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

9/18/2020

Dams: (What is the truth?) Snake River dams’ cost to salmon not worth power produced September 8, 2020 1:30am, OPINIONLETTERS, heraldnet.com Kurt Miller’s Aug. 30 guest commentary (“California blackouts a warning to the Northwest,” The Herald, Aug. 30) was riddled with factual errors and omissions. It can be said with certainty that dams on the Snake River didn’t offer even a smidgen of help in averting the crisis. Mr. Miller’s claim, “that the lower Snake River dams produced close to 1,000 MW per hour of power over the peak hours of California’s recent shortage” is demonstrably false. A graph of daily power production from the operators of those dams, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, shows peak power production of the four Snake River dams during the days and hours of California’s recent rolling blackouts at less than 500 megawatts. If electricity produced on the Snake River was a help to Californians, it was providing less than 2 percent of its demand, perhaps making the blackouts very slightly less severe. The plain truth is that there isn’t enough water in the Snake River after mid-July to do much for the energy picture in the Pacific Northwest, much less in California.

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Mr. Miller overlooked the dirty work these dams actually do: a fabulous job of speeding salmon on their way to extinction, by virtue of creating a shallow, sunbaked 140 mile-long slough of slackwater that, even in an average summer, violates federal temperature standards. Even if you don’t care a whit for salmon, you should take notice that the federal hydrosystem Mr. Miller champions has cost Pacific Northwest ratepayers $17 billion in fish recovery efforts, and that the Bonneville Power Administration, which sells power from these dams, is, by their own admission $15 billion in debt, and over the past decade, has burned through almost a billion dollars in cash reserves, a fiscal hole caused in part by selling “surplus” electricity to California at a significant loss. Much of that surplus was generated by water that could and should have benefited fish. That the effort to save salmon has thus far been a very expensive failure is due in no small part to the kind of misinformation furnished by Mr. Miller and Northwest RiverPartners. Steven Hawley, Hood River, Ore. (Didn’t see any dam, so I had to look around.for it!) Work underway on Walton’s Mill Dam removal By Administrator • September 11, 2020 • FARMINGTON, Me. - Progress is being made on the removal of Walton's Mill Dam- a project that was widely approved by voters two years ago. Heading up the project is the Atlantic Salmon Federation who is investing roughly $1.2 million to make area improvements and remove the historic dam. Built in 1820, the dam was deemed a barrier to the endangered Atlantic salmon by the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2009. By law the town would have either needed to remove the dam completely or construct a passage for the fish to migrate through. The option of the "fish ladder" would not have included any assistance from federal or state funding, and was estimated to cost $750,000.

As it stands, the dam will cost $500,000 to remove completely and ASF has already started putting the remaining $725,000 to work on improvements to the area that will support the project. Their first project was to replace one of two culverts in the watershed; the Clover Mill Road culvert replacement was completed this week. As approved by voters, the remaining funds will be put towards park maintenance at the site of the dam- projects such as creating more parking, wooden walkways, a public restroom, a pavilion, trail improvements and historical preservation elements, is estimated to cost $355,000 while

$20,000 will be set aside for future park maintenance. "The Town is very appreciative of the assistance that the Atlantic Salmon Federation and its partners have provided. Without their participation, none of these infrastructure improvements would be possible," Town Manager Richard Davis said. The Clover Mill Road culvert replacement was completed by E.L. Vining & Son who won a competitive bid for the project. The Cummings Hill Road crossing is slated to be replaced next summer. Funding sources included NOAA Community Habitat Restoration Program, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Maine Department of Marine Resources, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Trout and Salmon Foundation, Maine Audubon, and others. The project included new guardrails for roadside protection and raising the road by about two feet to elevate the road outside the floodplain from Temple Stream. Improving road infrastructure resiliency adjacent to streams and rivers reduces long-term maintenance but also protects habitat for aquatic species.


(They assume the Corps is the only one that has jurisdiction. What about the State and others?) Schumer, Gillibrand demand feds disclose what is being done to shore up the nearly 2,000 dams in New York September 5th 2020, by Jared Esposito, weny.com (WENY) -- Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are responding after incidents of dam failures in Michigan. According to a release, dam failure events in Michigan forced 10,000 people to evacuate their homes during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, causing at least $175 million in damage. The two Senators are making an effort to prevent incidents like this in New York. Yesterday, they wrote a letter urging the Army Corps of Engineers to reveal what's currently being done to give federal support to the entities responsible for maintaining almost 2,000 dams in the Empire State. The Senators say that over half of New York's dams are either high or significant hazard, which would result in loss of life, property destruction, economic loss, or more. A full text of the letter can be found below:

