11/14/2014

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Dams:

(When it rains, it pours. That’s a heck of way to get to the grocery store!)Flood control sometimes a dam difficult decisionBy Tim Haeck, October 31, 2014, mynorthwest.com

November is historically thewettest month of the year inthe Seattle area and thatmeans flooding could be justdays or weeks away. Wecan't control the weather butwe do control one factor thatcould be the differencebetween a bad flood and adisaster. Multiple dams arelocated strategically alongrivers that drain to the PugetSound basin. They're used tostore drinking water, generate electricity and for flood control. The challenge is deciding when to

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Some Dam – Hydro News TM

And Other Stuff

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Quote of Note: “By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. -- Socrates

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: 2011 Quinta de la Rosa Portugal Red "DouRosa Red Wine" “ No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap. ” - - Thomas Jefferson

hold back water and when to open the flood gates. It's a dam regulator's paradox. "The strategy is to store the peak of the flood, not the entire flood," said meteorologist Larry Schick. "You shave off that peak, store it behind the dam during the flood and then you release it in a safe and prudent way after the flood." There's a risk to holding back too much water in an effort to protect people and property downstream from a catastrophic flood. "It takes instead of one week, for instance, to let all that water go out, it will take two weeks and that leaves the whole system a little more vulnerable, a little more (at risk of) a subsequent storm that would have less capacity behind the dam," Schick explained. An example of the paradox, in November 2006, on the Skagit River, there was a forecast that rain and runoff would double the capacity of Upper Baker Dam and officials were prepared to release water, which would have created a severe flood downstream if that forecast had panned out. Luckily, said Schick, the storm nudged south, easing the stress on the Skagit system and dam regulators were able to minimize flood impact.

The winter weather outlook for the Pacific Northwest calls for an El Nino, which typically means less of a flood risk. But National Weather Service hydrologist Brent Bower says the El Nino winter of '06, including November, was among our worst in recent memory. "We had some record flooding in that year and in fact, November is our wettest month." This week, the Executive Board of the King County Flood Control District approved a proposed 2015 budget of $55.6 million, which includes money for several flood reduction projects. They include gravel removal in the Cedar River, levee improvements along the Green River and programs to elevate homes and build livestock pads in the Snoqualmie River basin. While we're talking disaster preparation and prevention, based on rainfall totals an official government threshold is about to be met in Seattle, meaning the start of landslide season. "Despite the fact that we have yet to experience widespread flooding or soil saturation this season, October is already much wetter than normal, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that landslide season is here," said Seattle Public Utilities meteorologist James Rufo-Hill in a news release. Neighborhood rain gauges have recorded almost four inches of rain over the past two weeks, which the utility says is certain to push Seattle over the landslide threshold, which has been developed by the city and the U.S. Geological Survey.

(Oh oh, better draw down the reservoir!)Sinkhole develops under dam in US — 7 nuclear reactors downstream — Water now seeping out — Gov’t notified of ‘stability issues’, plants begin evaluating potential flood impacts — Official: An ‘uncommon’ occurrence, we’re monitoring it continuously and working around clock — Structure same height as Niagara Falls (PHOTOS)By ENENews, Published: October 31st, 2014, enenews.com

Johnson City Press, Oct. 30, 2014(emphasis added): Oct. 20 inspection of[Tennessee's Boone] dam revealed a sinkhole… Six days later, an uncommonoccurrence happened when seepage wasfound near the location of the sink hole atthe base of the dam…NRC, Oct. 30, 2014: … BOONE DAMSTABILITY ISSUES… “TVA conducted a briefing for governmentofficials… after discovery of a sink holenear the base… water and sediment [hasbeen] found seeping from the river belowthe dam. TVA is continuously monitoringthe dam… The dam is located upstreamof all three TVA nuclear sites… The NRC

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Senior Resident Inspector was notified. The licensee is evaluating this event for potential impact on the design basis flooding level.” Times Free Press, Oct. 30, 2014: Tennessee Valley Authority engineers [will] search for the source of water seepage… Water and sediment were found Sunday seeping from the river bank below the dam.TVA, Oct. 30, 2014: A sink hole was discovered near the base… water and sediment was found seeping from the river bank below the dam… John McCormick, VP at TVA: [We're] exercising an abundance of caution… Unless it’s a huge storm, we can do what we need… we are continuously monitoring the dam… engineers want to be sure we understand what caused the sink hole and where the water and sediment is coming from.WCYB, Oct. 30, 2014: [A] sinkhole and seepage of clay particulates into the water at Boone dam… [is near] the bottom of structure on the river side of the dam… TVA employees are working around the clock to find the cause of the sinkhole and the source of the seepage. “The seepage into the waterway is not a common occurrence,” said McCormick… they do not have a definite timetable for finding the source of the seepage… Boone Dam is just over the border from Virginia, where a powerful M5.9 quake struck in 2011 — Times Free Press: TVA inspects dams, nuclear plants after earthquake [and] is in the process of performing visual walk downs and inspections at… BooneUSGS: [Quakes] in the eastern U.S. can travel much farther and cause damage over larger areas than previously thought [and] damaging effects can extend over a much larger area… the farthest landslide from the 2011 Virginia earthquake was 245 km from the epicenter. This is by far the greatest landslide distance recorded from any other earthquake of similar magnitude… [This quake] occurred in an area 20 times larger than expected [and] landslide distances… are remarkable… [it's] the largest distance limit ever recorded…

