10/24/2014

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Dams:

(Oh, oh, the State is upset!)State's angry letter defends Susitna dam salmon science By Zaz Hollander, October 9, 2014, adn.com

Wasilla, Alaska -- The state entity pushing a contentious dam on the Susitna River fired off an outraged response this week to the federal contention that the project’s salmon science is flawed.The National Marine Fisheries Service last month filed a critical letter with federal regulators saying the Alaska Energy Authority's fish data was so unreliable it wasn’t usable. The NMFS critiqued everything from juvenile coho salmon wrongly labeled chinook to shortcuts in field studies and problems with scientific models. After almost 20 years, Iliamna hydro project finally hits its stride Wayne Dyok, the authority’s dam project manager, dismissed the agency’s flawed science claims as "untenable, bordering on the absurd" in an aggressive and at times abrasive letter filed Tuesday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “We really needed a strong letter,” Dyok said during an interview Thursday. “We felt that the professionalism and integrity of our team, particularly the fisheries team, was being questioned, and we really take that challenge very seriously.” The tone of Dyok’s letter was unusual for a federal hydro filing, especially when compared to letters from agencies like the Alaska Department of Fish and Game or Department of Natural Resources, said Jan Konigsberg, an energy analyst and Susitna dam critic who has spent

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

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And Other Stuff

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Quote of Note: “You can always be sure that if you do something right, someone else will take the credit .” - Me

Some Dam - Hydro News Newsletter Archive for Back Issues and Search http://npdp.stanford.edu/Click on Link (Some Dam - Hydro News) Bottom Right - Under Perspectives

“Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas JeffersonRon’s wine pick of the week: 2010 Zuccardi Argentina & Chile (Red Blends) "Tito"“ No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap. ” - - Thomas Jefferson

years evaluating projects going through the federal licensing process. “They certainly don’t take that sort of tone with any of the public filings,” Konigsberg said. The tension between the agencies reflects the fact that the Susitna’s salmon -- and the dam’s effect on them -- are at the heart of the dam debate.

The state’s proposal to put a 735-foot, 600-megawatt-capacity dam on the Susitna is touted as a major influx of renewable energy to the Railbelt but also castigated as too great a threat to the river’s world-famous salmon runs. The project to date has cost more than $190 million. Current estimates put the cost of building the dam at more than $5 billion. The state’s salmon studies will form the basis of a much larger Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decision to license the project. The authority expects to file a license application with FERC in December 2016.NMFS, the federal agency responsible for protecting anadromous fish like salmon and marine mammals, came out swinging last month in its critique of a June report summarizing the state’s first-year dam studies. The agency’s top Alaska official in a Sept. 22 letter told the authority that the report contained “data issues” that undercut the state’s ability to understand the health of Susitna salmon now and predict the effects of the massive project on fish in the future.Among other things, the letter faulted data collection methods -- it describes a “very high percentage” of misidentified juvenile salmon -- and said problems getting access to Alaska Native corporation lands last year led to incomplete studies. The authority initially failed to get permission to conduct research at the dam site and project area from a number of Alaska Native village corporation landowners. The agency also contends federally approved study plans aren’t being correctly followed. The problems should be fixed before the state does any more field work, Alaska region administrator James W. Balsiger wrote.

“NMFS recommends that the data issues be resolved as soon as possible,” the letter states.Dyok, in his response letter, says the authority was “largely successful” putting a FERC-approved study plan into place last year. That included 10 studies covering more than 200 sampling sites across more than 200 river miles. Yes, land access problems and late breakup in the spring of 2013 stalled field work, but the state modified study plans in response, he said. As for the misidentified salmon, Dyok writes, the state “takes exception to any suggestion that it has not implemented the FERC-approved study plan in a professional manner.” He praises the qualifications of what he calls nationally renowned experts working for five contractors with highly qualified field technicians, many with advanced degrees from the University of Alaska system. Identifying young salmon can be tricky, Dyok said. Photos the authority included with a press release this week show the same 10-centimeter juvenile salmon -- a chinoho? -- in different pictures facing different directions. Arrows pointing to markings indicate the fish in question could be either coho or chinook. Dyok’s letter also accuses NMFS of making “a number of outright errors and instances in which you ignore available information,” specifying pink salmon counts, relative salmon abundance information and development of fish passage criteria. A table details authority responses to NMFS concerns. NMFS officials this week said it would be counterproductive to issue a response before they join the authority and numerous other agencies at a series of technical meetings coming up next week in Anchorage. Agencies and interested parties involved in the Susitna licensing process will meet for six days to talk about the state’s studies. “Any comments we were to make now would be detrimental to the meetings next week where we will be discussing these issues,” said Doug Mecum, the agency’s deputy administrator in Alaska. It’s not clear how FERC will view the skirmish between the agencies. A spokesperson didn’t return a call for comment. The federal agency comments at this stage are only preliminary, Konigsberg noted. FERC will look much more closely at formal comments filed in February. “I don’t think this is as critical,” he said.