Dear Colonel Luzzatto, Lieutenant Colonel Toth, Colonel Litz, and Colonel Short: In the wake of the tragic dam failures of Edenville and Sanford Dams in Sanford, Michigan that resulted in thousands of residents being evacuated and homes and businesses flooded, we write to you to request information on what is being done to maintain the nearly 2,000 dams in New York State listed on the National Inventory of Dams, particularly high and significant hazard dams. The National Inventory of Dams, managed by the Army Corps, lists 1,934 dams in New York managed by a variety of federal, state, local, and private facilities. Of those dams, 424 or 22% are listed as high hazard dams, indicating that a dam failure could likely result in loss of human life. An additional 576 or 30% of dams are listed as significant hazard dams, signifying that a dam failure may result in economic loss, disruption of lifeline facilities, environmental damage, and more. Together, those account for more than half of all dams in the state.

For example, the Kensico Dam in Valhalla, New York, contains the 30.6-billion gallon Kensico Reservoir which provides drinking water to New York City and is situated close to many Westchester homes, businesses, and state and local emergency resources including the County's emergency stockpile, Westchester Medical Center, Blythedale Children’s hospital, New York Medical College, and more. County officials have previously stated that if the dam were to fail the water would reach the 5th floor of the White Plains County Office Building located miles away.

Additionally, the Mamaroneck Reservoir Dam in the Village of Mamaroneck has experienced recurring flood events, such as the April 2007 flooding which caused over $50 million in damages and resulted in one death in the village. We thank Colonel Asbery, the previous New York District Commander, for his efforts in securing a Chief’s Report and strongly advocating for the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake River Flood Risk Management Project—a separate but necessary measure to mitigate repetitive flooding—but we cannot imagine the further devastation that a failure of such a dam would wreak on the local community. In the Buffalo District, the Lewiston Dam was constructed to house the water in the reservoir for the Robert Moses Niagara Hydroelectric Power Station. If this dam were to fail, not only would it seriously disrupt the Niagara River, but it would jeopardize the electricity production for the

Kensico Dam


eastern seaboard. Also in the Buffalo District, the Mount Morris Dam in Livingston County is maintained by USACE and is designed to prevent the Genesee River from flooding the City of Rochester and surrounding towns. It is 68 years old and was only built to last 50 years; though in good condition, it's classified a high hazard dam because there would be costly devastation should it fail. To date, it’s prevented an estimated $2 billion worth of damages to the City of Rochester and downriver communities. In the Pittsburgh District, the Harwood Lake Dam is situated north Franklinville. If it were to fail, it could result in loss of life and millions of dollars in damage, including failure of critical facilities resulting in power outages. In addition, the dam is located near the Harwood Lake Multiuse

Recreational Area which provides recreational fishing, hunting and trapping access. Finally, in the Baltimore District, although the Susquehanna and the Chenango Rivers have historically flooded communities, particularly in 2006 and 2011, the Whitney Point Dam has been and is a crucial asset to prevent the threat of further flooding. Constructed in 1942, the dam is estimated to have prevented over $700 million dollars of flood related damages. It also helps preserve the Whitney Point Reservoir which is an integral

recreational resource beloved by the community. While a high or significant hazard classification does not necessarily indicate the dam is in poor condition, if one were to experience catastrophic failure, it would create an evacuation emergency and devastate local homes, businesses, and the lives of New York residents. Thus, we seek clarity what measures your Army Corps Districts are taking to address the maintenance needs of such dams in New York. We are supportive of federal funding programs such as the High Hazard Potential Dam Grant Program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and seek to understand what other measures the federal government, through the Army Corps of Engineers, are being taken to assist local communities that may be responsible for maintenance of the high hazard dams. Furthermore, 29 of the dams listed are federally owned; of those, 12 or 40% of dams are listed with high hazard potential. What actions are the federal government taking to protect residents in the vicinities of these dams? The information that you provide is crucial to understanding what unmet needs there are, so that our offices may better serve local communities seeking to repair their dams and protect New York residents from potential catastrophic events related to dam failures. Thank you for your attention to this matter and we look forward to working collaboratively with your offices on this issue. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us or our staff. (Oy! The price is getting rich!) Restoring flood-destroyed lakes could cost landowners thousands a year for decades By Keith Matheny, Detroit Free Press, Sept 11, 2920, freep.com Residents along flood-ravaged lakes in Midland and Gladwin counties are learning what it might cost them personally to restore the lakes and dams wrecked in May floods — and they might be in for sticker shock. At Wixom and Sanford lakes, the two dam-created reservoirs most severely impacted by the May 19 Edenville and Sanford dam failures and resulting flooding, lakefront residents face annual assessment fees to restore the lakes and dams of nearly $1,500 to almost $2,400 — every year for 40

