Day of longboarding

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:59:50 -0700

Okanogan PUD Dumps Shanker's Bend
Clearing Up, October 2011
 Okanogan PUD told FERC late last month that it would surrender its December 2008 preliminary permit for the proposed Shanker's Bend power, water storage,and flood control project on the Similkameen River near the town of Oroville, Wash.
In a letter filed Sept. 27, PUD General Manager John Grubich said "it would not be prudent to pursue the licensing of the project at this time." The utility was led to this conclusion, he said, by studies that raised a "variety" of unspecified concerns, as well as experience gained in its ongoing effort to license the proposed 9-MW Enloe Hydroelectric Project two miles downstream, which received its final environmental assessment Aug. 31.
The Shanker's Bend project would require much more effort and expense compared to Enloe, said Dan Boettger, PUD director of regulatory and environmental affairs, in the Wenatchee World.
Enloe, he said is "an existing facility, and looking at that compared with the complexities at Shanker's, which is brand new, and much larger with international implications, and combine that with the economic times--it's a pretty tough thing to take forward."
The utility studied high, medium and low dam configurations for the Shanker's Bend project--corresponding to generation capacities of 74 MW, 23 MW and 19.6 MW--and heights ranging from 90 to 260 feet. Most of the Similkameen River above the project is in Canada, and the high dam reservoir would have inundated 9,000 acres there, including tribal lands, wetlands, abandoned mines, residences and farms.
The $325,000 appraisal-level study funded by a state grant and an Army Corps hydrology study for the project were completed over two and a half years ago, but since then the PUD has been turning in virtually identical six-month progress reports.
The Shanker's Bend project garnered considerable concern on both sides of the border after it was proposed. At an Aug. 24, 2009, public meeting in Oroville, most of the 28 commenters opposed the project, according to the Omak-Okanogan Chronicle.
In a joint news release issued Sept. 28, the Sierra Club and the Spokane-based Center for Environmental Law & Policy said they were "cheered" by the PUD's decision to drop the project.
"The proposed dam would flood Palmer Lake, a popular fishing lake with many private homes, a Superfund site, and seven miles into Canada," said John Osborne, CELP board president, in the release. "Not building the Shanker's Bend dam is the right decision for taxpayers and the river" [B. T.].

Day of longboarding

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:59:27 -0700

News Release September 28, 2011  River Advocates cheer decision to abandon proposed dam for Similkameen River
1920s Enloe Dam is remaining obstacle to restoring salmon, needs to come down  Spokane - The Center for Environmental Law & Policy (CELP) and Sierra Club's Washington State Chapter today cheered the decision by the Okanogan PUD to voluntarily surrender its preliminary permit to build the Shankers Bend Dam on the Similkameen River. The proposed dam would flood Palmer Lake, a popular fishing lake with many private homes, a Superfund site, and seven miles into Canada. Canadians have vigorously opposed the new dam.   "The Similkameen River is an international river and treasure," said John Osborn, a Spokane physician, board president of CELP, and coordinator of Sierra Club's Columbia River Future project. "Not building the Shankers Bend dam is the right decision for taxpayers and the river."  In 2005, Washington State embarked on a new dam-building program for the Columbia River basin. In 2007 Washington State gave $300,000 to Okanogan PUD to study a new dam on the Similkameen River, the Shankers Bend Dam. Opposition from local citizens and Canada has been vigorous.  The Similkameen River is tributary to the Okanogan River, tributary to the Columbia River. The 156-mile-long river drains the east slope of the Cascade Mountains. Most of the 3,600 square mile watershed -- 90 percent -- is in Canada. The Similkameen River flows into the U.S. section of the Okanagan River south of Osoyoos Lake.   "Enloe Dam is the remaining obstacle for salmon," said Osborn. "Earlier this month we watched dam removal begin on the Elwha River in western Washington. The Enloe Dam also needs to come down. Enloe Dam removal has long been proposed to help mitigate for salmon run extinctions and damage from massive dams on the mainstem Columbia River."  For more on Similkameen River and dams, and Washington State's dam-building programs:
• Shankers Bend Dam
• Enloe Dam
• Columbia River Watershed: new dams?

Day of longboarding

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:59:08 -0700

Okanogan PUD Decides Not To Pursue Building New Dam/Reservoir On Similkameen River

The Columbia Basin Bulletin. September 30, 2011

The Okanogan County Public Utility District in a letter dated Monday, Sept. 26 asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to accept the district’s offer to voluntarily surrender its preliminary permit to build the Shankers Bend Dam on the Similkameen River in north-central Washington.