(Removing tinker toy dams, if it could even be called a dam, gets more press than Hoover Dam!)Dam removed in Westfield river watershedBy Energy and Environmental Affairs, October 10, 2014, wwlp.com

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu2

Boston (Mass.gov) – MassachusettsDepartment of Fish and Game (DFG)Commissioner Mary Griffin today announcedthe removal of Kinne Brook Dam in Chester.Continuing the Patrick Administration’scommitment to protecting theCommonwealth’s natural resources, theremoval is the first of a three-phase effort torestore habitat along ten miles of the WestfieldRiver’s cascading, cold-water stream. “It isexciting to see the first fish passage barrier onKinne Brook removed,” said CommissionerGriffin. “After the next two barriers are removed, a long stretch of high quality spawning and rearing habitat will be reconnected to the Westfield River stream network.” The removal of the Kinne Brook Dam follows the removal of two dams on Yokum Brook in Becket in 2006 and 2009. These river restoration projects benefit eastern brook trout and other wildlife species that need free flowing water and open wildlife corridors that are essential for healthy ecosystems. Kinne Brook is a high quality stream that flows through Chester before it meets with the Middle Branch of the Westfield River. With the upcoming replacement of two undersized culverts, two more barriers will be alleviated.

“The collaboration between Trout Unlimited (TU), the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration (DER), National Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and a willing landowner made this successful restoration project a reality,” said Colin Lawson, Trout Unlimited New England Culvert Project Coordinator. “Reconnecting this stream channel assures the long-term viability of brook trout in another high quality coldwater stream in the Westfield River basin.” Both upstream culverts slated for replacement were washed out during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, closing Kinnebrook Road. The new culverts will be designed to accommodate larger storm flows, wood and sediment passage, and to reduce erosion and the likelihood of culvert failure and road washouts. “This project is another excellent example of the strong partnership between the Patrick administration, environmental advocates, and our local and federal partners” said Senator Benjamin B. Downing. ““The Westfield River attracts national attention and resources because it has some of the most intact and pristine waters in Massachusetts,” said Representative Stephen Kulik. “Restoration projects like these further improve the watershed, making sure it remains clean and healthy.” “A great restoration project is one that not only improves our environment, but is one built by partnerships and broad-based community involvement. Our crowdfunding website – Clean Water Future.org – helped to galvanize individual investments in this project. We are pleased to have helped make this project a great one,” noted Andrew Fisk, Executive Director of the Connecticut River Watershed Council. Project partners have raised over $220,000 in funds and in-kind services from the following contributors: DFG’s Division of Ecological Restoration, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Wild & Scenic Westfield River Committee, The Trout and Salmon Foundation, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, The Orvis Company, Westfield River Watershed Association, Camp Fire Conservation Fund and Clean Water Future Community Investors, a crowd-funding project of the Connecticut River Watershed Council.

The project has also received support from the Trout Unlimited National, Pioneer Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Fish Passage Program, American Rivers, Tighe & Bond Engineering, Westfield State University’s Westfield Environmental Center and a private landowner. Under the Patrick Administration, Massachusetts went from near the bottom in dam removal to seventh in the nation, according to data collected by American Rivers. In the past four years, Massachusetts has consistently been one of the top three states in the nation in dams removed per year. The mission of the Division of Ecological Restoration is to restore and protect the Commonwealth’s rivers, wetlands and watersheds for the benefit of people and the environment. The Division was created in 2009 with the merger of the Riverways and

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Wetland Restoration Programs. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is responsible for promoting the conservation and enjoyment of the Commonwealth’s natural resources. DFG carries out this mission through land protection and wildlife habitat management, management of inland and marine fish and wildlife species, and ecological restoration of fresh water, salt water, and terrestrial habitats. DFG promotes enjoyment of the Massachusetts environment through outdoor skills workshops, fishing festivals and other educational programs, and by enhancing access to the Commonwealth’s rivers, lakes, and coastal waters.