Mount Morris Dam


years. Residents along less-impacted but also flood-damaged Secord and Smallwood dams and lakes face annual assessments for 40 years of about $240 to nearly $600. "This is a big deal, in terms of both its size and structure, but also the economic impact if we don't do this — and then the affordability for individuals if we do do it," said Dave Kepler, chairman of the Four Lakes Task Force, in an online meeting Thursday. The task force was created by Midland and Gladwin counties to oversee the dams and lakes. Charles Hudler, a Wixom lakefront resident, was startled by the assessment estimate. "I knew the number was going to be larger than what they initially planned, but I did not anticipate a number that big, or for that long," he said. "I guess I am in a bit of sticker shock." The four lakes along the Tittabawassee and Tobacco rivers were created by hydro-power dams operated since 2004 by Boyce Hydro Power LLC. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revoked Boyce's hydropower-generating license on the Edenville Dam in 2018, citing years of the dam owners failing to address safety concerns, especially the dam's inability to withstand a big flood. After days of record rainfall, the Edenville Dam partially collapsed on May 19, sending a rush of water downstream to the Sanford Dam, which also failed. The resulting flooding created a federally declared major disaster area in Midland County, with more than $175 million in damage to homes, businesses and nonprofit organizations. Boyce principal partner Lee Mueller has blamed the dam failures on pressure from the state of Michigan and lakefront residents to keep water levels high. Boyce Hydro Power in late July filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. "We all agree that Boyce is the entity that's accountable for this, but the burden is coming on us to go clean this up, as he (Mueller) enters into bankruptcy," Kepler said. Mueller attorney Lawrence Kogan did not return a message from the Free Press seeking comment. The task force's commissioned engineering consultant, GEI Consulting, places the probable construction cost for restoring the damaged dams and lakes behind them at $338 million — $208 million for the Edenville Dam and Wixom Lake; $92 million for Sanford dam and lake; $24 million for Secord Lake and $14 million for Smallwood. Wixom Lake has just over 2,500 lakefront property owners; Secord Lake nearly 1,900; Sanford almost 900 and Smallwood nearly 650. Wixom and Sanford lakes in particular also have hundreds of property owners on "back lots" near the lake but not fronting it. Task force officials plan to assess back lot owners at 25% of the rate of frontage owners, Kepler said. The cost estimates are based on an ability to pay over 40 years, which isn't currently allowed under state law. "It's critical that we have 40-year financing," Kepler said. "We believe that we have legislative and administrative support on that, so we believe that will happen." Hudler questioned whether some who live around the lakes will be able to afford the ongoing assessments. And once the lake comes back, so will higher property taxes, Hudler said, leaving him with a double hit. Plenty of expensive work needs to happen before any restoration. The task force is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service on stabilization of the damaged dams, addressing ongoing erosion and debris removal. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy recently took action to perform its own assessment of ongoing safety concerns at the dam, after becoming frustrated with the pace and completeness of information coming from Boyce Hydro Power. An estimated $20 million in stabilization work is needed right away. The Conservation Service is willing to fund 75% of the work, and the task force is working on how to fill out its matching portion, Kepler said. "I don't know if we can get the property owners' match to zero, but we're certainly going to try to offset that match as we move forward," he said. The task force is attempting to acquire the dams from Boyce Hydro through condemnation proceedings. Next week is Boyce's deadline to inform Four Lakes whether it intends to dispute the necessity for condemnation, Kepler said. "We remain confident that the counties (Midland and