The surrender petition can be found at:
http://www.okanoganpud.org/shankers/Shankers%20Bend%20Voluntary%20Surrender%20Letter%209-26-11.pdf

The preliminary permit was issued by FERC on Dec. 18, 2008, and gave the PUD 36 months to conduct investigations and secure data necessary “to determine the feasibility of the proposed project and, if said project is found to be feasible, prepares an acceptable application for license.”

“The district has diligently pursued its studies and analysis of the option of developing and licensing the project, as detailed in the progress reports filed under this preliminary permit. Due to a variety of district concerns that become evident in the district’s studies of the potential project and also experience gained in the course of the ongoing licensing proceeding for Enloe Hydroelectric Project…, the district concludes that it would not be prudent to pursue the licensing of the project at this time,” the Okanogan County PUD’s letter says.

The proposed dam and associated facilities were to be located just upstream of the district’s Enloe Dam at approximately river mile 7.3 in what is commonly referred to as Shanker’s Bend. The Similkameen River is a tributary to the Okanogan River, which feeds into the Columbia.

The project was proposed for study in coordination with the state of Washington’s Columbia River Water Management Program. The 2006 Washington Legislature approved legislation to develop new water supplies and improve water management. The legislation included a commitment of $216 million.

In 2007, the Washington Department of Ecology provided $300,000 through the water management program for the PUD to conduct an appraisal level review of the site. The appraisal level analysis concluded that constructing any of the three dam height alternatives being considered on the Similkameen River were potentially viable from an engineering standpoint.

The Shanker’s Bend Project studied various alternatives including dam heights ranging from 90 to 260 feet. At 260 feet the dam will be approximately 1,200 feet long and impound an 18,000 acre reservoir with a storage capacity of 1.7 million acre-feet.

Environmental advocates criticized the proposal because of the prospect of flooding riparian habitat. They also protested the potential relicensing of Enloe without requiring fish passage,

"The Similkameen River is an international river and treasure," said John Osborn, a Spokane physician, board president of Center for Environmental Law and Policy and coordinator of Sierra Club's Columbia River Future project. "Not building the Shanker’s Bend dam is the right decision for taxpayers and the river." He noted that Canadian interests had also lobbied, and testified, against the proposal because the new dam would have also inundated lands north of the border.

The 156-mile-long river drains the east slope of the Cascade Mountains. Most of the 3,600 square mile watershed -- 90 percent -- is in Canada. The Similkameen River flows into the U.S. section of the Okanagan River south of Osoyoos Lake, which straddles the border. CELP and other groups have asked that passage for salmon and steelhead be required at Enloe Dam as part of any new FERC license, or that the long idle dam be removed.

"Enloe Dam is the remaining obstacle for salmon," said Osborn. "Earlier this month we watched dam removal begin on the Elwha River in western Washington. The Enloe Dam also needs to come down. Enloe Dam removal has long been proposed to help mitigate for salmon run extinctions and damage from massive dams on the mainstem Columbia River."

Enloe Dam was completed in 1920 by Eugene Enloe to serve the mining community of Nighthawk upstream from the project and the crossroads town of Oroville downstream, near the Canadian border. It was purchased by the PUD in 1945.

Due to obsolescence of the generating equipment and the availability of cheaper power from other sources, the PUD ceased operations in 1959. The facilities have since sunk into extreme disrepair.

Since the late 1970s the PUD has sought and received operating licenses that would have allow restoration of the facility, but those licenses were all subsequently rescinded by FERC over disagreements with respect to upstream fish passage at Enloe Dam.

The final application now under consideration, which was submitted in August 2008, focuses on providing downstream habitat improvements for fish rather than providing passage to the upper reaches of the river. That process is now in its final stages.

Day of longboarding

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:58:22 -0700

Day of longboarding

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:58:06 -0700

News Release January 24, 2012

ENLOE DAM AN ECONOMIC LOSS

New Analysis Reveals Extreme Unprofitability of Proposed Hydropower Project

Contacts:

- Jere Gillespie, Columbia Bioregional Education Project
- Thomas O’Keefe, American Whitewater
- Rachael Paschal Osborn, Center for Environmental Law & Policy
- Rich Bowers, Hydropower Reform Coalition

Oroville – On Tuesday, January 24, 2012, the Columbia Bioregional Education Project (CBEP), joined by several conservation groups, issued a new economic analysis of Okanogan Public Utility District’s (PUD) proposal to re-start hydropower generation at Enloe Dam on the Similkameen River. The analysis, prepared by Rocky Mountain Econometrics (RME) of Boise, Idaho, concludes that it is not possible for the PUD to sell power from Enloe Dam at or above the cost of producing it, and that the PUD will lose $26 for every megawatt hour produced at the dam.