(Some dam history.)Hank's History: Rivers dammed for several reasonsOctober 12, 2014, By Hank Billings, news-leader.com

If you recall World War II, chances are you remember this rallying cry, "D--- the torpedoes, full speed ahead." As a former float fisherman, I offer this slogan to the Corps of Engineers, "Dam the rivers, full lakes ahead." Springfieldian John Simmons recalls that as a student at Drury, after WWII, he was recruited to drive three Ozarks boosters around to see groundbreaking for dams. The boosters were W.P. Keltner, Louis Reps and L.E. Meador. It isn't fair to blame all our river dams on the Corps. Simmons, a former summer cabin owner at Linden, recalled that dams at Ozark were built for mills owned by the Hawkins family. When the mill at Linden was torn down, a small hotel was built upstream. Years ago, the Osage River was dammed to form Lake of the Ozarks for power and recreation. A dam created Lake Taneycomo (for Taney County, Missouri).Springfield's City Utilities formed Lake Springfield on the James River for power, flood control and recreation. Corps of Engineers dams on area rivers include Table Rock, Norfork, Bull Shoals, Beaver and Stockton. When there was talk, years ago, I was sent to do a story. Photo engraver Leon Hooper went along to do pictures of the magnificent Buffalo River scenery. We drove to where 65 crossed the Buffalo and went upstream for a decent float. Our guide offered us moonshine. "In this heat? No thanks!" The guide took several swigs. On one of the Buffalo's rapids, the guide fell into the fast water, Leon went in after him. I don’t remember if the guide reduced his fee. I do remember that Leon told our waiter in Branson to bring a full pitcher of iced tea and leave it so we could offset our afternoon in the sun.

Hoover Dam turbine construction, 1933-1935https://twitter.com/HistoryInPics/statuses/521438672571625472

Grant County PUD plan for fixing Wanapum Dam (Press on the CTRL key and click on each goal to see what it says.)From Grant County PUD website

Grant PUD is working with teams of experts in their respective fields and through the consultation of stakeholders and regulators to achieve the following goals concurrently:Stabilize spillway pier monolith No. 4 (achieved - March 4, 2014)Investigate root cause (May 13, 2014)Intermediate pool raise to a normal minimum (Q4, 2014)Restoration of pool and spillwayTemporary mitigation:public safetycultural resourcesfish passagerecreationirrigationPlant maximization and preservationGoal 1 - Wanapum Dam is stableAfter consulting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Grant PUD, which owns and operates the dam, began to draw down the elevation of the Wanapum reservoir by 26 feet to reduce pressure on the monolith. A survey of the structure on March 4 showed that the fracture

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had closed and the monolith was stable. A thorough examination of the rest of the dam found no other fractures.Goal 2 - Root cause identifiedGoal 3 - Intermediate pool raiseGoal 4 - Restoring the spillway and reservoirGoal 5a - Ensuring public safetyGoal 5b - Protecting cultural resourcesGoal 5c - Providing for fish passageGoal 5d - Facilitating safe public recreationGoal 5e - Addressing irrigationGoal 6 - Wanapum Dam continues to operateAt current levels, Wanapum Dam is capable of generating electricity at between 50 to 60 percent of capacity. The dam will be able to accommodate river flows in coordination with other dams operating on the Columbia River. (Looks good, but apparently the reservoir is full of silt and useless!)San Clemente Dam project update set for TuesdayStatus report set for Tuesday in Carmel ValleyBy Jim Johnson, montereyherald.com,10/13/2014

Carmel Valley, CA >> Approaching the end of the second year of the San Clemente Dam removal project — the largest of its kind in state history — California American Water and Granite Construction will offer a progress update at a public meeting Tuesday night. Set for 7 p.m. at the Carmel Valley Community Youth Center, the meeting will include a report on work completed to date and planned for next spring, as well as Carmel Valley Road paving upgrades slated to start Oct. 20. The three-year, $84-million project calls for removing the 106-foot dam, which was built in 1921 and seen as a crumbling, hazardous structure vulnerable to collapse during an earthquake. The Old Carmel River Dam, would also be removed, and the Carmel River would be rerouted. According to Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Stedman, this year saw substantial construction of a new channel for the Carmel River that will divert the river around the dam and the accumulated sediment behind it. Stedman said work on a diversion dike is nearing completion while preparation of a sediment stockpile area has begun. The construction season is set to end Oct. 31 but work can continue into next month if the weather remains dry, Stedman said. The paving improvements, which will occur from Carmel Valley Village to east of Esquiline Road, are required as part of a road maintenance agreement under the project permit. One lane will be closed in the Village and a pilot car will be used for traffic control during the project, with delays as long as 20 minutes. Work will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the first phase of the project in the Village, while the second phase, east of Esquiline Road, will be conducted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Message boards will be set up on each side of the Village this week. The work is expected to continue for about a month, through Nov. 21. A project hotline for residents has also been set up, at (866) 225-7852. Additional information is available on the project website at www.sanclementedamremoval.org. The Youth Center is located at 25 Ford Road in Carmel Valley.