Gladwin) will acquire the properties before the end of the year," he said. The task force expects completion of its feasibility study for the four dams by next spring, and several public meetings with county and local officials and affected property owners will occur, Kepler said. In the meantime, he said the task force will work to find grants, reduce engineering costs, and explore other options to reduce the burden on property owners. "Rest assured we are going to try to exhaust everything we can to lower these numbers," he said (Gotta have a dam removal story. Progress on St. Helena dam removal ends years of daily fines FOR THE Register, Sep 8, 2020, napavalleyregister.com The pending removal of the Upper York Creek Dam has put a stop to a daily $70 fine that’s been levied against the City of St. Helena for almost eight years. Thanks to rapid progress on the long-awaited project, which will improve fish passage and restore habitat along York Creek, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has suspended the $70 per day penalty the city has incurred since November 2012, the city announced Friday. The city paid a total of $259,645, including a one-time payment of $70,000 upon execution of the agreement. The money went for the benefit of Central California Coast Steelhead in the Napa watershed. The city awarded a $3.2 million contract to McCullough Construction to perform the work. The project should be done in November, followed by continual monitoring. (To remove or not remove – that is the question.) One solution to America’s dam-safety problem: Remove them WHY WE WROTE THIS When something has outlived its usefulness, sometimes the best solution is to simply take it out. That’s what many U.S. officials are learning when faced with a deteriorating infrastructure of dams and reservoirs By Richard Mertens Correspondent, Sept 8, 2020, .csmonitor.com Jim Sperling was less than a mile downstream when the dam gave way. First came a siren’s wail, then the water, rising quickly as he fled with his wife, Marge. It swept away their pontoon boat, destroyed a shed, and filled their house, all in a muddy debris-filled surge that, in Mr. Sperling’s words, “ripped out everything” – trees, bridges, docks, even houses. “It was one big wave,” Mr. Sperling says. “A massive wave.” The collapse of Michigan’s Edenville Dam May 19 sent 21.5 billion gallons of water down the Tittabawassee River in less than two hours. The flood overwhelmed the Sanford Dam downstream and forced the evacuation of 10,000 people in three counties. It also left communities flooded, 2,500 houses damaged or destroyed, and, at Edenville, a shallow, sandy basin where a lake once lay. The dam’s failure, coming after more than two days of record rainfall, also drew new attention to the poor condition of dams, not just in Michigan but across the country. The American Society of Civil Engineers, which periodically rates the condition of U.S. infrastructure, gave dams a “D” in its last report, and among them are more than 15,000 whose failure would threaten lives. Indeed, federal authorities two years before its collapse had deemed the Edenville Dam, an earthen berm built for hydropower in 1924, inadequate to handle heavy rains and in need of upgrade. Little had been done. “We see the problem getting worse and worse,” says Larry Larson, adviser to the

Former L. Wixom


Association of State Floodplain Managers, a nonprofit that he co-founded. “The dams are getting older, we’re seeing more intense rainfall events, and people are building more in failure areas.” Less remarked upon was an option for ailing dams that’s quietly gaining acceptance across the country: removal. Last year, 90 dams were taken out in 26 states, the latest in a growing movement aimed at improving public safety and restoring rivers to their natural state. That’s a small percentage of the country’s more than 90,000 dams, but dam owners are increasingly choosing removal as an alternative to upgrade and maintenance, especially for dams that have outlived their usefulness. “We’ve seen a lot more,” says Mark Ogden, a technical expert at the Association of State Dam Safety Officials. “Dam owners are more aware of their liability and the potential cost of repairs.”

A wave of removals More than 1,700 dams have been taken out in the U.S. since 1912, according to American Rivers, an environmental organization that has done more than any other to promote and facilitate dam removal. Most were removed after the Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Augusta, Maine, was taken out in 1999, marking the beginning of the modern removal effort. Last year, dams were removed in 26 states, the largest number of states that has ever had dams removed in a single year. “You see a lot of variation state by state,” says Lisa Hollingsworth-

Segedy, director of river restoration for American Rivers. “A lot of states are fairly new to dam removal. A lot of states have been doing it a long time.” Most dams removed are small. A typical example is the Burton Lake Dam in Burton, Ohio. In 2014, heavy late-winter rains flooded the ice and sent water pouring over the dam. No one was hurt, but the combination of flooding and the threat to houses downstream brought the dam to the attention of state and local authorities. “We knew we needed to do something with it,” says Gerry Morgan, a Geauga County official. A study concluded that current standards required the dam to be raised and an emergency spillway constructed. The work would have cost an estimated $3.5 million. The county looked in vain for help. “There were a lot of people that were more likely to give money to remove it than to upgrade it,” Mr. Morgan says. Local homeowners blamed the county for neglecting the dam over the years; others worried that the loss of the impoundment, a shallow lake of about 30 acres, would hurt their property values. But they declined to pay for the upgrades themselves. Finally, in 2019 the county spent $100,000, Mr. Morgan says, to have a contractor with heavy equipment dig a notch in the dam and spread the dirt nearby. The old lake is now a wetland. Restore or remove? Some removals happen more quickly. In Pennsylvania, Ms. Hollingsworth-Segedy has helped to dismantle some 125 dams over a dozen years. She recalls many of them in vivid detail, including a dam she and colleagues visited one March day in 2009 on Snare Run, a mountain creek that had been dammed to supply water to a local town. When they reached the dam they saw what looked like a frozen waterfall. They soon figured out that the water wasn’t running over the dam, but seeping through it. “It got really quiet,” she recalls. “You could hear tink, tink, tink. We realized those were rocks falling out of the dam.” The dam was 22 feet high, and there were houses downstream. It took the state less than a week, she says, to take it out . Experts say several factors combine to imperil U.S. dams. One is age: the average dam is 57 years old. Often, too, new development downstream has made failure far more dangerous than when the dams were built. Finally, climate change is producing more frequent and intense rainstorms of the kind that doomed the Edenville Dam. “I think the likelihood that we see the events that cause dams to fail is increasing,” says Mr. Ogden. “It’s clear we need to invest in the upgrade and repair of dams – or removal.” A powerful argument in favor of removal is money.