(Good history lesson.)Scenes of YesteryearJohn RusselL For The News, 11/1/14, chippewa.com

In early 1961, the Kaiser SteelCorporation called on Mr. A.A.Osipovich, P.E., a Portland, Ore.consulting engineer, to write an articleon the design of Tainter Gates. Thestory was published in the March issueof the corporation’s newsletter, ModernDesigning With Steel. It is no surprise toregular readers of this newspaper andthis column that Osipovich opened hisarticle with this paragraph: “The Taintergate, a hydraulic structure which bearsthe name of its inventor, came intobeing some seventy-five years ago. Thepatent application for the Tainter gatewas made by Captain Jeremiah B.Tainter of Menomonie, Wis., onNovember 16, 1886, Patent No. 344878was listed in the July 6, 1886, issue ofthe Official Gazette of the United StatesPatent Office with an official glossary that describes this structure in the following terms: ‘Tainter Gate — A crest gate whose face is a section of a cylinder, which rotates about a horizontal axis downstream from the gate, the water pressure against the gate being concentrated in the axis, reducing friction in raising and lowering the gate; a seal is placed along the sides and bottom of the gate face for water tightness. The gate is raised and lowered by winches or hoists attached to cables or chains fastened to the bottom edge of the gate and lying across its water face, which

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Priest Rapids Dam, Courtesy of the Dunn County Historical Society

allows a vertical lifting forced to be applied. It can be closed under its own weight, formerly called a ‘Canal’ gate.’”

That is a full and accurate description of the Tainter gate, but if you want to see it in person, just stop by the dam that forms Lake Menomin in Menomonie to see and realize the impact the device has had throughout the world. An early version of the gate can be seen at the south end of the Wilson Place Museum property, and under the Broadway Street bridge that passes over the current active gates on the dam structure below. Osipovich goes on to fill seven more pages of the publication with details and personal awe at the world-wide importance of the Tainter gate. He writes that “the trend towards increased usage of the Tainter gates is most clearly evident in their application to large dam projects. For this reason, it is probably safe to state that the United States Government, especially the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is the largest organization in the country engaged in developing, designing, constructing and operating Tainter gates.” A chart exists in the use of 321 Tainter gates at the lock and dam sites on the Mississippi River between Minneapolis, Minn., and St. Louis, Mo. A total of 122 Tainter gates are located and utilized on the 23 dams and locks of the Columbia River Basin. Over the years of traveling in Europe, I’ve seen many Tainter gates on lock and dam structures in Switzerland, Germany and elsewhere. In his published report, Osipovich calls attention that “a unique example of the Tainter gate usage was recently made in a lock owned by the City of Madison, Wisconsin, and located in a city park where it accommodates traffic consisting mainly of small fishing and pleasure craft. In this case, the Tainter gate is counterweighted and is of the overhead-opening device.” A scale model of the Tainter gate can be seen at the Russell J. Rassbach Heritage Museum in Wakanda Park.The next time you walk or drive over the bridge over the gates of the dam on Broadway, think of the impact that Jeremiah Tainter of Menomonie has made on water-control dams virtually in every country in the world.

(A novelty – ahead of schedule. Wow!)Rehab of Gilboa Dam completedmidhudsonnews.com, 11/1/14

Schoharie Valley, NY – The $138 millionreconstruction of the Gilboa Dam has beencompleted with a ceremony held on Friday.The project included the addition of 234million pounds of concrete, molded and dyedto resemble the original bluestone face ofthe dam, more than 500 massive spillwayslabs, and upgrades to the abutment wallsthat support the dam.

The project was completed two years aheadof schedule. Gilboa Dam is 2,024 feet long,155 feet high, and more than 150 feet wideat its base. The new dam includes aninspection gallery includes instruments toconstantly measure stress on the dam and will allow engineers to visually inspect the inside and outside on a regular basis. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection began a thorough investigation of the integrity of the dam after the flood of 1996, which overtopped the spillway by 6.7 feet, a record at the time. An initial investigation in 2003 found the Gilboa Dam would require a comprehensive rehabilitation and upgrade because it likely did not meet modern standards for dam safety. The dam was originally built from 1919 to 1927 and impounds Schoharie Reservoir, the northernmost reservoir in the New York City water supply system.

