Hydro Dam proposed on S. Fork Skykomish

[scottr]

This may be old news but it was new to news to me.

Snohomish PUD has proposed placement of a hydroelectric dam on the South Fork of the Skykomish River near Sunset Falls. If you have ever traveled along Highway 2 or fished the upper Sky you know what a travesty damming this section of the river would be. According to estimates this dam would add about 1% to SnoPUDs total capacity. We already have too many dams and wind factories in this state. We should focus on energy conservation or sell a little less to California before we dam another river.

Please sign the petition here and share this with your fishing buddies.

http://www.savetheskyriver.org/

From the web site of the conservation group fighting this proposal

In Sept., 2011, Snohomish County Public Utility District submitted a preliminary permit application (FERC P-14295) to build a large scale hydroelectric project near Sunset Falls on the South Fork of The Skykomish River. The proposed project is directly below the popular trails leading to Lake Serene and Bridal Veil Falls. A proposed low head dam would divert water from the river above Sunset Falls. The proposed project is in conflict with with the Washington State Renewable Energy Standards and voter approved 1-937 mandates which exclude new fresh water dams from renewable energy credits.

[ML_Hunter]

Not to say that putting up another damn isn't a good thing, and I understand that it will change the landscape of the area and change the recreational use of the are...but we do need to look at all sides of the issue.

Fact is, we NEED more electric power, we NEED more fuel.
Without these two amenities, our country might as well be a third world country.  So as demand grows for electric power, our power providers need to look for new areas to harness more power.

Yes we can conserve but that will only take us so far, and with our growing population, we are still in need of more energy.

I am not for more dams, I highly against the way natural gasses are collected, I am not a huge fan of coal mining...I think you get the picture here (although I am for wind energy  ). But we need the energy, so we must compromise...

[scottr]

This Skykomish project is not a smart use of our tax dollars or natural resources.

We've lost tens of thousands of prime hunting shrub steppe habitat in this state to wind factories. We're spending billions to move fish up and down the Columbia. We should not build another dam or wind factory until we have exhausted all other conservation options. Right now we're like the guy that bitches about not having enough money but still goes out to dinner 3 times a week and buys what ever he wants. Wasteful energy consumption needs to be curbed before we take more Washington wildlife habitat out of production to feed California and Nevada's electricity appetite.

[ML_Hunter]

I do agree with you on the point that Washington should not be the ones to supply CA and NV energy resources. Both states absorb a huge electric consumption, and I know that CA produces a huge amount of energy and draws more energy from WA, OR, and TX to name a few. Washington and Oregon draws the short stick in this power battle for more of our natural resources are being used to support other states than our own.

[scottr]

Comments to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council are due by Sept 17th. They will decide if SnoPUD will get an exception and the Skykomish dam will go forward

http://www.nwcouncil.org/fw/program/2013amend/comment-form

[Hermit]

It's not the 1940's. There are viabile alternative sources of power. Damming the Sky is a bad idea in my opinion and I've sent my comments to the powers that be.

[huntnphool]

It's not the 1940's. There are viabile alternative sources of power.

Just out of curiosity what are they?

[WildlifeAssassin]

signed

[Special T]

Of ALL of the ways to produce power Dams are the cleanest, cheapest efficient way to produce power. IF there are still locations that minimize problems with salmon i say build one. 

Alternative sources of energy are mostly useful for Specific locations for specific reasons. Many people now using wind, solar, and mini hydro do so because they suffer a specific hurdle. Usually that hurdle is the cost of hooking up to the grid making the drawbacks of alternative energy more palatable. Our Homes are a huge power drain, not matter how "efficient" they are made. IMO this is mostly a design and social issue how we see a home. Earth sheltered homes & straw bail hay construction are just a couple of the out of the box ways of thinking that help solve this problem. Unfortunately they do not fit into the mental picture of what we think of as a home.

[Stump]

It this the new dam that will use a bladder and when the fish are returning the bladder will deflate and the fish can go by?

[Elkaholic daWg]

Too bad the same type of folks who are against this, were also fighting tooth and nail to stop construction of Nuclear facilities ( the second cheapest way to produce electricity) 30-40 years ago. This state had 5 under construction, only finished 1,  and abandoned 2 that were 80% complete.  As for this weir dam I'm not sold on fighting it as I find NIMBY's quite annoying!
 

[jnevs23]

I'm not for another dam or anything like that but don't they already trap the fish at sunset falls and truck them up river?  Would prob ruin a really fun  steelhead fishery above the falls.   

[splitshot]

I thought we were trying to get rid of the damn dams..   mike w

[Knocker of rocks]

Too bad the same type of folks who are against this, were also fighting tooth and nail to stop construction of Nuclear facilities ( the second cheapest way to produce electricity) 30-40 years ago. This state had 5 under construction, only finished 1,  and abandoned 2 that were 80% complete.  As for this weir dam I'm not sold on fighting it as I find NIMBY's quite annoying!

The understanding of neo tectonics has changed so remarkably in the last thirty years that even if they had been completed, all the Satsop site facilities may have been closed by this time, because even those like Roland Tabor did not recognize the likelyhood of magnitude 9 earthquakes in SW Washington.

The true cost of power generation is always hard to fully amortize.  Especially with nuclear, we still cannot say that we know or have a plan to handle the wastes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source#US_Department_of_Energy_estimates