Former Edwards Dam, Augusta, Me


Taking a dam out costs far less than fixing it up. Plus, dam owners who agree to removal can sometimes get financial help in the name of habitat improvement. Otherwise, the cost is high. The Association of State Dam Safety Officials estimates that rehabilitating all the non-federal dams in the U.S. – most dams are privately owned – would cost more than $65 billion. Last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency started a grant program for substandard dams, but it hands out just $10 million a year. “It’s something but not much compared to the need,” says Mr. Ogden. In Michigan, Jim Sperling and many others are focused on rebuilding their homes, and their lives. There’s been little talk of removing the Edenville Dam but much about rebuilding that, too. Thousands of people own property around the impoundment and three others in the region, and they support reconstruction and rehabilitation. If it happens, it’s likely to take many years. The owner of the dams, Boyce Hydro, has filed for bankruptcy, and lawsuits abound. An organization of property owners proposes that the local counties take ownership of the dams and that they, the property owners, shoulder the cost of rebuilding. That’s estimated to be as much as $400 million, most of it for the Edenville Dam. “I don’t know how they can raise that,” Mr. Sperling says, raising the biggest question hanging over this or any old dam’s future. “If they put it on taxpayers, a lot of people are going to be unhappy. (There are too many people reviewing this failure (invited or voluntarily), it’s a job to keep up.) Michigan Dam Safety Task Force holds first virtual meeting By STEVE CARMODY • Sept 7, 2020, michiganradio.org A special task force set up to study Michigan’s dam safety rules and regulations met virtually for the first time Tuesday. Liesl Clark is the head of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. And she's a member of the 19-person task force. She says the task force was formed after two dam failures in May helped create devastating floods in Midland and Gladwin counties. “Which really illuminated in many ways the consequences of inadequately investing in our state’s infrastructure,” says Clark. May's floods forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. The dams' owner has filed for bankruptcy protection. This first meeting was spent acquainting task force members with the state’s dam safety program. The task force’s next meeting is scheduled for October 1. The panel’s recommendations for improving dam safety are due early next year. There are other investigations ) https://www.michiganradio.org/post/flooded-region-residents-want-independent-investigation-failed-dams ) into what caused May’s dam failures (Is this because of the Michigan dam failures?) Commissioners approve more funding for dam maintenance By Brad Kellar | Herald-Banner Staff, 9/14/2020, heraldbanner.com The Hunt County Commissioners Court voted this past week to provide additional funding to help with the maintenance and upkeep of dams at area lakes. “We’ve been talking about this a few times,” said County Judge Bobby Stovall as the commissioners considered the measure during Tuesday’s agenda. The payment funds the preservation of the Pilot Grove Watershed. The commissioners were scheduled to provide 5 percent of the construction cost of the soil conservation project. “We’re going to authorize the payment of that money in this year’s budget,” Stovall said.] Precinct 3

Sanford dam before failure


Commissioner Phillip Martin asked if it was the $60,000 amount the commissioners had discussed previously. “We’ve talked about it, but we never really did it, the expenditure of it,” Stovall said. The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the measure. “Next meeting we’ll have a line-item transfer because we got the approval today,” Stovall said. The discussion has been underway for a little more than a year, after a report in July 2019 on the status of the 19 soil conservation lakes in the county. Some of the dams for the lakes were rated as either “High” or “Significant” hazards and several were reported in extremely poor conditions. The lakes are included in both the Lake Fork Water Control Improvement District and the Pilot Grove Watershed west of Celeste. While none of the structures were said to be in immediate danger, many of the structures are already beyond their expected life spans. A total of 11 of the dams, known technically as Floodwater Retarding Structures, are located in Hunt County Precinct 1 and are maintained by a partnership between the Upper Sabine Soil Water Conservation District, SWCD, and Hunt County. The remaining eight in the Upper Lake Fork Watershed are located in Hunt County Precinct 3 and are maintained solely by the SWCD.

The earthen dams range in age from 24 years to 58 years and all were designed with a 50-year lifespan. The dams were built to provide downstream flood protection to county farm and market roads and upstream stabilization of eroding land. Four of the dams, two in the Pilot Grove Watershed and two in the Lake Fork area, are considered by the State of Texas to be High Hazard. Six more of the dams are considered Significant Hazards. The ratings don’t reflect the level of potential failure, but what could happen if there was a failure. High Hazard means if the dam fails, there could be loss of life in addition to the destruction of homes, roads and bridges. Significant Hazard refers to a loss of infrastructure

and property. In 1984, the Hunt County Commissioners Court and the SWCD entered into an agreement to provide $500 per year toward the cost of maintaining the dams.