(An ultimatum or show me the money!)PERU, In (OCT. 14, 2014) – Fix it or pay, that’s the reality that the owners of six deteriorating dams are facing. The dams sit in the Hidden Hills subdivision in Peru.The Indiana Department of Natural Resources sent a letter to the dam owners and the Miami County Board of Commissioners saying that the dams need to be improved. “They felt like we needed to make some alterations to the dams,” said Larry West, one of the dam owners.West lives in the scenic subdivision, and is also a county commissioner. His house sits on one of the many dams throughout the property. “There’s what I would consider minor maintenance issues. The dams are roughly 23 years old,” said West. The DNR letter says the property owners that live on the dams have until the end of the month to bring in an engineer and determine what needs to be fixed. However, the inspection is costly. “I don’t see anything that I would consider a serious pending failure of a catastrophic nature,” said West. “(It’s) $5,000 per dam so that’s $30,000. That’s a rough estimate. It will take a $250,000 per dam to make the necessary

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu5

changes.” West says he is subject to a $10,000-a-day fine if he doesn’t bring in an engineer by the end of the month. “We are subject to a Class B infraction. I think it’s a new infraction everyday beyond the 30 days,” said West. West says he plans on submitting a written appeal to the DNR within the 30 day requirement.

(Here’s what one reviewer thinks of this biased film!)’This is not the same country we remember’POSTED: 10/16/2014, reformer.comON THE BIG SCREEN Film review by Sheldon G. Weeks

The new documentary, DamNation (2014), was shown at the Marlboro Graduate School in Brattleboro and at Marlboro College in Ragle Hall with a high-quality long-distance DVD projector. Fifty-five years ago when I was a graduate student at Putney, dams were admired, supported and encouraged. We learned about the values in constructing fishponds for recreation, food, raising the water table, reducing run off and erosion, and if near houses, for fighting fire. Small dams were also linked to reforestation, and the creation of reservoirs for back-up water supply, flood control and the irrigation of crops. President Franklin Roosevelt gave his enthusiastic backing to dam projects. John Muir is quoted in 1913 as being concerned about the impact of dams on the environment, fearing for the future of Yellowstone. Those who back dams and defend them were given time to express their views, but few replied. He shows them labelling anti-dam people as un-American, lunatics and terrorists. Dams have always held a fascination for me. As a kid we dammed streams to make swimming holes that were washed away by the spring torrents. Then we learned how to make swimming holes that survived without dams that were away from the streams. As a youth I made a number of earth dams and ponds that qualified for government subsidies. But these are not the kind of dams the film is concerned about, except for the large earth dams that were disasters.

They show shots of poorly built dams where the planners made mistakes. At Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 2,009 lives were lost when the South Fork dam, built 50 years before to support a canal system, collapsed in 1889. It is remembered as the Great Flood. Years ago I had a piece in The New York Times favouring dams over strip mining for coal to produce electricity. We were not then aware that concrete had long-term limitations. I-91 in Brattleboro has brought that failing home to people. We did know that the cement industry and Congress, through political logrolling and pork barrel projects, had a role in the construction of dams (not mentioned in DamNation). Some graduate students were taken on tours of the Tennessee Valley Authority to see what they had accomplished besides providing electricity. The downside of dams was already apparent, the loss of water, nutrients and even aquatic life on the lower stretches of a river system, and silting up behind the dam until it lost its purpose. Narrator Ben Knight of DamNation (also cinematographer, editor and co-director with Travis Rummel) tells of a movement to blast away dams and restore habitats. Big dams are seen as the culprits. He says that 75,000 have been built in the lower 48 states, which equals one a day since Thomas Jefferson’s time. 2011 was the year of dam removal. The film focuses on some of these efforts in Washington State, Oregon, California, Idaho, Arizona and Colorado. There is a brief look at the Penobscot River in Maine, a state with 800 dams, some up to 200 years old. A group has actuality bought four dams there to be able to dismantle them. Featured are the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, the four lower dams on the Snake River, four on the lower Snake, one on the White Salmon River, and dams on the Colombia River and a number of its tributaries. "This is not the same country we remember" says a leader of a group of Native Americans, who have suffered "cultural genocide", by the creation in Washington State in 1957 of the Dalles Dam that flooded Celilo Falls, an area where people had lived for 15,000 years, thus negating treaties from the 1800s. There is wonderful footage of singer Katie Lee, now 94, and photographs of her at Glen Canyon many decades ago before it was buried under water from the dam. The sections on archeological explorations are impressive. The angry voice of Jim Waddel is heard, a scientist who led a government survey of dams that cost 35 million dollars and has been totally ignored. Knight favors windmills over hydro (no mention made of solar). Examples are given of the limited benefits of some damns. He presents the story of 98-year old Condit Dam on the White Salmon

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu6

River that was removed in 2011. He also documents the failures of the National Hatchery system and the lunacy of sustaining dams by breeding fish. Instead of supporting wild migratory fish, inbred hatchery fish, that have no sense of survival, are produced by the millions across the nation. A sane voice calls for every dam in the country to be evaluated to assess its benefits and drawbacks and future. Vermont is not mentioned, but I am sure people know dams that merit continuation and perhaps others that should be removed. The DVD is available through Patagonia for $24.99.

