 6,809 MW. The Bureau of Reclamation Commences Major Rehab of Hydropower ProjectBy Eric Marks, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in the state of Washington produces hydroelectric power and provides irrigation. The Dam is immense. To put it in perspective, it

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was built with enough concrete to build a four lane highway stretching from Los Angeles to New York (over 3,000 miles long). The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) is currently in the midst of a sizable refurbishment project that will take years to complete because of its size and importance as the Reclamation's Columbia Basin Project in central Washington. It is not only providing flood control, irrigation, recreation, stream flows, and fish and wildlife benefits, its total hydropower production capacity is 6,809 megawatts and supplies an average annual energy output of some 2,300 megawatts, which is enough power to continuously supply Seattle and Boston.

The Grand Coulee LandscapeThe dam's infrastructure comprises three power plants, a pump-generating plant, and three switchyards. There is a power plant on both the left and right sides of the spillway on the downstream face of the dam. There is pumping generation plant on the left abutment of the dam, an 11.95/115-kilovolt switchyard, a 230-kilovolt consolidated switchyard, and a 525-kilovolt Third Power Plant cable-spreading yard and switchyard are located high on the hills west of Grand Coulee Dam. Today much of the reclamation's focus is on the Third Power Plant because the refurbishment project that is underway has begun with this plant located on the downstream face of the fore bay dam. The first powerhouse comprises three station service generators rated at 10,000 kW and nine generators rated at 125,000 kW. The second houses nine generators rated at 125,000 kW. The Third Power Plant, which is getting all the attention as the refurbishment project kicks off, comprises six generators (three generators nameplate rated at 600,000 kW but able to operate up to 690,000 kW, and three generators rated at 805,000 kW). The pump-generating plant contains six pump-generators. Individual penstocks supply each of the generators. The Third Power plant has the largest penstock that is approximately 40 feet in diameter and carrying up to 35,000 cubic feet per second of water. One switchyard has 11.95 kilovolt distribution and four 115 kilovolt transmission lines; one switchyard has 230 kilovolt generation (from eighteen 125,000 kW units) and eleven transmission lines; the third switchyard has 525 kilovolt generation and six transmission lines. There are electrical connections through transformers between the 115 and 230 kilovolt switchyards and the 230 and 525 kilovolt switchyards. The main dam contains 11 drum gates, each 135 feet long and 40 outlet tubes with 102-inch ring seal gates for spilling water. The dam complex's three switchyards transmit electricity into the regional power grid.

Using Advanced Materials, Automation and TechnologyThe Grand Coulee Dam is the largest hydropower plant in North America. The Bureau of Reclamation's engineers prudently monitor and control any power supplied to the grid to ensure it is safe and fault tolerant from any possible power anomalies (spikes or dropouts). The current retrofit of the control system for the BOR is in cooperation with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydroelectric Design Center (HDC), the project's system integrator, and RTI Data Distribution Service to ensure a SCADA solution is deployed to be able to remotely monitor and control power operations. Data acquisition is being conducted with the monitoring of some 40,000 I/O points. The SCADA monitors and controls 30 generators and the transmission switchyard. RTI's SCADA will communicate with about 55 Linux-based Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) on the central control network. Operators will monitor via a Windows-based Human-Machine Interface (HMI) that will display data from other various databases and redundant servers. Based on standard, commercial computing hardware, the system is robust and secure. The plan is to use this same SCADA configuration for twelve dams in total with the Federal Columbia River Power System. Trelleborg Sealing Solutions is the supplier of hydro bearing material called Orkot TXMM to be used in multiple applications such as the control gate link bushings, operating rings and wicket gate bushings. Progress has already started with three of Grand Coulee's Third Power Plant units. The Orkot material was selected for its advanced synthetic polymer alloy, which requires a unique manufacturing process to make in order to deliver the high concentration of PTFE in the sliding area while maintaining substantial compressive strength. Since the PTFE layer is several millimeters thick, it makes the material highly tolerant and won't wear out. The Orkot also maintains its low friction properties throughout the service life of the bearing, which is another key factor for a project of this size and requirement for advanced, long lasting materials. The Grand Coulee's Third Power Plant is in process of being

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refurbished and the advanced Orkot TXMM Hydro was chosen for this retrofit project especially for its dry running capabilities and tolerance to edge loading and misalignment even with the heaviest loads. The hydro bearings are well suited to freeze fitting without the danger of shattering, which is a key factor for dam conditions. In addition, materials to be used in this refurbishment have to not only deliver the highest wear resistance possible but also be dimensionally stable and not swell in water. Trelleborg's materials were credited through lots of testing by Powertech Labs and received approval by the US Army Corps of Engineers, which further established confidence in the use of Orkot hydro bearings.

