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Energy in the News
Going with the Flow Developers, Conservationists Agree on Dam While developers point to a clean, renewable resource in a world of soaring energy costs, conservationists fear harm to fish populations and the environment at large. That's what makes the proposed Chester Dam project unique. Starting this fall, hydropower firm Symbiotics LLC plans to install a turbine on the dam to generate about 3.3 megawatts of electrical power—not much compared with the hundreds of megawatts produced by energy giant Idaho Power's dams, but in a world facing an energy crisis, every megawatt counts. Instead of fighting the project, groups such as Trout Unlimited, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the Henry's Fork Foundation have signed off on it, calling it a "win-win" for renewable energy and the protection of a crucial fishery. "Overall, this project is a great benefit to the Henry's Fork," said Scott Christensen of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, adding that he hopes the Chester Dam can serve as a model for balancing the need for renewable energy with protection of the environment. Idaho Fish and Game environmental staff biologist Gary Vecellio said the project, first proposed in 2001, initially raised concerns about its impact on fisheries above and below the dam. But throughout negotiations, he said, Symbiotics showed it was willing to address those concerns. "We did a doggone good job, and we're happy with it," Vecellio said. "We believe that our settlement agreement will protect or enhance our fisheries and natural resources." Symbiotics Chief Operating Officer Brent Smith said he expects the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a permit to go ahead with the nearly $13 million project "any time." It is scheduled to come online in spring 2010. Negotiations are ongoing with Fall River Rural Electric Co-op to sell the power that the Chester Dam's turbine generates, Smith said. Symbiotics will pay for a mile and a half of transmission line to connect Fall River's grid to the dam. Plans for the project include a $350,000 fish ladder, paid for by conservation groups, and screens to bar fish from entering canals. A 38-inch inflatable rubber cap will be stretched along the top of the dam. Smith said the cap will inflate or deflate to keep water behind the dam at the level it reaches now during the height of spring runoff. In the spring, the turbine won't be able to keep up with historical peak flows, so the cap will deflate to allow more water to pass over the dam. During low-water periods, the cap will be inflated to divert all water through the turbine. In this way, Smith said, the dam's backwater will stay constant year-round -- 600 to 800 feet longer than it is now in low-water season. "There will be a portion of free-flowing river that will be turned to backwater," Vecellio said. Experts said a fish ladder and a bypass for downstream migration will help open the river above and below the dam to fish traffic, encouraging genetic diversity. "Now we'll have them going both up and downstream, and that genetic mixing is good," Christensen said. Kim Goodman of Trout Unlimited said her group and others agreed to fund the fish ladder because they believed federal authorities would not require Symbiotics to do so. "The fish ladder was above and beyond the current structure," she said. "We knew that (Symbiotics) wouldn't pay for it. They're really stretching out their necks to pay for these screen diversions, and we knew that." Screens placed at canal entrances are expected to cut down on fish mortality by keeping them from swimming down the canals, where they are often stranded or killed by chemicals from agricultural fields. Eric Campbell, a fishing guide for Warm River-based Three Rivers Ranch, speculated that the turbine itself could directly benefit fish. Currently, the only water that passes the 13-foot dam is what spills over it, almost all of which is warm surface water. Diverting deeper water around the dam's east side, through a turbine and into the river below may keep water below the dam cooler later in the season, Campbell said. "With us, water temperature is everything," he said. Christensen acknowledged that the project's construction phase—expected to last almost two years -- will negatively affect the river for a time. But he said the long-term benefit the project will bring to the river outweighs its unavoidable short-term impact. Furthermore, the Idaho Department of Water Resources and Idaho Department of Environmental Quality have included best-management practice requirements to mitigate and minimize the construction's impact on the river in their approval of the project, Christensen said. Source: http://www.postregister.com
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