(When you don’t anything about a dam, get professional help!)Pflueger gets seven months in jail for dam breachBy Nelson Daranciang, Oct 15, 2014, staradvertiser.com

Lihue, Hawaii >> A state judge on Kauai sentencedretired car dealer James Pflueger Wednesday to sevenmonths in jail for his role in the deaths of seven peoplewho were swept to their deaths in 2006 by flood watersthat had breached the Ka Loko dam. Circuit JudgeRandal G.B. Valenciano also sentenced Pflueger tofive years probation. His company was fined $1,000 foreach death after the judge rejected a $350,000 finethat had been part of the initial plea agreement. DanielJay Arroyo, Alan Gareth Dingwall, Rowan GreyMakana Fehring-Dingwall, Aurora Solveig Fehring, Christina Michelle McNees, Timothy Wendell Noonan, Jr. and Carl Wayne Rotstein died Mar. 14, 2006, when the Ka Loko dam burst sending an estimated 400 million gallons of water down stream on Kauai's north shore.

A Kauai grand jury indicted Pflueger, 88, on seven counts of manslaughter in 2008 after the state Attorney General accused him of causing the deaths by filling in the dam's spillway. The spillway is designed to prevent breaches by diverting overflow waters. The dam burst from the accumulation of 40 days of near constant rain. After unsuccessfully challenging the charges, then balking several times on a plea deal, Pflueger pleaded no contest in July last year to a single count of felony reckless endangering while his company, Pacific 808 Properties. LP, pleaded no contest to the seven counts of manslaughter. As part of the plea deal with the state, the Attorney General promised to recommend a five-year probation sentence for Pflueger but would be free to also recommend conditions that could include up to a year in jail, community service and a fine. Pflueger's company Pacific 808 Properties had earlier agreed to pay a $350,000 fine -- the maximum $50,000 for each manslaughter count -- as part of that deal. The money was to be spent on a state dam inspection and safety program. Valenciano initially accepted the pleas and found Pflueger and his company guilty, but he also made clear that he did not have to abide by the terms of the plea agreement. He scheduled sentencing for January. Both sides agreed to continue the sentencing four times due to Pflueger's health. On Wednesday, the judge rejected the $350,000 fine and imposed a $7,000 penalty instead. The families of the seven victims and land owners whose properties were damaged by the flood waters, including Bette Midler, sued Pflueger for causing the Ka Loko dam breach. In 2009, Pflueger, the state, Kauai County, current and former owners of land under the dam, their insurers, engineering firms and contractors agreed to pay $25 million to settle the lawsuits. In 2011 Pflueger granted the trustee of the Ka Loko Dam Litigation Settlement Trust mortgages worth $12 million on three of his properties on Kauai to guarantee his share of the settlement. The trustee released Pflueger from mortgages in August last year.

Hydro:

Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu7

Skidmore College invests in hydropowerOctober 15, 2014 | By Dennis Yusko, blog.timesunion.com

An aging hydroelectric plant in Columbia Countywill supply Skidmore College, NY with 18 percentof its total electricity needs by this spring, whenthe facility’s three water turbines are fullyrestored. Under an agreement announcedWednesday with Colorado-based GravityRenewables, Skidmore College is tapping into thecompany’s Chittenden Falls Hydroelectric Facilityin Stuyvesant and harvesting energy produced bythe moving waters of Kinderhook Creek. The jointhydroelectric project is the first in the nation touse remote net metering, a mechanism endorsedby state leaders that allows customers to applyrenewable energy credits to their electricity accounts, according to Gravity Renewables. National Grid is serving as intermediary in the project, based 60 miles away from Skidmore. By investing in hydroelectricity, Skidmore is supporting one of upstate New York’s most underutilized economic drivers, said Ted Rose, CEO of Gravity Renewables. He called the Albany area “the gold coast” for its numerous, small hydroelectric plants left over from textile and factory sites.