(Duh! No one power source can solve the energy problem.)Boom In Dams Will Not Help Meet Power Demand But Only Affect Environment, Warns Study

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By Jayalakshmi K, November 3, 2014, ibtimes.co.uk

Hydropower impacts show thatelectricity generation from newprojects will not be able to closethe gap even as the dams affectthe communities and wildlife.Reuters Despite the 3,700 largehydroelectric dams being built orplanned, mostly in developingcountries, hydropower will notclose the electricity gap, says anew study. The dams will onlyspell trouble for the communitiesand the wildlife around them,says lead author ChristianeZarfl, who conducted the studywith colleagues at Germany'sLeibniz-Institute of FreshwaterEcology and Inland Fisheries.This was the conclusion after comparing energy produced to impact on free-flowing rivers, reports NBC News.

While global electricity supply would double with the completion of the projects, electricity demand will increase such that hydropower's share of the global energy pie would not change much. It was estimated that 25 of the 120 large river systems classified as free-flowing would lose that status, primarily in South America. "Worldwide, the number of remaining free-flowing large river systems will thus decrease by about 21 percent," the scientists wrote. While it is possible to mitigate a dam's impact by releasing water into the river in sync with its natural flows, protect habitat for freshwater species and preserve water quality, experts do not see much effort either from big nations like China or financiers like the World Bank. A related study in Nature Geoscience notes how sediments define a river basin and how dams will block the sediment and restrict rivers into smaller basins. Lead author Jose Constantine, an earth sciences professor at Britain's Cardiff University, spoke of the benefits of a dynamic river. Its ability to manage floods, allow fish to thrive and improve the water quality by capturing runoff and pollution will be lost when dams constrain rivers. Dams will invite more floods and other natural disasters and conflicts, while the sediment problem will go beyond constraining rivers to shrinking deltas and affecting mangroves that protect against storms, say experts. Currently, there are around 45,000 big dams and an exponentially larger number of small dams across the globe, says Nature Conservancy which has drawn up a list of mitigation solutions to address the negative impact.See also: http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/global-boom-dams-could-mean-biodiversity-bust-scientists-warn-n238821

(Not much of a dam. Take a good photo and kick it over.)Historic dam in Pelham stream that could to date back to 1730s to be studied, dismantledBy Laura Newberry | masslive.com , November 04, 2014

Pelham -- In May 2013, Alex Hackman rounded a bend of Amethyst Brook and spotted what he thought were some fallen logs bridging the stream banks. The logs weren't there before. Or at least, Hackman, a restoration specialist with the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, had never noticed them. Hackman spent many hours at the brook the previous fall, when the circa-1820 Bartlett Rod Shop Company Dam was removed -- a $193,000 endeavor. He directed the project for the state and had returned to the site for a follow-up inspection.

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It turned out that the logs, situated about 400 feet upstream from where the Bartlett dam once was, are part of a whole other dam - and a really old one, at that. The Pelham Historic Commission laterestimated the structure was built sometimebetween 1739 and 1820. The dam wasn'tfeatured on any maps, and, as far as thecommission could tell, it had never beennamed. Sometime between the Bartlett dam removaland spring 2013, quick rushes of sedimentunearthed what's since been dubbed the"timber dam." It had been buried under thestream bed for years, Hackman explained. "Obviously, we were not very happy to find anew dam there because we had just spentthree years and a lot of effort removing theother one," he said. "But it's also just neat. You don't find an old dam like that very often."Hackman said that, while the discovery is historically significant, it's also an ecological setback for the river. And these kinds of dams are considered public-safety hazards, which has propelled a flurry of dam removals across the nation over the past few years.The plan is to carefully dismantle the timber dam over summer 2015, a project that will cost around $40,000. The demolition will largely be funded by the Department of Fish and Game through Clean Water Action grants, Hackman said. American Rivers, a national nonprofit conservation organization based in Northampton that helped with the Bartlett dam removal, will also be a project partner.

