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Tuesday, September 26, 2006
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Here's a retrospective about Hoover Dam from The Rebel Yell. From the article, "...on Sept. 30, 1935, what would become the world's largest hydroelectric dam was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Located along the Colorado River, 30 miles from Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam currently supplies an annual four billion kilowatt-hours to three major states. Known as the Boulder Dam during the F.D.R. administration, the Hoover Dam is a mass of concrete and steel rising 726 feet above bedrock and supported by a 660-foot-thick base. Today, Hoover Dam is the western hemisphere's highest concrete dam, symbolizing American progress in the 20th century and the might of manpower.
"Although Hoover Dam has become an essential generator of clean, renewable energy, the electrical potential of the Colorado River was not the initial reason for the structure's construction. In the early 20th century, the Colorado River had attained the reputation of being one of the most dangerous and unruly rivers, flooding southern California's agricultural areas and causing millions in damage. The solution would be to build a dam upstream. However. they faced an estimated cost of $165 million, so the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proposed selling hydroelectric power to pay for the project, with southern California as its main customer. After years of surveying, Bureau engineers chose Black Canyon, lying between the states of Nevada and Arizona, as the site for the new arch-gravity dam.
"According to the USBR Web site, the design chosen for a concrete dam depends heavily on the hydrology and geology of the dam site. Arch dams are narrow in width and curve upstream. Utilizing the force of the water behind it for strength, the arch transmits the pressure to its abutments, keeping the dam in compression. The strength of this structure is often optimal in steep, narrow gorges. The gravity dam, often three-fourths as wide at its base as it is high, relies on its weight for stability. Water upstream pushes horizontally while the weight of the dam pushes downward to counteract the water pressure. Its design is the typical choice for damming wide canyons. The Hoover Dam is a hybrid of the two models, having a thinner structure than a typical gravity dam and arching for additional strength between the relatively narrow volcanic bluffs of Black Canyon."
Category: Colorado Water
6:03:58 AM 
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One thing you can say for Dave Miller is that he is obsessed with building the Union Park reservoir. He is now asking the state Supreme Court to review last month's ruling that everyone thought killed the project for good, according to the Summit Daily News. From the article, "A water developer whose proposal to pipe billions of gallons of Western Slope water to the Front Range was rejected in a Colorado Supreme Court ruling earlier this month said Monday he has asked the court to reconsider. Attorneys for Dave Miller, the head of Natural Energy Resources Co., said in a filing Friday that the court made several mistakes in its 6-0 Sept. 11 decision.
"Opponents of the proposal have said the ruling was the 'final nail in the coffin' of Miller's proposal to build a reservoir near Crested Butte to store up to 1.2 million acre-feet from the headwaters of the Gunnison River to be piped to fast-growing Arapahoe County and to generate power to add to the Western electrical grid."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
5:54:28 AM
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Potential bidders for the contract to build a fish ladder and whitewater park on the Colorado River in DeBeque canyon will have an additional month for planning and engineering, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article, "The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation extended until Nov. 21 the deadline for contractors to respond to the proposal for a fish passage or combined fish passage and whitewater park below the Price-Stubb Dam at the mouth of De Beque Canyon. Backers of the whitewater park also hope to boost their ability to pay for the park by asking the Mesa County Commission for $200,000 to help build it. Palisade Town Administrator Tim Sarmo, who persuaded the Grand Junction City Council to kick in $100,000 for the project, said the commission has a stake in the whitewater park. Sarmo said he was stressing that the park would be a regional asset that would require a regional coalition to succeed...
"Engineers with the Bureau of Reclamation and the town have worked together on ways for both projects to be built. The bureau can build only a fish passage and water park supporters hope to piggy-back on that effort to build an area for kayakers that would draw national interest. The bureau, however, has said the additional costs for the park could run into millions of dollars. Sarmo said he hoped the town, bureau and contractor could work together to make the dual project affordable. Bids originally were due on Oct. 28. By extending that date a month, bureau officials hope contractors will take extra time to consider the dual project, said Justyn Hock of the bureau's Grand Junction office. The bureau is under pressure to complete the fish passage as its congressional authorization is running out. Price-Stubb is the last dam preventing two endangered fish, the Colorado pikeminnow and the razorback sucker, from returning to their historical range as far upstream as Rifle."
Category: Colorado Water
5:33:31 AM
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© Copyright
2006
John Orr.
Last update:
12/29/06; 12:15:02 PM.
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