Back to the Source: HydropowerHydropower makes up almost 80 percent of Grand Coulee's authorized purposes. However irrigation and flood control make up the additional 20 percent. It is of interest to note that the public's desire for irrigation was a key driving force behind the dam's construction. Having already invested several years in planning for this refurbishment project, all eyes are on the Third Power Plant of the 6,809-MW Grand Coulee project. The Rehabilitation will start with the retrofit of all six generators, of which three will be uprated. The BOR wants to ensure continued reliable operation of this gravity dam, especially since it is the largest hydroelectric facility in the US. The state has proclaimed that the 6,809-MW Grand Coulee project on the Columbia River in Washington is a critical component for power generation in the region. The Third Power Plant, which began operating in 1975, has six units that need substantial rehabilitation simply because they have become antiquated. The Bureau of Reclamation, the plant owner and operator, has set high expectations and have followed through with years of careful planning for this rehab.This past March, the overhaul on three of the six units has started and is not expected to be completed until September 2017. The Reclamation will then access the three completed units and work on the remaining three units is then expected to start in January 2018 and will not be finished until December 2022. The expectation that was set in using state of the art materials and in leveraging the newest in technology advancements whether for polymers, remote monitoring and data acquisition, power generation equipment, etc. to ensure the plant will operate reliably, efficiently and safely for at least another 40 years

(If you can’t build here, buy it there!)Minnesota Power looks to add more hydropower energy virginiamn.com, October 23, 2013, Bill Hanna Executive Editor

Duluth, Minn. — Minnesota Power wants to add a substantial amount of hydro-generated energy to its portfolio through an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to link a transmission line from Canada to the Iron Range. The Duluth-based utility has filed a Certificate of Need application with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for an approximately 240-mile 500 kilovolt Great Northern Transmission Line, which would link to a Manitoba Hydro transmission line at the Canadian border. It would then carry renewable hydro power from Manitoba, Canada, to a substation on the Iron Range. Minnesota Power will own 51 percent of the Great Northern Transmission Line, with a subsidiary of Manitoba Hydro owning 49 percent. Cost of the project is estimated at $400 to $600 million. Construction is expected to begin in June 2016 and take about four years to complete.

MP officials say a recent economic impact study projects construction of the line will generate more than $800 million, which will create about 250 jobs during the design and construction period. The international transmission is needed to support delivery of energy from Manitoba Hydro to the U.S. from two new generating stations being developed in northern Manitoba that will have the capacity to produce more than 2,000 megawatts of renewable electricity. The line will deliver at least 750 MW to the U.S. Minnesota Power will be able to use 250 MW through a purchase agreement already approved by the MPUC. “The Great Northern Transmission Line is an innovative component of our EnergyForward strategy to achieve a balanced energy mix of one-third renewable, one-third coal and one-third natural gas,” said ALLETE President, Chairman and CEO Alan Hodnik. “Not only will this initiative advance the nation’s goal to transform the energy landscape to a less carbon-intense platform, it will also open the door to further

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transmission investment in the Midwest, while supporting planned industrial growth on Minnesota’s Iron Range.” In approving the 250-MW power purchase last year, the MPUC determined that the hydropower resources represented the most cost effective way to meet MP customers’ needs. The Manitoba Hydro system will allow MP to use it to store wind energy from its Bison Wind Energy Center in North Dakota. “The wind doesn’t always blow at times of peak electric demand,” said MP Chief Operating Officer Brad Oachs. “The Great Northern Transmission Line unlocks a powerful synergy between wind resources in the north central U.S. and flexible Canadian hydropower in northern Manitoba.”

