the film forum library tutorial contact

Dams on Columbia Working Overtime by Pratik Joshi The News Tribune, June 12, 2010

Too much rainwater flowing through the Columbia River system is forcing dam power turbines to operate overtime.

If too much water spills over the dams, it churns air into the water and increases the nitrogen content. And experts say that can harm migrating salmon.

So to reduce the dissolved gas levels to protect fish, the Bonneville Power Administration has increased generation of hydroelectric power so water goes through the turbines and not over the dams.

But that creates another problem: How to consume all that power?

On June 2, the dams were producing 9,000 megawatts on average, but Wednesday they produced 13,000 megawatts.

All that hydroelectric power meant BPA had to find a way to limit power production from nonhydro sources, said BPA spokesman Michael Milstein. The agency markets and distributes electricity that comes from a mix of hydroelectric, coal, gas, nuclear and wind power sources in the Pacific Northwest.

Milstein said BPA asked B.C. Hydro in Canada to hold back water in its Columbia River reservoirs and asked Energy Northwest to reduce power generation at its Columbia Generation Station nuclear plant in Richland to balance the power supply, he said.

BPA also alerted the region's wind farms to its inability to absorb excess power, he said. And the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation also are holding back as much water as possible.

Milstein said he hopes things will stabilize by early next week.

As of Friday, the Columbia Generating Station was at 25 percent of capacity, said Rochelle Olson, spokeswoman for Energy Northwest. The nuclear plant generally produces about 1,150 megawatts, or enough electricity to power 1 million homes, Olson said.

BPA also is selling power to Northwest and California private utilities at very low prices, and even is giving power away at some hours to keep dam spills as low as possible, Milstein said.

Related Pages:
Seasonal Hydropower on Lower Columbia & Lower Snake Rivers Army Corps of Engineers Data for January 2000 - August 2002

###################
NOTE
These data are furnished with the understanding that the
Corps of Engineers makes no warrenties concerning the accuracy,
reliability, or suitability of the data for any particular
purpose
###################
1
          NPD RESERVOIR CONTROL CENTER           PROJECT- LWG LOWER GRANITE DAM & LAKE
          DAILY SUMMARY REPORT                                        MAY 2010
 
    DAY   GENERATION   STA   INFLOW   ------ OUTFLOW ------ MIDNIGHT  EL AT POWERHOUSE   AVG    MIDNIGHT
    OF    TOTAL  AVG   USE                -- IN KCFS --     RESERVOIR   IN FEET + MSL    HEAD   LEWISTON
   MONTH   MWH    MW   MWH    KCFS    TOTAL   POWER   SPILL ELEVATION  AVG FB   AVG TW   FT     GAGE FT
 
 
      1    7667  319    44    63.30    65.70   44.90  20.50   733.11   733.48   634.95   98.53    733.36
      2    6451  269    44    61.60    58.90   38.00  20.60   733.80   733.68   634.84   98.84    733.98
      3    6443  268    45    59.40    58.80   38.10  20.40   733.80   733.51   634.89   98.62    734.12
      4    7004  292    45    61.50    62.50   41.60  20.50   733.49   733.61   634.84   98.77    733.70
      5    5777  241    45    55.40    55.30   34.60  20.30   733.52   733.55   634.60   98.95    733.85
      6    5353  223    45    52.70    52.80   31.80  20.60   733.50   733.63   634.49   99.14    733.79
      7    5303  221    45    52.80    52.50   31.70  20.60   733.60   733.41   634.44   98.97    733.78
      8    5044  210    44    49.90    51.10   30.10  20.50   733.26   733.52   634.55   98.97    733.41
      9    4804  200    44    50.90    49.80   28.50  20.60   733.54   733.44   634.43   99.01    733.69
     10    4957  207    44    49.70    50.20   29.40  20.50   733.42   733.58   634.54   99.04    733.68
     11    4938  206    44    50.20    50.50   29.50  20.50   733.34   733.49   634.58   98.91    733.41
     12    4507  188    44    48.60    47.60   26.80  20.50   733.50   733.52   634.43   99.09    733.63
     13    5170  215    43    51.20    51.40   30.70  20.40   733.45   733.45   634.56   98.89    733.54
     14    5338  222    43    52.70    52.50   31.80  20.30   733.50   733.52   634.46   99.06    733.64
     15    5878  245    43    56.30    56.40   35.10  20.70   733.48   733.53   634.40   99.13    733.65
     16    6694  279    43    60.60    60.50   39.60  20.50   733.50   733.63   634.74   98.89    733.70
     17    7582  316    43    65.30    65.80   44.80  20.60   733.38   733.51   634.85   98.66    733.60
     18    9835  410    42    77.20    77.40   57.90  19.00   733.33   733.55   635.05   98.50    733.66
     19   12583  524    42    94.70    93.50   74.20  19.00   733.62   733.53   635.42   98.11    734.28
     20   14335  597    42   105.30   106.00   85.10  20.60   733.44   733.53   635.81   97.72    734.17
     21   13939  581    43   104.40   103.80   82.90  20.60   733.58   733.35   635.71   97.64    734.14
     22   11642  485    44    89.50    89.70   68.60  20.70   733.55   733.53   635.28   98.25    734.02
     23   10169  424    44    81.00    80.90   59.90  20.60   733.58   733.49   635.21   98.28    734.00
     24    9004  375    44    73.70    74.10   53.20  20.60   733.47   733.42   634.96   98.46    733.82
     25    8842  368    42    73.20    73.30   52.20  20.60   733.42   733.49   634.95   98.54    733.63
     26    8182  341    43    69.40    69.10   48.30  20.50   733.48   733.47   634.86   98.61    733.74
     27    8322  347    44    69.70    70.00   49.10  20.60   733.40   733.55   634.92   98.63    733.68
     28    8558  357    43    71.50    71.50   50.40  20.60   733.42   733.51   634.91   98.60    733.87
     29    8881  370    43    74.40    73.80   52.40  20.80   733.58   733.44   635.12   98.32    734.03
     30    9361  390    43    75.20    75.90   54.90  20.70   733.40   733.51   635.15   98.36    733.78
     31    8980  374    43    74.10    73.80   52.80  20.70   733.47   733.41   635.01   98.40    733.96
 