“Okanogan PUD ratepayers are going to take a big hit for this expensive and unprofitable project,” said Jere Gillespie of CBEP. “We are calling on the Okanogan PUD to replace its out-of-date 2008 analysis and provide ratepayers with a realistic evaluation of Enloe Dam economics. We think such an update will show that the dam project is not a wise investment for ratepayers and should be dropped.”

Okanogan PUD has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue a license to install turbines at the existing Enloe Dam, which blocks the Similkameen River about four miles west of Oroville, Washington. Originally built in the early 1900’s, Enloe Dam has not generated hydropower since 1958. The current license application, pending with FERC since 2008, is the PUD’s fourth attempt since the mid-1980’s to add power generation to the dam. Previous licensing efforts failed due to poor economics and fish passage issues.

The Rocky Mountain Econometrics report reviewed the economic data provided by Okanogan PUD as part of its August 2008 FERC license application. The RME economic analysis concludes that:
• Market conditions for power have changed dramatically since 2008. Construction costs for projects similar to Enloe have increased by 30% since 2008.
• Open market prices for electricity, which will dictate what the PUD can sell Enloe power for, have decreased by 50%
• The long-term price for Enloe power is more likely to be $43/megawatt hour (MWh) than the $66/MWh predicted by Okanogan PUD in 2008
• Okanogan PUD’s 2008 analysis did not consider lost revenues due to tourism generated by Similkameen Falls. This report shows that, over the life of the license term, tourism losses for the Okanogan region could approach $20 million, two-thirds of the original 2008 estimate to build this uneconomic dam.

“The negative economics and significant impacts to local tourism make Enloe a poor plan for the utility and for Okanogan ratepayers,” said Rich Bowers, regional coordinator for the Hydropower Reform
Coalition. “While forecasts continually change, there is a great difference between today’s economic forecast than in 2008 when the original economic analysis was prepared.”

Okanogan PUD expenditures have been a continuing drain for its ratepayers. On December 2, 2011 the PUD raised retail power rates in order to meet increasing operational expenses. In addition, on December 20, the PUD adopted a budget for 2012 that reveals a five-fold increase in capital expenditures since 2007 (from $5.7 million to $24.5 million), and more than two-fold increase in debt principal and interest for the same period (from $1.6 million to $3.5 million).
“Enloe Dam has not operated for 50 years,” said Rachael Paschal Osborn, with the Center for Environmental Law & Policy. “In the context of its current budget, Okanogan PUD simply cannot afford to sink additional money into a project which will greatly increase rates for Okanogan ratepayers.”

The Enloe Dam project has been controversial for both environmental and economic reasons. Of particular concern is the current proposal to bypass virtually all of the river flow into the new turbines, de-watering Similkameen Falls for most of the year. The Falls represent an important cultural/historical resource for Native American Tribes and First Nations in the area. The Falls also represent a viewpoint/terminus for the newly developed Similkameen River Trail, which occupies the abandoned Great Northern Railway rail bed and is to be designated as a segment of the 1,200-mile Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, which runs from the continental divide in Montana to Olympic National Park. The tourist draw of the Similkameen River Trail is expected to bring significant revenue to the Oroville area.

“The Similkameen River and its waterfalls have recreational values that will enhance the tourism economy of the Okanogan-Similkameen Valleys. This report shows that de-watering the falls by the dam could cost $516,000 per year in lost tourism value,” said Thomas O’Keefe, Pacific Northwest Stewardship Director for American Whitewater.

Rocky Mountain Econometrics produced the Enloe report on behalf of Hydropower Reform Coalition members Columbia Bioregional Education Project, American Rivers, American Whitewater, Center for Environmental Law & Policy, North Cascades Conservation Council, and the Washington State Chapter of Sierra Club.

The RME Report may be downloaded at the following sites:

American Whitewater Similkameen River website:
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Project/view/id/similkameen/
American Rivers website:
http://amrivers.org
Center for Environmental Law & Policy Enloe Dam website: http://www.columbia-institute.org/enloe/dam.html
Columbia River Bioregional Education Project website: http://www.columbiana.org/pages/enloe_dam.html
Hydropower Reform Coalition website:
http://www.hydroreform.org/