BY ZACH URNESS/Salem Statesman Journal
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying the possibility of ending hydropower production at its system of dams in the Willamette River Basin.
The federal agency manages the dams and reservoirs, mostly located on tributaries east of Salem and Eugene, primarily for flood control. But the dams are also used for water storage, recreation and hydropower. Collectively, nine dams in the Willamette system can produce a combined 500 megawatts of hydropower, or enough to power 300,000 homes.
In 2022, Congress asked the Corps to “assess the future of hydropower” in the Willamette Valley, and specifically, whether the agency should remove hydropower at one or more of the dams.
The Corps held two virtual meetings last week to explain the process and projects.
“The task defined for us is specific to the question of future marketable hydropower and the value of hydropower generation to other authorized purposes and legal requirements,” Corps spokeswoman Kerry Solan said.
The Corps is in the process of planning the long-term future and mission of the system of 13 dams and reservoirs. The dams won’t be removed, but they are being retrofit with the goal of improving the passage of endangered spring Chinook salmon and winter steelhead.
One way to improve fish passage through the dams is to drop the reservoirs to historically low levels so the fish can swim through outlets at the bottom of the dams. That action is already taking place at Fall Creek, Green Peter, Cougar and Lookout Point reservoirs. But dropping reservoirs that low makes producing hydropower difficult, if not impossible.
Travis Williams, executive director of the environmental group Willamette Riverkeeper, said dropping hydropower in the Willamette was a good move that would give the agency better flexibility at dams to move wild fish through its system.
“Discontinuing hydropower generation makes sense at these Corps dams,” Williams said. “They do not produce a lot of power compared to the other Corps dams in the Columbia Basin, given they were first and foremost constructed for flood control.
“Eliminating hydropower would increase needed flexibility in relation to improving fish passage, which is critical to restoring wild salmon in the Willamette system.”
Nine of the Willamette Valley dams generate hydroelectricity from the power of water passing through the dams. Eight of these facilities are owned and operated by the Corps, and one is a private facility licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Later this year, the Corps will host separate public listening sessions, during which the public can provide their perspective on the future of hydropower across the Corps’ Willamette Valley system of dams. The Corps will record the comments during those sessions and include them in its report to Congress to help inform Congress’ decision-making process.
The dates of these future sessions will be published on the Portland District website.
The Northwest has water not coal and that has been key to powering stuff. Don’t remove the water until there is another viable way to produce the same amount of electric power for what we need.
October 10, 2023 I went to Foster lake this last weekend and there was 1,000 of fish dead in it. This is from draining Green Peter so the fish get sucked into something they should not be in and it kills them. Why is it ok to kill these kind of fish just to exsperiment to see if another kind of fish can go up a dam? The fish that is behind these dams are use to the way that these dams are opperatated and experimenting on what they are not use to are going to kill off more fish which is unexceptable. Quit experimenting on what has worked for over 50 years