Hydro: (Put some gas in it and let that model go.) Iowa is a model for the future of clean energy By Tom Heller, Guest Opinion. Sept 7, 2020, ottumwacourier.com Six years ago, I was standing at the base of a dam near Pella, Iowa, for a historic moment. On that hot day in August of 2014, Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Missouri River Energy Services broke ground on one of our most ambitious projects to date: retrofitting the dam at Lake Red Rock to produce clean, reliable and affordable hydroelectric power. Today, the Red Rock Hydroelectric Project is completed. Water is flowing through the turbines, spinning generators that are helping to power more than 18,000 homes and businesses in MRES member communities. New recreational amenities are now available to the public. Anglers are catching walleye in the Des Moines River. And a five-decade-old dam has a new purpose. Completing the project was no easy feat. But the Red Rock project is a model for how nearly all corners of the country can utilize existing infrastructure to build clean energy projects. And it is the story of the past, present and future of hydropower in America. The initial 1959 federal authorization for Lake Red Rock only funded the dam as a means of flood control. But thanks to the leadership and vision of then-Congressman Neal Smith, the site


ultimately chosen for the dam would be suitable for a power plant — eventually. As Congressman Smith explained at the groundbreaking in 2014, in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, building new hydropower facilities was an afterthought. Coal and nuclear generation were the energy sources of the future. With coal on the decline and new nuclear plants often prohibitively expensive, “what comes around goes around.” Now, hydropower is getting a second look because it’s a low-cost, carbon-free and dependable source of energy. Even though the Red Rock Lake opened in 1969, until this summer, it was one of the nearly 80,000 dams in the United States that do not produce power. Hundreds — if not thousands — of these dams are waiting for their energy potential to be unleashed. A 2016 report from the U.S. Department of Energy confirms that hydropower is underutilized. Far from being tapped out, the report found that U.S. hydropower could grow its installed capacity by 50% by 2050. Retrofitting dams like Red Rock across the U.S. will help us achieve this goal. It will take investment commitment from both the public and private sectors to reach this robust goal. MRES had this commitment through our partner, Western Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, and with the Army Corps of Engineers — at both the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the USACE and the local Rock Island District. As the country’s largest producer of hydropower, the Army Corps will be essential in expanding the use of the original renewable energy through these types of public-private partnerships. When it comes to energy production, Iowa is home to more than wind and ethanol. It is also home to the newest hydroelectric facility in the U.S. — and a model for other power providers to follow. (Sounds like this guy is smoking some pretty strong stuff. When you factor in time, don’t think you get the same answer. Solar panels don’t last nearly as long as a hydropower project.) The Central Coast is replacing hydroelectric power with new solar and wind projects. By Asaf Shalev, Sep 6, 2020, montereycountyweekly.com If you are a typical ratepayer in Monterey County or throughout the Central Coast, a major chunk of your electric bill has been going to the massive hydroelectric dams located in the Pacific Northwest and a smaller part of it goes toward geothermal, wind, or solar energy sources. The public agency that decides what kind of power to buy for you and cuts deal with power plants that had been known as Monterey Bay Community Power. On Sept. 4, it officially changed its name to Central Coast Community Energy to reflect the growing service area, which now includes not only Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties, but also parts of San Luis and Santa Barbara counties. The switch will be reflected in the generation charges sections of customer bills starting next month. But the agency, CCCE for short, is sporting not only a new name but a new strategy that is intended to save money and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by shifting where it spends customer dollars. On Sept. 2, CCCE’s board essentially decided to divest from the hydroelectric dams over the next 10 years and begin investing in new renewable energy facilities instead. The dams sell paper credits known as energy attributes that allow buyers, such as CCCE, to claim that the power it acquires is carbon-free. (Pacific Gas & Electric remains the entity that delivers the electricity to customers and handles billing.) But with more communities across