“This project’s impact goes beyond the clean energy benefits,” Rose said. The college’s commitment to the hydroelectric plant allowed Gravity Renewables to revitalize it. Presently, only one of the plant’s three turbines is functioning and two are undergoing repairs. Part of the project involves building an on-site classroom for Skidmore’s students and faculty. The improvements at the plant could be completed by April. Hydroelectric power used by Skidmore will raise the total amount of renewable energy the college uses to 30 percent. The college recently completed a photovoltaic solar farm in Greenfield that’s expected to produce 2.6 million kilowatt hours of electricity, or 12 percent of the college’s needs. The plant at Chittenden Falls should generate up to four million kilowatt hours each year. When completed, the Chittenden Falls project will reduce Skidmore’s carbon footprint by a projected 3,000 tons per year. The deal also locks the college into a fixed rate for electricity for the next 20 years. “Both projects show how we can develop new environmentally responsible and cost-effective energy sources through new partnerships and creative thinking,” Skidmore President Philip Glotzbach said. Skidmore’s Strategic Plan calls for its campus to become an “environmental laboratory.” Forty percent of its heating and cooling is produced through geothermal systems, and the college recently installed solar thermal panels atop some residence halls to heat water. Skidmore is Gravity Renewables’ first customer. The company owns five hydroelectric plants across the country, including Chittenden Falls and one in Greene County on the Catskill Creek. Chittenden Falls started generating mechanical power to run a textile mill on the site in 1810. The site, like many in upstate New York, fell into disrepair over the years. The college has exclusive rights to electricity generated at the falls over the 20-year agreement, Rose said. Moving water through turbines is the oldest technology in the world to generate electricity, but Rose thinks it’s been overlooked, especially upstate. He said the state’s net metering policy and National Grid’s assistance drove the effort to utilize the plant in Stuyvesant. “Each small hydro facility employs local operators, pays taxes and supports the local economy,” Rose said. “Skidmore has led the way, and they deserve a lot of credit.”

Environment: (Like old mill stories.)Fish bypass helps owner retain historic Heishman’s Mill

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Chittenden Falls (Courtesy of Gravity Renewables)

BJ Small/For The Sentinel, 10/12/14, cumberlink.com

A fish bypass was recently built on theConodoguinet Creek to help preserve thehistoric Heishman’s Mill and nearby dam in WestPennsboro Township.West Pennsboro Township, PA — Biologists andlandowners solved the final dam issue on theConodoguinet Creek by taking a modelapproach, going with the flow, and bypassingthe problem.Those who own dams on migratory waterwayslike the Conodoguinet Creek, are required toprovide passageways for fish. Removal of a dam is the preferred option for the health of a waterway. It not only removes blockages for migratory and local fish, but also restores the natural flow of the creek or river, precluding dead or stagnant water, and allows it to oxygenate and flush itself clean. In Cumberland County, the removal of the Black and Good Hope dams, and installation of a fish ladder at the Carlisle Water Works, left the Heishman’s Mill dam, along Creek Road near Old Mill Road, as the last obstacle on the Conodoguinet, a tributary of the Susquehanna River.Will Foshag has owned Heishman’s Mill since the 1950s and spent decades restoring the historic grain mill in West Pennsboro Township. He was adamant about keeping the dam intact.Foshag’s tireless research, when seeming to face an ultimatum, took him to a bypass channel design not used in the United States, but popular in Europe and Canada. The plan creates a new channel or artery that starts below the dam, runs inland across the floodplain and reconnects above the dam.

A bypass sounds like a basic, almost obvious solution. But unique conditions and circumstances must exist for it to be successful. Those factors converged on the Conodoguinet at Heishman’s Mill. The 500-foot fish bypass channel that flows there today, may be the first in this country.The bypass channel has all the appearance and sound of a natural flowing stream. The walking bridge, built and donated by engineering students from Bucknell University, and box culvert, are the only evidence of man’s hand in the project. “You need to have the right kind of property and enough of it at the right elevation to do this,” said Sara Nicholas, watershed restoration manager at The Nature Conservancy Pennsylvania Chapter. Nicholas was with American Rivers and played a key role during the project. She, along with biologists from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and landowners Jay and Sandi Rauscher where the bypass was constructed, visited the channel on Tuesday. Foshag could not be reached. “This was unique,” Nicholas said of the confluence of cooperation that made it happen. “You had a landowner willing to give up her property at no cost and they had enough room. You have to have enough room to bring (shad) up step-by-step to tie back upstream and if you are in a condensed residential area, you could not do this.” Charlotte McTeigue and Marshall Leopold donated the land at the time.

ShadThe channel is divided into six or more sections, creating riffle pools between deeper pools where fish can rest before rising to the next level. The sides are re-enforced with large rocks and boulders as shields against erosion, high flows and flooding. A major impetus for removal of blockages on the Conodoguinet and Susquehanna River tributaries was the anticipated upstream migration of the American shad. “From 1995 to 2010, we stocked over 3 million shad fry into the Conodoguinet,” Fish and Boat Commission fisheries biologist Josh Tryninewski said. “We had hopes that we’d have them coming back as adults to go to the river to spawn.” Tryninewski said he knows of no survey that shows shad back in the mill area of the creek, but that some were found at the Conowingo Dam in Maryland that originated in the Conodoguinet. The Rauschers, who live across the creek from the mill, bought the property last year. Jay Rauscher is principal at Carlisle High School. They keep the access paths mowed and maintain what has become a picturesque area around the channel. They can also regulate water flow by adjusting hydraulic gates in a box culvert near the upstream mouth of the bypass. Shad aside, they have noted that

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more localized aquatic life like trout, carp, and snapping turtles have benefitted by using the easy passage. Jay Rauscher says water in the channel turns black when the massive run of suckers takes place. State officials had proposed alternatives to removing the dam, like installing a fish ladder, which didn’t meet Foshag’s vision. He wouldn’t have an “enormous and very expensive thing glued to the side of the mill.” Foshag said, “A small fish ladder can cost about $250,000 and a larger one up to $1 million or more. Costs aside, the sight of a giant cement carbuncle on the dam would be nothing short of ugly.”