 TOT 31  241546       1351  2075.40  2075.10 1428.90 634.20
 AVG       7792  325    44    66.95    66.94   46.09  20.46   733.48   733.51   634.87   98.64    733.78
 
 MAX      14335              105.30   106.00   85.10  20.80   733.80   733.68   635.81   99.14    734.28
 MIN       4507               48.60    47.60   26.80  19.00   733.11   733.35   634.40   97.64    733.36
1
          NPD RESERVOIR CONTROL CENTER           PROJECT- LWG LOWER GRANITE DAM & LAKE
          DAILY SUMMARY REPORT                                            JUNE 2010
 
    DAY   GENERATION   STA   INFLOW   ------ OUTFLOW ------ MIDNIGHT  EL AT POWERHOUSE   AVG    MIDNIGHT
    OF    TOTAL  AVG   USE                -- IN KCFS --     RESERVOIR   IN FEET + MSL    HEAD   LEWISTON
   MONTH   MWH    MW   MWH    KCFS    TOTAL   POWER   SPILL ELEVATION  AVG FB   AVG TW   FT     GAGE FT
 
 
      1                 44    79.70    78.80   57.30  20.70   733.68   733.38   635.02   98.36    733.96
      2                 44    89.30    89.70   68.50  20.80   733.60   733.62   635.32   98.30    734.21
      3                 43   127.70   128.60   86.80  41.40   733.38   733.68   636.24   97.44    735.12
      4                 42   161.40   160.90   90.90  69.40   733.51   733.25   636.80   96.45    735.36
      5                 41   196.60   196.50   91.30 104.90   733.53   733.42   637.91   95.51    736.54
      6                 41   207.10   207.20   91.30 115.60   733.49   733.53   638.20   95.33    736.20
      7                 42   201.00   200.10   90.90 108.90   733.71   733.65   638.01   95.64    736.64
      8                 42   203.00   204.00   91.50 112.10   733.46   733.55   638.15   95.40    736.19
      9                 42   182.40   181.50   90.60  90.50   733.68   733.58   637.42   96.16    736.03
     10                 42   179.90   180.20   90.70  89.10   733.61   733.59   637.37   96.22    735.94
     11
     12
     13
     14
     15
     16
     17
     18
     19
     20
     21
     22
     23
     24
     25
     26
     27
     28
     29
     30
 
 TOT 30                422  1628.10  1627.50  849.80 773.40
 AVG                    42   162.81   162.75   84.98  77.34   733.57   733.52   637.04   96.48    735.62
 
 MAX                         207.10   207.20   91.50 115.60   733.71   733.68   638.20   98.36    736.64
 MIN                          79.70    78.80   57.30  20.70   733.38   733.25   635.02   95.33    733.96

Related Sites:
Columbia Basin Water Management Snake Basin Project data.