seeking carbon-free energy to meet state climate action mandates, those energy attributes became more expensive. They now cost four times as much as they did three years ago. CCCE will be winding down its purchases of the credits and increasing long-term contracts with new renewable power sources located in California. Currently, about 70 % of the power load is satisfied through hydroelectric credits and the rest through short-and long term contracts. The goal would be to eliminate the use of credits and rely solely on renewable energy contracts by 2030. If the goal is met, the Central Coast will be 15 years ahead of state climate targets. With the cost-saving anticipated, it was easy to achieve a consensus on the strategic shift among CCCE board members. The debate has now turned toward a different question: Can future energy projects be built locally to stimulate the economy or will they be located in other counties where land and development are cheaper? (What a mess! Another irresponsible developer or are just stupid.) Puget Sound Energy poised to yank power purchase agreement, sue Electron Hydro for polluting Puyallup River By Lynda V. Mapes , Sep. 4, 2020, seattletimes.com After killing fish, endangering two workers and dumping up to six cubic yards of crumb rubber in the Puyallup River, Electron Hydro now is on notice that Puget Sound Energy intends to sue within 60 days and cancel its power purchase agreement with Electron if the company doesn’t bring its hydroelectric project into legal and regulatory compliance. When Puget Sound Energy sold the more than 100-year old Electron dam to Tollhouse Energy Company of Bellingham and Electron Hydro LLC, it did so under requirement that the company operate the dam in a safe manner, and within compliance of all applicable permits and laws, PSE wrote in its notice of intent to sue, sent Sept. 3. PSE also signed a power purchase agreement with Electron under similar terms. But instead, Electron Hydro installed artificial field turf under a bypass channel of the river during a reconstruction project, without a permit. The river the night of July 29-30 subsequently ripped parts of it apart, spewing crumb rubber and other debris miles downstream. The company also killed likely thousands of salmon — including federally protected chinook salmon and other listed species — when on July 29 it dewatered a channel at its dam. The fish were killed because the company didn’t use proper procedures or methods. Two employees’ lives were endangered when they sank up to their waist in mud, according to a fish kill report filed by a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist who was at the scene. PSE filed a notice of intent to sue Electron Hydro under the Clean Water Act within 60 days if the company doesn’t clean up the mess in the river. PSE also put Electron on notice of default in a letter, giving the company 60 days to cure its deficient performance, or Puget will terminate its power purchase agreement. “We were deeply disturbed to learn about the rubber debris that has been spilled into the Puyallup River during reconstruction of the Electron Dam and we are concerned about the short- and long-term impacts it will have on the fish and the environment,” the company stated in an email to The Seattle Times Friday. The company has not been purchasing electricity from Electron since July. But “we have notified Electron that we seek to terminate our contract unless the spill is immediately stopped and the damage caused is addressed,” the company also stated in the email. The spill occurred when the company was working to rebuild the dam, work it has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow it to resume before all in-river work must stop by Sept. 15, when chinook and other fish begin their return journey to the river. The Corps and Pierce County each issued stop-work orders on the reconstruction project Aug. 7, after the spill was revealed, first by a post put up on social media by a worker at the dam.

Electron dam


The Corps has not yet ruled on the company’s request to get back to work, which is opposed by the Puyallup Tribe. The tribe wants the company to fix its fish ladder, get the rest of the artificial turf out of site, and button the work site up until next year, before high flows come. The company is working on cleanup. In an email to The Seattle Times on Friday, Chris Spens, head of regulatory affairs for Tollhouse Energy Company, detailed dozens of locations along the river where the company had removed artificial turf and other debris associated with the spill. The company maintains that the safest course for river is to allow the company to complete its repairs to the dam, rather than wait to finish the project until next year. (Guess it’s time to pay the piper. There are some things you just can’t do.) Pierce County takes steps to have Electron Dam removed SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 BY PIERCE COUNTY NEWS, thesubtimes.com Citing the inexcusable environmental harm caused by irresponsible management of the Electron Dam, Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier has issued a letter imposing a series of mitigation steps the owners must take. Working with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Dammeier’s ultimate goal is to remove the 12-foot tall wooden dam from the Puyallup River. “The harm caused by this obsolete, 116-year-old dam in a river that supports threatened salmon runs far exceeds any possible benefit the owners might claim,” said Dammeier. “Electron Hydro deliberately placed artificial turf full of crumb rubber into the river, and that’s simply unacceptable. The damage to future salmon runs is impossible to measure.” The Puyallup River Watershed is home to the only spring Chinook salmon run in the region, as well as other fish species. Chinook salmon are a critical food source to orca whales. The letter sent to Electron Hydro indicates the County’s previously issued stop work order will remain in effect and requires the company to immediately stabilize the site, remove the potentially toxic artificial turf and buried concrete culverts, along with a long list of other obligations. While specifying the series of mandated steps to mitigate the severe environmental damage caused by Electron Hydro, the County Executive intends to move forward with all parties and agencies involved to have the dam removed as soon as possible. (Need some rain for the fires and hydro.) U.S. Hydroelectric Generation To Increase In 2020 Despite Drought Conditions September 11th, 2020, by U.S. EIA, cleantechnica.com