(It’s all kWh’s so it’s good because it’s hydro, renewable, and efficient.)Small hydroelectric dams bring clean power to utilitiesJody Lawrence-Turner The Spokesman-Review, October 26, 2013 in City, spokesman.com Glenn Phillips is a water-power cowboy. Faded, discolored pictures depict the Northport, Wash., man’s tale of building one of the first privately owned and operated miniature hydroelectric power plants. They show him digging in a ravine. One shows him stringing cable for a tram that hauled materials. More chronicle how he built a power house at the bottom of a 140-foot waterfall.Now 82 years old, Phillips displays each photo in hands weathered by hard work as his family harnessed nature. “I knew there had to be an easier way to make a living than logging and raising cattle,” said Phillips, flashing a surly grin.The Northwest is rich with water-generated electricity; big, wild rivers have been tamed by some of the world’s mightiest dams.

And yet the region is home to an impressive array of small projects, too. Some can fetch their owners $20,000 a month. Washington, Idaho and Oregon are home to at least 95 of these miniature operations, according to the Foundation for Water and Energy Education, located in Spokane. There are hundreds more across the country. Together they form an industry worth tens of millions of dollars. Most are owned by cities and companies. Though water power is often criticized as harmful to the environment, Mike Johnson, a consultant on hydroelectric power across the globe, said that’s untrue. “We’re not backing the water up. It’s run-of-the-river. It’s inflow equals outflow,” he said. Johnson owns Meyers Falls hydro plant, a historic operation in Kettle Falls, Wash. No fish are harmed. No pollutants are released into the water that pulses through the Colville River. Johnson’s power plant is on the National Register of Historic Places because it’s the oldest power plant west of the Mississippi River. Johnson’s and Phillips’ year-round operations are at the base of waterfalls that cascade down nature-carved rocks into a creek or river. Spring is when the water roars. Fall is a low-water time, a chance to do maintenance work in advance of the winter buildup and spring runoff. Owners barely seem to mind any busy work in the serene surroundings framed in yellow, red and orange leaves. Dressed in his usual work clothes – blue jeans, a sweatshirt and boots – Phillips explains he started experimenting with water-powered electricity when he refurbished an old turbine found at a junkyard to operate the irrigation system on his ranch spanning hundreds of acres. With the energy source already spinning the wheels in his mind, the Korean War veteran’s curiosity grew when a neighbor shared that his grandfather had patented a turbine decades earlier that could handle much larger amounts of water. So Phillips and his wife, Rosemarie, attended a seminar in Portland where “a man who represented some bankers” talked to people about starting up hydroelectric power plants. “I think the nearest bank was in Boston,” said Phillips, checking his wife’s eyes for approval as they stood in the kitchen of their modest home. “I think we were the only ones who borrowed money.” In the early 1980s, Northwest banks didn’t take chances on such small water-power projects. Almost two decades later, when Johnson bought the Meyers Falls plant from Avista Corp., the profitability of such projects was not such a mystery. Not to mention, Johnson had extensive knowledge about the systems. The mechanical engineer had manufactured turbines and advised folks on viable locations for using water to generate electricity. He had spent 11 years in Indonesia consulting on small hydro-powered systems that helped put 50,000 people under lights. Johnson won a competitive bid for the plant and started working on doubling its capacity. “We did a lot of heavy lifting for the first five years to

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increase capacity and do upgrades,” Johnson said. Meyers Falls – originally built by Stevens County Power & Light Co. – now generates enough electricity for about 1,500 homes. “I sell everything this (power plant) produces to Avista and they redistribute it.”