(Things change, even dam safety criteria!)Upgrade of dams to start next spring, says officialAbout 100 attend meeting hosted by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Addicks, Barker reservoir projectsBy Robin Foster | November 4, 2014, chron.com

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District is readying for a three-year construction project that will replace the storm water outlets at Addicks and Barker dams in west Houston.The two earthen dams, built in the 1940s to prevent flooding along Houston's iconic Buffalo Bayou, were labeled "extremely high risk" in 2009, after a nationwide survey of Corps facilities found "voids" in their foundations around the outlets. The Corps attributed the problems to the age of the dams and the fact that the reservoirs behind them are holding more water and for longer periods than they were originally designed for. The finding prompted a dam modification study that helped identify short- and long-term repairs to reinforce the structures.About $4.4 million has been spent on interim repairs, which included filling the voids and installing granular filters to prevent further soil movement around the conduits. Now, the Corps has received authorization for a more permanent fix to replace the outlets, estimated to cost between $75 million and $100 million. Construction is expected to begin in May 2015 and extend into 2018.

"This will put us back to a safe level of risk to the community," Col. Richard Pannell, commander of the Corps' Galveston District, said in an update on the dam safety program attended by about 100 residents who live near the flood control facilities. "What we'll do is work with our partners to manage those risks to the best of our ability." The Oct. 29 meeting at Bear Creek Community Center included a panel discussion with representatives from the Corps and its local partner, the Harris County Flood Control District. By one estimate, Houston has been spared $6 billion in property damages since the dams were built, and that's not counting the lives saved from catastrophic flooding that could've occurred downstream in any of the 70 years since. While reservoirs behind these flood control dams are dry much of the time, providing the backdrop for city and county parks and trails, a golf course, model airplane field and shooting ranges, flood-producing rains can trigger operational changes that limit how much storm water flows out from

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them to the bayou. Reservoir pools neared record levels as recently as April 2009 following heavy rains that caused widespread flooding across west Houston.The prospect of what could happen if the dams were to fail led to the "extremely high risk" label later that same year. In addition to identifying interim repairs, the dam modification study looked at alternatives for a permanent fix. The alternatives ranged from taking no action to decommissioning the dams to rebuilding them altogether, said Bobby Van Cleave, a lead engineer for the safety program.

The selected alternative will provide a much more robust system to regulate outflows, he said. The project will involve building earthen coffer dams near the existing outlets to create a dry area for construction of the new outlets to take place, Van Cleave said. He expects work on both dams to occur simultaneously. The new outlet structures will employ internal granular filters to prevent the type of soil movement that caused voids in the existing outlets, he said. Park use and recreation in the reservoirs' green space will be impacted only in the construction zones near the existing outlets, Corps officials said. They've created an online mapping tool that will let residents track construction schedules, potential detours and upcoming events. The tool is located at http://geospatial.swf.usace.army.mil/AddicksBarker2/index.html. Residents who attended the Oct. 29 meeting told Pannell and others on the panel they think more can be done to prevent flooding, both upstream and downstream from the dams. Several voiced concerns about ongoing population and development growth to the west and north. Steve Fitzgerald, chief engineer with Harris County Flood Control District, said the agencies continue to monitor storm water volumes across each watershed. While the dam safety project is a top priority now, he suggested a joint analysis is needed to test the entire system, particularly since technology has improved in recent years. Pannell said the Corps does consider requests from the community for project studies, but funding to conduct them is competitive nationally. Residents can work with their congressional representatives to advance those requests, said Rick Villagomez, project manager for the Addicks and Barker dams.

(Take the time to get it right!)Wanapum Dam repairs to continue through wintercapitalpress.com, November 4, 2014

Eleven of 35 anchors had been installed in the dam as of last week.

Beverly, Wash. (AP) — Repairs at Wanapum Dam will continue through the winter as workers anchor the spillway to bedrock. The Grant County Public Utility District says 11 of 35 anchors were installed as of last week, but it can’t say yet when the reservoir will be raised. The water was lowered nearly 30 feet after a 65-foot crack was discovered in February in the spillway, the result of a construction error when the dam was built in the 1960s. The Wenatchee World reports the utility had hoped to raise the reservoir by December. The drawdown has reduced power production at the Wanapum Dam and the upriver Rock Island Dam, near Wenatchee in central Washington.

(Not a job for the light-hearted!)Team rappels Philpott Dam to map cracks on surface martinsvillebulletin.com, November 6, 2014, by Debbie Hall - Bulletin Staff Writer

Philpott Dam is getting a close-up inspection. A specialized engineer/rappelling team from Philadelphia is at Philpott Lake this week, scaling the dam and mapping cracks in its surface as part of a comprehensive effort to determine its condition. “We do not want to alarm people,” said Craig “Rocky” Rockwell, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ operations manager at the lake. The Corps of Engineers oversees the dam. Philpott Dam is not in danger of collapsing, but it is 62 years old, “and concrete cracks,” Rockwell said. When the three-phase study of the dam is completed, the Corps of Engineers will determine what maintenance is needed, Rockwell said. Rob Lawrence, leader of the rappelling team, predicted that Philpott Dam will easily last another 100 years. Lawrence and the other seven members of his team spend five or six weeks each year

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rappelling at dams east of the Mississippi River. Lawrence said there are other teams to check dams west of the river.