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook


In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that electricity generation from hydroelectric power plants in the United States will grow by 4% in 2020 from 2019 levels, to 280 billion kilowatt-hours, despite current drought conditions and extensive wildfires in parts of the country, including in the Pacific Northwest. States in the Pacific Northwest, home to the Columbia River Basin, are the largest hydroelectric power producers in the United States. Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, the four states that make up the Pacific Northwest, generated 47% of all U.S. hydroelectric power in the first half of 2020. As such, drought conditions in these states can have noticeable impacts on overall U.S. hydroelectric generation, especially if the drought is severe or long lasting.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly

Many factors affect how much water is available to generate hydroelectric power, including precipitation levels in current and previous years. Seasonal precipitation for the 2020 water year (October 2019 to September 2020) has been mixed in the Columbia River Basin. Most of the stations in the eastern half of the basin have reported between 70% and 130% of normal precipitation, and some stations in the western half have reported less than 50% of normal

Source: U.S. Drought Monitor; U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Water Resources


precipitation. As of September 2020, 14 counties in Oregon and 4 counties in Idaho have issued drought emergency declarations. This year’s droughts, however, aren’t expected to have noticeable impacts on hydroelectric power production because reservoirs in the region have stored water from near-normal to above-normal precipitation in recent years. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Water and Climate Center (NWCC), which produces a comprehensive database on water supply conditions (including

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), National Water and Climate Center. Includes all storage reservoirs that reported

capacity levels for August 2020 in the respective states.

reservoir storage), reservoirs in most of the states in the Pacific Northwest have been able to retain precipitation from recent years. As of the end of August 2020, reported reservoir storage levels were at or higher than the 30-year (1981–2010) normal in Washington, Idaho, and Montana. In Oregon, reported reservoir storage was at 37% of maximum capacity, lower than the historical average of 45%.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly this article was originally published on Today in Energy.


So far this year, monthly hydropower generation in these states has been within the 10-year (2010–2019) historical range, with the exception of April’s hydropower generation in Oregon, which was 10% lower than the 2010–2019 monthly range. If the 2021 water year has near-normal precipitation levels, impacts from this drought could be minimal. .

Environment: (Seems like MI is always in the headlines.) Fishpass Project at Union Street Dam questioned By Natalie Spala, September 7th 2020, upnorthlive.com GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- Traverse City Dams have long been a topic of discussion between city leaders and local residents. But with the future of the Union Street Dam currently up in the air, some residents are arguing it’s a discussion that hasn’t taken place, a discussion they believe they are entitled to under city law. “This is a special place. If you remove it, you’ll never get it back. It will never be the same,” resident Rick Buckhalter said. Nestled just off of Union and 6th Street in downtown Traverse City sits Union Street Dam Park. To residents like Rick Buckhalter, it’s the only place like it in town. “It’s unique because it blocks out the rest of the city. It’s like you’re in another place,” Buckhalter said. A place that will soon look a lot different. Right now, the city has plans to move forward with the Fishpass Project, something the Great Lakes Fishery Commission describes as the capstone of a 20-year restoration on the Boardman River, reconnecting the river to Lake Michigan. But if you ask Buckhalter, it’s something he says legally can’t happen. “City residents should have had the right to vote on it because Charter Section 128 requires a vote from the people to dispose of city park land,” Buckhalter said. Charter 128 of the city’s code of ordinances says in part, “the ‘disposal of a park’ must be decided by a 3/5 vote by the public.” The word “disposal” is where things can potentially get a little foggy, and something Buckhalter has asked the city to a statement from city manager Marty Colburn, a vote is only required if the property is transferred to a third party, or if changes make the park no longer available to the public. Two things he define. It says are not taking place in the Fishpass Project, therefore no vote is required. Colburn also says a tremendous amount of work has gone on over the last four years to inform the public of the project, including numerous public meetings to allow for community input, that’s something Buckhalter says isn’t completely true. “They (city residents) had heard the name Fishpass but they didn’t relate it to what would happen to the park because it was intentionally not made clear,” Buckhalter said. “They wanted to sell you the car but they didn’t want to sell you the path to get to the car, which included removing everything enjoyable about a city park.” While the mission of the project is to provide bi-directional passage of selective fish, the city says the design also welcomes residents with the construction of a kayak launch, pedestrian bridge, and rehabilitated boardwalk. Yet, to Buckhalter, it’s the secluded nature of the park that gets lost in the process. “It’s the only place in the city where the river passes with trees on both sides of the river,” Buckhalter said. “Where we’re standing now, they intend to have wide sidewalks with dune grass. That’s not much of a trade-off. I mean, what would your kids want to have 50 years from now?” According to city commissioners, the Army Corps of Engineers has sent bids out for possible contractors to get the Fishpass Project underway. They say a final decision on the contractor should happen sometime in early fall and work would then begin.


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