Federal law requires utilities such as Avista to buy “green energy” such as water, wind and solar power. The law “gives the little guy a chance,” said Steve Silkworth, wholesale contracts manager with Avista. “We have to buy the power whether we need it or not.” Most of Oregon, Washington and Idaho’s electricity comes from dams. The seven largest produce 60 percent of the region’s power, according to the Foundation for Water and Energy Education. The 50 to 100 smallest operations generate about 3 percent of the energy. Avista carries six contracts with small operators who produce fewer than 5 megawatts, Silkworth said. The contract lengths are set by the owners. It took two years for Phillips to strike a deal with Avista, then called Washington Water Power.The Phillips’ journey began in 1984. “First we had to build a bridge,” said Phillips, pointing to the suspended wooden bridge that stretches over a ravine carved by Sheep Creek.With grit and sweat, the Phillips family – with a little help from engineers and construction workers – built the head gates, blasted a trail through shale rock and constructed a tram to transport people and equipment up and down a 300-foot slope on steel tracks. The wood and metal platform uses a multicable system that can hold up to 20 tons. Heavy material and equipment takes nearly 30 minutes to travel from top to bottom, which required patience to build the cement-walled power house and install the guts of the hydro operation: turbines 5 feet tall with equally sized generators roaring beside them. Near the end, the Phillipses realized they needed more money to complete the required surveys of the land and equipment. The hydropower plant had to pass inspection by 17 regulatory agencies. The couple struck a deal with two of their four sons, Mike and Larry. The young men each invested $40,000, and the two remain involved in the business to this day and will take over the business when their parents call it quits.Larry Phillips, accompanied by his dog Pooch, often helps his dad with the plant operations while Mike focuses more on the books. The power plant became operational in 1986. The family has a 35-year agreement with Avista. The Sheep Creek Hydro Plant averages about $20,000 per month minus insurance and expenses. The contract expires in 2021, when Glenn Phillips turns 90. “While it was all Glenn’s idea, it wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the whole family,” Rosemarie Phillips said. Glenn added, “It’s easier than milking cows.” Added Johnson: “We’re mom-and-pop operations. It’s a good business.”

(Now we know why the State is trying to take the project, the water ain’t the story. Better revenies comes from more rain.)Power sales from Alcoa's NC dams rise to $30MOctober 25, By EMERY P. DALESIO, AP Business Writer, kansascity.com

Raleigh, N.C. — Four Alcoa Inc. dams at the heart of a years-long fight over control of the water and electricity coming from the state's second-largest river system are delivering better revenues. Alcoa reported to federal regulators this month that the dams generated 964,216 megawatt hours of electricity in the year ending in September. Based on an average wholesale price of $31.04 per megawatt hour provided by energy information company Platts, that would have generated revenues of about $30 million over the 12-month period. Alcoa declined to provide details about operating costs for the Yadkin River dams, or how much the company banked as profit from selling the electricity generated to commercial customers, spokesman Robert Brown said.

The dams powered an aluminum smelter the Pittsburgh-based company closed in 2007. Alcoa is seeking a new federal license that would allow it or a future buyer to continue operating the dams for up to 50 years. Electricity sales have dropped from $47 million in 2005 to about $30 million a year during the recession on lower electricity demand and reduced rainfall. Power sales fell again to about $19 million in the year ending in September 2012. Alcoa has been reluctant to describe its profit from power sales, but released financial statements in 2011 showing the dams returned profits of between $8 million and $7.3 million in 2008, 2009 and 2010 on revenue that averaged about $30 million a year. The company has said the dams need about $180 million in upgrades but it needs the license in hand to know it will be able to recoup the costs. Alcoa projected in 2006

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that the dams generated almost $44 million a year in revenues. Over 50 years, that could mean revenues of more than $2 billion, an amount that could multiply if demand for clean power booms. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory this summer joined his predecessor, Democrat Beverly Perdue, in opposing a new federal license. Inexpensive energy resulting from public control of the dams could produce thousands of jobs in the coming decades, and as water supplies tighten for North Carolina's 9.5 million residents, it is important that the state have the freedom to use the river's water, Perdue said.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has never rejected the renewal of a hydroelectric operating license. If it did so in this case, Congress would have to decide whether a state or municipal body could take over the hydroelectric project after compensating Alcoa. State officials said in an August lawsuit that Alcoa has no ownership rights to the bed of the Yadkin River over which the dams were built beginning a century ago. The lawsuit asks a federal judge to rule North Carolina has had riverbed ownership since it became a state after the American Revolution and that the state now has a stake in Alcoa's dams. "The Yadkin River is a North Carolina River," Gov. Pat McCrory said August. "We should be able to use it for North Carolina water needs and to create North Carolina jobs. The benefits of the Yadkin River belong to North Carolina's people." Lawyers for the Alcoa operating subsidiary, Alcoa Power Generating Inc., responded by saying that if North Carolina ever had any ownership rights in the dams or the riverbed under them, they were lost because state officials failed to claim them until now. "The State filed this lawsuit in an attempt to hijack the dams (and the revenue they generate) by arguing, for the first time in the several decades that APGI has operated the dams, that the riverbeds on which they were built have belonged to the State all along," Alcoa lawyers said in a filing in the federal lawsuit. Critics warn that a new operating license would allow Alcoa to sell the dams. Alcoa last year sold its four dams on the Little Tennessee and Cheoah rivers in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina for about $600 million. Alcoa received a new 40-year license for the Tapoco dams project in 2005, shut down production at the nearby smelter in Alcoa, Tenn., in 2009, and last year announced the smelter's permanent closing. Alcoa executives have declined to say whether the company planned to sell the Yadkin dams or any other asset.