Generally, because rappelling is so intensive, the teams work in groups of two. Each of the half dozen team members at Philpott on Tuesday had two ropes tied across and on the opposite side of the top of the dam. Two ropes are needed for team members to maneuver across the dam’s surface, Lawrence said. Only one person rappelled at the time. When scaling the dam, each person took along a clipboard, pen and a tape measure. From a vantage point atop the dam, it appeared that the rappellers measured individual areas — presumably cracks — in the dam and then recorded the results. The processappeared slow and methodical. “We’re justtaking a look at the dam’s face and markingany abnormalities per instructions from theWilmington District” of the Corps ofEngineers, Lawrence said. Philpott is part ofthe Wilmington District.

“This (rappelling effort) is the last step of acomprehensive three-year plan to study thecondition of the dam,” Rockwell said.Technology was used to study the dam’scondition during the first phase of the plan,he said. Images and other information fromthe initial effort were stored on a computer.A specialized dive team conductedunderwater inspections during the second phase last year, Rockwell said. Philpott Dam is one of the three oldest concrete dams in the U.S., he said. Construction of the dam began in 1948 and was completed in 1952. Only two are older — the Fort Peck Dam in Montana and the Bonneville Dam in Oregon. Construction of those dams was finished in 1940 and 1943, respectively, according to online reports. Comparing it to an aging person, Rockwell said, “When you get 60 years old, you need a little more TLC than when you’re 20. We know there are some cracks that need some TLC.” As it ages, concrete becomes more brittle and cracks, Rockwell said. “That’s just the dynamics of concrete. ... This plan will identify what is significant and what do we need to concentrate on” when making repairs, he said. Although it is not known when the Corps of Engineers will make those decisions, Rockwell said he is certain maintenance will be needed on some areas of the dam’s surface if for no other reason than its age.

Hydro: (In some places, they do have rain!)Xcel sets hydro generation record in September haywardwi.com, November 1, 2014

Wind isn’t the only Xcel Energy renewable energy resource setting records. Hydro is also hitting high marks and had a record-breaking month for production from its Upper Midwest facilities in September. Last month, more electricity was generated by Xcel Energy’s fleet of hydro plants – 19 plants in Wisconsin, including the Chippewa Flowage Winter Dam – more than in any other September. The dams provided 130,537 megawatt-hours of clean, renewable energy, breaking the previous record set in September 2002 by 11,598 megawatt-hours. “It’s been a very productive year for hydro,” said Scott Crotty, manager of Xcel Energy’s hydro operations. “Seven of our last nine months have been significantly above the 10-year average for hydro generation.”

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Substantial rain and runoff are credited with much of the increase in hydro production. According to the National Weather Service, Eau Claire has recorded 12.3 inches of rainfall above normal for the year through Sept. 30.

From approximately 2004 to mid-2010 the northern half of Wisconsin was experiencing moderate to severe drought conditions. “At that time the flowage elevations were quickly declining and river flows were greatly reduced from normal,” Crotty said. “Now our reservoirs are full, rivers and creeks are running strong and the ground is saturated, which is good news for hydro generation.While many of Xcel Energy’s hydro dams date back to the 1920s and nine were built more than 100 years ago, the company has continued to upgrade and modernize plant components. Xcel Energy also recently installed new equipment at the Big Falls, Chippewa Falls, Menomonie, St. Croix Falls and Wissota plants in Wisconsin. In a typical year, hydroelectric power — including both owned and purchased power — makes up about 8 percent of the power Xcel Energy provides its nearly 1.7 million electricity customers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. More than half of the electricity the company supplies customers in the Upper Midwest comes from carbon-neutral sources, including hydro, nuclear, wind and biomass.

(Now, the ratepayers have to pay for them.)FERC approves NorthWestern Energy to issue securities for hydroelectric transactionCTBR Staff Writer Published 03 November 2014, hydro.cleantechnology-business-review.com

NorthWestern Energy has secured final approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue securities for the acquisition of eleven hydroelectric facilities and Hebgen Lake storage reservoir from PPL Montana. NorthWestern Energy will buy the hydroelectric generating facilities, which have a combined capacity of over 633MW, for $900m.The transaction includes Thompson Falls Dam on the Clark Fork River; Kerr Dam on the Flathead River; Madison Dam on the Madison River; Mystic Lake Dam on West Rosebud Creek.NorthWestern will also acquire Hauser, Holter, Black Eagle, Rainbow, Cochrane, Ryan and Morony dams along the Missouri River. The FERC approved and authorized NorthWestern to issue securities consisting of a combination of about $400m of equity securities and up to $450 million in debt securities. It also includes up to $900m of unsecured debt pursuant to an existing bridge credit facility, but, in no event, over $900m outstanding at any single time. NorthWestern Energy offers electricity and natural gas services in the Upper Midwest and Northwest, serving about 678,200 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. The company provides electric transmission and distribution services for around 342,000 customers in 187 communities of Montana. In South Dakota/Nebraska, the company provides electric distribution services for about 61,600 customers in 110 communities.