DamsThe bypass project started in the summer of 2004 and was completed a year later. “This was an experiment,” Nicholas said. “We didn’t know if it was going to work.”The channel was nearly finished when hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne nearly scuttled it. “It was entirely underwater,” Nicholas remembered. “The box culvert held beautifully, but we had to raise another $40,000 to $50,000 and bring in bigger rocks for the project.” American Rivers raised the $120,000 in private and public funding for the bypass. Nicholas said Foshag’s alternative was more costly than the $60,000 it usually takes to remove a dam, but it saved the 10-foot high barrier. Though it is still not the preferred outcome. “You don’t get the benefit of dam removal,” Nicholas added. “You still have an impoundment and not the free flow of water that we’d like to see.” Since 1995 more than 70 dams have been taken out in Pennsylvania. The state Department of Environmental Protection called dams “potential killing machines.” Still, Nicholas added that the bypass provides convenient portage of the creek, a fish passage, and can be a model for other dam aversions. “I think we can use this other places,” she added. “We’re thinking of it as a means to get around a blockage,” Tryninewski added. “But it has created habitat itself that didn’t exist here before.” Though maybe not the perfect outcome as far as biologists are concerned, Nicholas said working in unison benefitted all concerned. “Absolutely he saved the dam,” she said of Will Foshag’s high water Hail Mary. “To his credit, he did the research and found the technology. We are crazy enough to try it.”

(Another benefit of dams and hydro. Try doing this at a wind or solar powered facility. People are spoiled with too much money! When we were kids we played with sticks, empty oil cans, and old tires. Our chewing gum was tar from the roads because we couldn’t afford the real thing.)New playboating park at Holtwood Dam ready to rock$4 million whitewater playboating park below Holtwood Dam tested, about to open to public By Casey Kreider and Dustin Leed, 10/13/14, lancasteronline.com

By remote control, a metal gate opens on the YorkCounty side of the Holtwood Dam and impoundedSusquehanna river water gushes down a 100-year-oldstone fish ladder at 755 cubic feet per second. Soon, anewly constructed channel is transformed intochurning, splashing whitewater reminiscent of aWestern river. The scene last Wednesday morning isjust what Matt Samms, a 40-year-old kayaker fromSafe Harbor, had been dreaming about for eight yearsnow. Samms, in a wetsuit, protective helmet and earplugs, eases himself into a short, snub-nosed Pyranhakayak that weighs a mere 45 pounds. Over the nextseveral hours, he and eight other devotees of thewhitewater freestyle kayaking sport of playboatingspin, surf — even roll underwater on a whim — theirkayaks in powerful artificially-created waves andmomentum-stopping hydraulics.They test different flows to see which will make theplayground all it can be. “We’re working out somebugs,” announces Samms as wailing sirens and strobe

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What is playboating?Playboating, or freestyle kayaking, is kind of the X-Games of whitewater paddling.It’s been popular since the mid-1980s when extreme sports began emerging. It’s popularity swelled in the 1990s when specially designed kayaks were created just for playboating, maximizing maneuverability.Kayaks for playboating are shorter and lighter than other kayaks to allow for increased ease of movement.Paddlers perform various technical moves in one place, held by a wave, as opposed to downriver whitewater canoeing or kayaking where the objective is to travel the length of a section of river.Playboaters can do the spins, flips, turns and tricks that snowboarders, surfers and skateboarders do. There are about 30 recognized moves, including the Helix which includes a 360-degree spin during which the boat must be inverted and airborne at some point.The sport is now sanctioned and world competitions have been held since 2007.

lights announce the water release from the dam and that the downstream river level will soon be rising. Four bald eagles soar overhead.