Water: (Well, what did you expect? The Federal debt is spiraling out of control and this ain’t the reason! Once it was said that it takes over 20 years to get a project built and operating! That much delay costs really big money!)The Post’s ViewWaste, waste everywhere in water bill before the HouseBy Editorial Board, washingtonpost.com, 10/23/13

FRESH OFF the government shutdown fight, Congress is getting back to business. That’s not all good: The House is set to consider Wednesday a water bill that many taxpayer advocates say keeps a wasteful system without the fundamental reform it needs. They have a point. The Water Resources Reform and Development Act would adjust the way the federal government spends billions of dollars on Army Corps of Engineers projects. The bill, in other words, at least acknowledges that the way lawmakers have been sponsoring the construction of dams, levees and locks is irrational. In the past, Congress would authorize specific projects, which would languish until lawmakers voted to fund them in a separate appropriations process, often years later. In the meantime, members could go back to their districts and boast that they had gotten a

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project authorized. But over time, Congress funded many fewer projects than it authorized, leading to a $60 billion backlog. Zombie water projects sit in a long line, many deservedly so, waiting for the right political moment for their allies to push some cash their way. Earmarks made the system even more corrupt, but the House has ended those.

The bill would set up a new system. Local sponsors of water development proposals would submit ideas to the Army Corps of Engineers, which would analyze them and hand Congress a list of potential projects. This would take some control out of lawmakers’ hands without empowering the executive branch. But Taxpayers for Common Sense and a slew of fiscal conservative advocates pointed out in a letter to lawmakers Tuesday that the bill wouldn’t fix the problem, because the standards the corps will use to vet proposals aren’t high enough; projects would not be required to produce more than a negligible return on investment. As a result, lawmakers would continue to authorize projects of questionable value and build up the backlog of authorized proposals. Also, the bill would limit environmental review and public comment on corps projects, even though activists insist that poor project planning and the cumbersome authorization and funding process are much more responsible than environmentalists for delaying worthy construction. Instead of constraining environmental reviews, lawmakers should fix the big problem: the failure of the authorization system to sort out good projects from the merely mediocre, or even the plainly bad. One way to do that is to require all projects to meet high and specific tests before qualifying for authorization. If that doesn’t happen on the floor Wednesday, it should be on the table in conference with the Senate.

(Sounds pretty good even if there’s waste, especially the safety and flood control.)Bipartisan love for water in the HouseBy David Lombardo, October 23, 2013, dailygazette.com

The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 passed the House of Representatives overwhelmingly on Wednesday. Described in a news release from U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, as the water equivalent to the better known surface transportation bill, the act is responsible for providing the oversight and authorization for various projects across the country, which are mostly conducted by the Army Corps of Engineer. There are efforts to mitigate flooding risks, improve drinking water, support water transportation, and protect wildlife, while also strengthening the country's water transportation network. Included in the proposal are dam safety reforms that Gibson advocated to include. “In a district with significant water interests, this legislation is critical to help prevent flooding and institute important safety improvements and infrastructure projects," he said in a statement. "My Congressional District is compromised of three watersheds, one of the country’s most important rivers, and communities inside and near flood plain," Gibson said. "All of these interests will benefit from the critical reforms included in this legislation, which also enjoys strong support from the Governor’s office, our family farms, small businesses, and many labor groups."

U.S. Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, touted the bills positive reception from businesses and labor groups all over the country. He said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated a $32 billion contribution to the state's economy from its waterways and ports, which support more than 150,000 jobs. “This legislation directly supports thousands of New York jobs and speeds long overdue infrastructure rehabilitation projects that will help grow our economy.” Owens said in a statement. “I am pleased the House has come together in a bipartisan manner to advance legislation that invests in our nation’s aging infrastructure.” Gibson described the bill as an example of effective bipartisan work.The Senate still needs to act on this proposal.More from the Gibson release• Levee Safety: Authorizes federal technical assistance to states for levee safety programs as long as the state in question provides a minimum level of matching funding. These funds are tied to the requirement for federal levee safety guidelines.• Flood Control: Allows the Corps to put into place a non-federal plan, at the request of a non-federal interest, to provide greater flood risk protections, if economically and environmentally favorable, to be funded by the non-federal interest.