(Never seen it this dry!)Severe Drought Hastens Hydropower's Slow DeclineMackinnon Lawrence , Contributor, forbes.com, 11/5/14

Coal retirements, the shale gas bonanza, post-Fukushima nuclear curtailments, the rising adoption of distributed generation, and emerging price parity for solar PV and wind – the dynamic changes impacting electricity grids worldwide are many. Now, with prolonged droughts affecting leading global economies, like Brazil and California (the world’s seventh and eighth largest economies by gross domestic product [GDP], respectively), a slow decline in the prominence of hydropower is in the mix. Historically, hydropower has been the primary source of clean and renewable energy in both economies. Its decline has had a more severe impact on Brazil’s grid, but in both places, this development is expected to continue to coincide with a further rise in gas-fired generation and renewables. Due to the current cost of renewables, the consequences of this shift may be a rise in greenhouse gas emissions in each country’s electric power sector.

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With a fleet of 300 dams, Californiais among the nation’s leaders inhydropower generation. However,hydro in the state has declined frompeaks in the 1950s, when it wasresponsible for more than half ofthe state’s generation mix, to just9% in 2013. Having prepared forhydro’s decline by broadening itsgeneration mix over the last severaldecades, the California gridremains mostly insulated from theworst effects of nearly a half decadeof severe drought.

California generates around 55% to 60% of its power from natural gas and has seen a 30% increase in gas-fired generation since 2002. Meanwhile, California’s leading investor-owned utilities across the state – Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), SouthernCalifornia Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) – are ontrack to meet or exceed their 33% renewable procurement obligations by2020 under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) policy.

Brazil GaspsFacing its worst drought in 40 years, meanwhile, Brazil has been more severely affected by reduced hydropower generation than California. Currently, the second leading producer of hydroelectric power in the world, trailing only China, Brazil relies on hydro for more than three-fourths of its generation. According to data published by BP earlier this year, hydropower consumption fell 7% in 2013. This rapid decline has prompted severe rationing in 19 cities, undermined hydropower generation, and resulted in blackouts across the country. In the run up to the 2014 World Cup, the Brazilian government provided more than $5 billion to subsidize electric utilities, replacing lost hydroelectric generation with fossil fuel-fired generation, including large amounts of liquefied natural gas. While this helped stabilize the grid during the event, it has nearly doubled greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector. Brazil’s experience provides a harsh lesson for drought-stricken areas with a high dependence on hydropower. While natural gas is a low-carbon alternative relative to coal-based generation, it may stall or reverse carbon mitigation efforts when used in place of hydropower. Renewables can help make up the difference, but even with sharp declines in the price of solar PV and wind, they remain far more expensive than hydropower or natural gas. While both California and Brazil are in a hole with respect to water supply and hydroelectric generation, persistent drought is unlikely to result in a significant increase in new renewables spending without the introduction of new subsidies.

Water:

Environment:

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In good water times.

(The long way will get you there too.)Naugatuck River bypass opens, allowing fish blocked by upstream dams to return to habitatThe Associated Press, October 31, 2014 - therepublic.com Seymour, Connecticut — A $6.3 million fish bypass that will allow fish to return to the Naugatuck River to spawn has opened in Seymour. The New Haven Register reports (http://bit.ly/1wPOmdo ) that the bypass channel opened Thursday. State environmental officials say the American shad, osprey, eagles and river otters will likely return with the ecosystem restored. Fish blocked by upstream dams may return to their natural habitat now that the bypass is complete. Robert Klee, commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, says the bypass is the first of its kind in the Northeast. The bypass and adjacent park were named for Paul Pawlak Sr. a former first selectman and state senator who died in February. He pushed for Connecticut's first Clean Waters Act to reduce industrial and residential pollution.

(Another benefit of dams.)Fall birding at Nickajack Dam By Bob Butters, November 2nd 2014, nooga.com According to the Audubon Society,birdwatching is the No. 1 sport in America,with 51.3 million participants. Local birderslooking for a different location to check outmight consider Nickajack Dam in MarionCounty. Though perhaps not the mostprolific birding site in the Chattanooga area,it nevertheless offers a unique opportunityfor viewing waterfowl, songbirds and more.