After years of planning and initially testy negotiations, the $4 million waterpark built by PPL is about ready to open to the public. Backers believe it will offer world-class whitewater features and become a popular spectator sport that will boost local economies. The whitewater playground was tested by area kayakers three days last week and it was pronounced ready to rock. All that remains is for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to sign off on a safety plan for spectators lining the banks. Once that happens, likely a few days to several weeks from now, the park will be open for use by the public. Samms says it may be open almost daily throughout October and November. To find out when the park will open, and a daily schedule of hours, check out this website. The site is currently inactive until the park gets the green light.An expansive flat area borders the whitewater where the public can bring lawn chairs and watch the playboaters. Area kayakers and American Whitewater, a national whitewater advocacy group, mounted a persuasive coalition when they learned that PPL’s expansion of capacity at its Holtwood Dam hydroelectric facility would remove many of the riverbottom boulders that had created what some considered the bestplayboating features on the East Coast.They argued to FERC, which had final sayover the project, that federal regulationsrequire that in allocating use of rivers, thatequal consideration be given to nonpoweruses. Playboating at the Holtwood Dam, theypointed out, had become an importantrecreational activity. PPL and the paddlers,mainly from the Conewago Canoe Club,which includes about 30 members fromLancaster County, reached a settlementagreement that was approved by FERC.But the project took an unexpected turnwhen, after four years of modeling, PPLannounced it would not be building theplayboating playground in the middle of the river, below the dam, after all. It was felt current created by the new artificial features would interfere with migrating shad that needed to be drawn to fish lifts elsewhere at the base of the dam. Instead, the old shad ladder at the western end of the dam was manipulated with rounded concrete boulders, steps and cement chutes to create three distinct whitewater features over the length of about a football field.Unlike running rapids in conventional whitewater running, playboaters do freestyle tricks while being held in place by a wave. Spins, cartwheels, loops and blunts are just a few of the moves in the playboaters’ repertoire. One goal of the course is for intermediate-level playboaters to advance their skills and learn tricks by watching others. It’s not a beginner’s course. And no tubing is allowed. A member of the U.S. Freestyle Kayaking Team has already contacted Samms about possible used of the course for team trails. By releasing water for the playboaters — 264 hours a year is promised — PPL is losing water that it could be using to generate electricity.“No doubt, this will cost them money,” Samms says. Asked about that, PPL spokesman George Lewis says, “The whitewater feature was part of the negotiated settlement for the Holtwood hydroelectric expansion. The settlement balances the interests of various stakeholders.“We constructed the whitewater feature to make up for the loss of expert kayaking that had been available below the dam at times of high river flow. With the expansion of the hydroelectric project, less water spills over the dam, which improves fish passage, protects endangered plants that grow in the spillway and enables PPL to put more water through the turbines to generate electricity. “Water releases for kayaking are being scheduled so that the effects on fish passage, endangered plants, power generation and other stakeholder interests are minimized.”Samms expects the waterpark to return big dividends of its own. “We’re hoping we will host a world event here in the future,” he says. That would bring hundreds of kayakers and thousands of

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Kayakers take trial run at new playboating park on Susquehanna River below Holtwood Dam read more .

spectators. Also, he foresees the park being used as a training ground for first responders in the region for swiftwater rescue. A vehicle could be submerged for underwater rescue training.“I think it will be real good for the area,” Samms says. “The facility itself can do good for the community.”

Other Stuff: (As a matter of interest from the highest hydro area. Couldn’t they pick a better photo!)Northwest Energy-Efficiency Gains Hit $3.5 BillionBy Steven Johnson | ECT Staff Writer, October 13th, 2014, ect.coop

Energy efficiency is often called the fifth fuel. In the Pacific Northwest, though, it’s the second. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council saidenergy efficiency now trails only hydropower as ameans of meeting electricity demand in a four-stateregion. The region improved its energy efficiency in2013 by 268 megawatts, topping a goal of 260 MWthat the council set in a 2010 power plan. Thatmatches the entire load of Oregon and westernMontana, the council said in a report issued Oct.7.The accomplishments equated to $3.5 billion insavings to ratepayers because efficiency measures led to reduced demands for power.“The 2013 savings add to a tremendous legacy of achievement for the region over last 30 years,” said Council Chairman Bill Bradbury. “It is simply phenomenal to achieve so much in terms of reducing demand for power at such a low cost to our region’s ratepayers.”Regional investment in energy efficiency in 2013 was $375 million, or about $17 per megawatt-hour, which the council said is nearly five times less than the cost of power from a new natural gas plant. The council singled out commercial building improvements as the biggest source of gains. Agricultural energy efficiency “grew slightly,” the council said, while residential efficiency remained stable. The region has exceeded the council’s efficiency targets every year since 2005. Since 1980, the region has reduced by 5,600 MW. The council, which also covers Washington and Idaho, was chartered by Congress to balance energy and environmental concerns in the Northwest. It compiled the savings estimates using data from about 80 electric utilities, including electric cooperatives, and other organizations.

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Energy efficiency in commercial buildings has helped the Northwest save the equivalent of yearly electric demand from Oregon and western Montana combined. (Photo By: DOE)

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