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• Dam Safety: Reauthorizes the National Dam Safety Program, including authorizing representatives from non-governmental organizations on the Dam Safety Board and requiring that board to develop and implement a comprehensive dam safety hazard education and public awareness initiative to assist the public in mitigating against, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from dam incidents.

Environment: (You can bet that if someone wanted to build a dam, the mussels would stop it. But, they won’t stop tearing one down! What construction?}CMU biologists discover endangered species, postpone dam constructionby Mark Johnson on October 23, 2013, cm-life.com

Removal of a Grand River dam, M has been postponed after Central Michigan University biologists discovered a number of endangered snuffbox mussels. The group, which included 10 students, was hired by the Ionia Conservation District to survey how many endangered mussels there were near the Grand River dam, located near Lyons. “I have hired a series of students, three graduate students and seven undergraduate students,” said assistant professor of biology Daelyn Woolnough. “We’ve been doing snorkeling and scuba diving and digging to try to determine what mussels are there.” Woolnough was recommended for the project because of her expertise on the topic. “Daelyn was referred to us by the fisheries division of the DNR,” said Melissa Eldridge, the Ionia Conservation District manager. “So we started speaking with her and got her involved so she could do the surveying and the actual relocation.” Woolnough had been working in the area a few years ago when she had found one of these endangered mussels, leading to further investigation.

“Three years ago, I was in Lyons doing some fishery stuff with some DNR colleagues and I found one live snuffbox mussel,” she said. “So we knew there could be more.” To find these mussels, the CMU biologists had to do some digging in the bottom of the river. Working for around a month and a half, Woolnough and graduate student Shaughn Barnett made their final trip to the river last week. The Colorado Springs graduate student helped by tagging the mussels and said he feels the discovery is important. “Native mussels are extremely important and unfortunately have become imperiled for a variety of reasons,” Barnett said. “It is essential to maintain ecosystems that (the mussels) can be a part of. I hope that our conclusions will be used in a beneficial way when the decision-making process determines the fate of Lyons Dam.” More than 50 snuffbox mussels of varying sex and size have been found in the river. Woolnaugh said this discovery is very encouraging. “This means they’re reproducing,” Woolnough said. “We can’t say it’s the best, but it’s one of the best populations in North America. It’s like the equivalent of finding a whole bunch of bald eagles when it was endangered, now we find more because of the conservation of that species.”

In addition to the snuffbox, they found 20 other mussel species including the lilliput mussel and the black sandshell mussel, which are both endangered in the state of Michigan. Before the dam is removed, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will make a decision on what will happen to the mussels. To keep track of these mussels once they’re relocated, the biologists have implemented a tagging system. “For every mussel that we have found, which are state or federally endangered, we’ve put a label on them so we know they’re endangered,” Woolnough said. “It’s almost like a microchip, called a PIT tag, where we can take a device like a metal detector and find them again.” Woolnough is hopeful the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will pick her group to help relocate the mussels, but it’s not guaranteed that they will be picked. She said this particular discovery is a significant step for the future of this species, adding that to raise the species above the threatened level, more work with the species must be done. However, many factors hold the mussel populations back from growing. “Not only dams, but agriculture, climate change, urban

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development, changes in the rivers, water quality issues, all of these things are affecting the mussels,” Woolnough said. “They can’t swim or fly away either. They just stay in one area.”As for the removal of the dam, it remains postponed in lieu of raised water levels and a pending decision by the Ionia Conservation District. “With the endangered species, we had to do a little more survey work on relocation and rework some of the original plans,” Eldridge said. “We still have construction plans for low water time, which happens around August or the first of September. That will happen in 2014, so we’re right on track.”