On arecent morning, I decided to explore the fall birding situation around the north end of the dam. At the Shellmound Recreation Area, a short distance before reaching the dam, I immediately spotted a great blue heron standing in shallow water and a small flock of coots near the boat docks. The American coot is a black rail with a white bill and forehead shield. They seem to love miserable weather and are great swimmers. Although a few have recently been observed year-round, they occur in much greater numbers between October and April. Unlike pre-9/11 days, the public is no longer allowed access on the top of the dam or the locks. But this relatively shallow corner of Nickajack Lake adjacent to the dam is a great spot for seeing waterfowl. As usual, this morning saw a sizable flock of coots hanging out, mixing with a small flock of pied-billed grebes. The previous day, I had seen a flock of double-crested cormorants swimming at this spot. The cormorant was not known to nest in Tennessee between 1955 and 1992, but it has now recovered to the point of being considered a nuisance by fishermen. The

area between this north end of the dam and the Shellmound Campground is a maze of wide, well-maintained trails through pine and mixed forest, and areas that were once kept mowed but are now a successional growth of briars, weeds and tree saplings. This is a wonderful place for what I refer to as "brushy birds." While strolling about here, in addition to the usual species such as blue jay, mockingbird, robin and crow, I identified a Carolina chickadee, pine warbler, yellow-rumped warbler and song sparrow.

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Turning right at the gate on the end of the dam, the road takes you down past the boat ramp (and between two ponds that are good places to watch for water birds) and alongside the river to a large gravel parking area underneath the power lines. Here, you can walk on an old maintenance road through the power line right of way, another excellent place for sighting small brushy birds, as well as larger birds like the red-tailed hawk. Black vultures tend to congregate in sizable numbers on the high-voltage towers. Ospreys have nested on one of the towers at the parking area for at least a couple of years now. On this morning, I spotted some small birds in the brush that I’ve been unable to positively identify. Field sparrows, perhaps? Also from the parking area, an abandoned paved road loops through an old overgrown campground, another great place for spotting small birds that like that type of habitat. Back in May, birders spotted a brown pelican perched on the dam, a white-winged scoter on the lake, a red-breasted merganser on thedownstream side, and willets and greateryellowlegs on the shore below the dam. At this time, it’s still a little early for winterwaterfowl, but their variety and numbers shouldbe increasing soon. Also, it isn’t that unusual tospot a bald eagle around Nickajack Dam,especially in winter. See a list of 100 bird speciesseen at Nickajack Dam here. Find moreinformation about many of the birds seen here atthe Tennessee Watchable Wildlife website. ViewTVA’s interactive recreation map here.

(Don’t like this title! Do they know they showed a dam with a fish ladder?)These Submersible Sensors Measure All the Ways Dams Brutalize FishBy Nick Stockton, 11.04.14 | wired.com

Hydropower dams provide almost half ofthe nation’s sustainable energy, but theycan be death traps for fish, particularlyjuveniles headed downstream. In hopes ofengineering more fish-friendly dams,scientists have created small aquaticsensors that record how fish would getspun, stunned, and barometrically burst inthe hydroelectric gauntlet. Called SensorFish, each is a sandwich of two circuitboards stuffed inside a water tight cylinder.They were first developed in the late 1990sby researchers at Pacific NorthwestNational Laboratory, but the early versionswere expensive and could only gather alimited amount of data. A paper in today’sReview of Sensor Instruments describes the latest version, which is better, and more cost-effective, at modeling fish stress than its predecessors. Say you’re a juvenile salmon, or smolt, headed into a massive dam. Spinning turbine blades nearly chop you in half, but they are hardly the only danger. You can also be squashed against concrete, sheared apart by a sudden rush of high pressure water, or even blown up from the inside as your swim bladder expands from the rapid pressure drop on the far side of the turbine. Even if your fishy little body is intact on the other side, you might be so disoriented that you’re easy pickings for a hungry bird. It’s almost enough to make you wish you’d grown up in a nice, safe fish farm.

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Sensor Fish records these bumps and pressure changes using an array of accelerometers, gyroscopes, and pressure sensors. These are sensitive enough to tell the sudden, jarring strike of a turbine blade from the gradual onslaught of a high-speed water jet. Auto-inflating balloons make them easy to find in the churning downstream dam water. In dam trials so far, the Sensor Fish’s pressure sensors have measured pressure drops equal to ascending the world’s tallest mountain in less than a second.In order to correlate the Sensor Fish data with biological trauma, the researchers also inject smolt with tiny acoustic tags to track how far they make it through the dams. “This shows where the fish are getting injured,” said Daniel Deng, the lead scientist on the project, while the Sensor Fish measures exactly what physical stresses caused the injuries. Sensor Fish will be an important tool for keeping the US’s dams operating as they get older, and need to be relicensed. They will also be useful in developing new types of dams capable of producing smaller, more localized hydro power in the US, and other, large scale projects overseas. Deng says he doesn’t believe the data will lead to generalized standards, but rather a way of testing the conditions specific to each river, dam, and fish species passing through.

The first sensor fishes were shaped like real fish, but the researchers realized that they actually behaved more like small fish when shaped like cylinders. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

(Sounds like a declaration of war! What did they do before there were dams? The dams didn’t cause the drought!)Breakthrough study to ensure fish safety under water dams UC Davis professors, researchers develop screening process in which organizations can enforce fish safetyWritten by Daniella Tutino — theaggie.org, November 6, 2014

On Oct. 15, BioScience Advance Access published a study conducted by UC Davis associate research scientist Joshua H. Viers, UC Davis fish biology professor Peter Moyle and U.S. geological survey research scientist Theodore Grantham. This study resulted in a method to ensure the safety of endangered fish by ensuring sufficient water flow under California water dams. Due to the drought in California, water dam owners are reluctant to ensure sufficient water flow underneath their dams. The motivation for the study began with the researchers’ concern for the rapid decline in fish populations. “Eighty percent of fish endemic to California are facing extinction within the next 100 years if something does not change,” Grantham said. Grantham also explained that the problem of declining fish population has existed for quite a while, but finding a conceivable solution was still complicated.

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In an article written by Grantham andMoyle on the California WaterBlog, theyfound their clear start to fix the problem.The WaterBlog article states, “[thescreening process] provides a scientificbasis for dam operators, natural resourcemanagers, and policymakers to performwater ‘triage’ — setting managementpriorities for dams requiring the mosturgent attention.” The screening processthey developed has already shownsuccess. Out of the 753 dams theresearchers had screened so far, about25 percent have been categorized asdams with insufficient water flow. With over 3,000 dams in California, the percentage of unsafe dam operations is only more likely to grow.

Though the framework to check fish safety was just recently invented, according to Moyle, dam owners have been neglecting fish safety for decades. In May 2000, the Putah Creek Council, City of Davis and UC Davis filed a lawsuit against the Solano County Water Agency and the Solano Irrigation District for mismanagement of the creek. The court ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor.Moyle pointed out that native fish are doing much better since then.According to Moyle, once these kinds of cases are brought to court, it is almost impossible to lose. “If a dam is disrupting flow under the dam, they are breaking the law,” Moyle said.Section 5937 in the California Fish and Game Code explicitly states, “The owner of any dam shall allow sufficient water at all times to pass through a fishway, or in the absence of a fishway, allow sufficient water to pass over, around or through the dam, to keep in good condition any fish that may be planted or exist below the dam.” The problem, Grantham said, is that no one is enforcing this law due to lack of funding and resources. It is not until someone or some organization brings awareness to the problem and takes it to court that sufficient water flow is restored beneath dams.Because of this, Grantham pointed out, cases where dams that are not as well-known and most likely in worse shape are not being brought to court. The next line of action is for environmentalist organizations to take this framework and screen every dam — and if those responsible are not providing sufficient water flow under the dam, the environmentalists must take action to protect fish populations.

The researchers have already begun to rank the different dams based upon how endangered the fish population residing and migrating under the dam is, the size of the dam – that is, height and reservoir capacity – and the degree of flow alteration. Not only would the future screenings reveal whether a particular dam is harming fish, but they could also provide the answer to a bigger issue Grantham is concerned with. “We hope the information gathered can prioritize future studies and [allow us to] see how the dams can be modified to be less harmful to downstream fish communities,” Grantham said. Already, UC Davis is taking more of a stand in support of providing greater flow of water to the fish — not only from the perspective of the researchers and professors, but also a significant portion of the students as well. One of the student clubs invested in improving the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and advancing fisheries is the American Fisheries Society. Jesus Vargas, a member of the AFS and a fourth-year wildlife, fish and conservation biology major, commented on the importance of this study and others like it in an email. “These studies are essential to discover the minimum habitat and resources necessary for them to sustain healthy population sizes. With these studies, we can create and regulate dam flows based on the type of flows necessary for the fish to thrive,” Vargas said.Vargas also explained that certain fish require different water flow rates, which complicate how much water flow to release from the dam. “The more information we have on what the fishes need, the better we can adjust the flows; any other habitat and resource adjustments that must be made can also be taken into account,” Vargas said. Researchers hope a compromise can be

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made to better conserve native fish populations. “[This study] is a place to start; It is not an end,” Moyle said.

Other Stuff:

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