Other Stuff: (More human interest stuff!)Arizona Central: The history of Glen Canyon before the dam - ColoradoRiverFrom Arizona Central (Ron Dungan): coyotegulch.wordpress.com

In May of 1869, a one-armed explorer named John Wesley Powell set off on an expedition to explore the Colorado River. Powell, who had lost his arm during the Civil War, began the journey with a crew of nine men in four wooden boats crammed with full of supplies.Most of the crew, Edward Dolnick writes in “Down the Great Unknown,” was a bit bleary.“As a farewell to civilization,” they had “done their best to drink Green River Station’s only saloon dry,” and they departed with “foggy ideas and snarly hair.”[...]Most early attempts to settle the West did not result in neat grids of farmland, but in land speculation, fraud, wealthy land barons, failed crops and empty homesteads. Powell recommended modifying the Homestead Act by forming irrigation districts rather than promoting individual homesteads. But much of the water in the West had already been claimed, and Congress was reluctant to challenge the status quo. It certainly did not want to fund large irrigation projects. “Powell did his best: Here’s a rational plan for managing the water. Here’s a rational plan for managing the forests,” Fowler said. “He ultimately got ran out of the USGS because of what he was trying to do. They cut his budget until he resigned.” Powell left the Geological Survey in 1894, though he stayed with the Bureau of Ethnology until he died in 1902.

By that time, Congress had begun to think differently about water-reclamation projects. New technology made it easier to build big dams, Fowler said, and it was possible for them to generate alternating-current electricity that could be transmitted long distances. That would pay for the projects, and “that was how they sold it to Congress,” Fowler said… Perhaps the most permanent residents were Pueblo Indians, who built small villages and planted crops. When work began on Glen Canyon Dam, archaeologists began to search the area for artifacts from these early residents. Fowler was among those scientists. “I was there the day they started pouring the concrete.” He got to Glen Canyon in the fall of 1957, when the blasting began. He watched the dam grow, and saw Page, which did not exist prior to the construction, slowly take form. Bill Lipe, professor emeritus of anthropology at Washington State University, was a crew chief for the University of Utah from 1958 through August 1960, and came back to work in the summer of 1961. “It was very hot,” Lipe said. The crews spent their summers digging and their winters writing reports. “It was a logistically difficult place to work in, because of the lack of roads…. We spent a lot of time just getting around and surviving,” Lipe said. The work was the largest salvage-archaeology project of its time, Fowler said… On Sept. 13, 1963, the last bucket of concrete tipped 583 feet above the Colorado River, spilling both prosperity and perpetual controversy. Glen Canyon Dam was completed, and the newly plugged Lake Powell was on a 17-year rise toward 9 trillion gallons.

(How’s this for a set of gates? For those who don’t have a calculator handy, 210 m = about 689 feet.)

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Netherlands North Sea Flood Protectionashleycarew.hubpages.com

The Netherlands North Sea ProtectionIn 1953 major flooding took place in South Holland when a tidal wave broke through dikes flooding the islands of the region killing 2000 people and ruining vast amounts of agricultural land. To prevent another event of this magnitude happening again the Dutch government launched the ‘Delta Project’. As a result of this project The Ooster schelldedam was built between 1976 and 1986. The dam itself is 3 km in length with 62 flood gates in between piers 38m high. The gates only close when the sea becomes dangerous meaning disturbance to industry and surrounding national parks is kept to a minimum. Following the building of this flood barrier, the construction of a storm surge barrier, on the Nieuwe Waterweg, near the major port of Rotterdam, began in 1991. This barrier was constructed so it would cause the least amount of disturbance to shipping in and out of the port and it was predicted that the barrier would only close on average twice every ten years.

The Maeslant barrier was finally completed in 1997 consisting of 2 gates each 210m long. These gates reside in docks lying along the banks of the waterway and during storm surges, these docks are flooded allowing the hollow gates to float. A little ‘locomotive’ then enables them to move into the middle of the waterway, taking less than half an hour. Once the gates meet, valves in there walls are flooded and the cavities fill with water, sinking them to the concrete sill on the channel bed. The joints on the gates are ball and socket type, allowing free range of movement. The joints are 10m in diameter and weight 680 tonnes each. The Maeslant barrier is controlled by a computer, with a decision and support system known in Dutch as the Beslis & Ondersteunend System. The computer calculates the expected water levels in Rotterdam and surrounding areas on the basis of water and weather forecasts. (Watch the video: http://ashleycarew.hubpages.com/hub/Netherlands-North-Sea-Protection )

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