Hydropower
CRWC is a leading river advocate and stakeholder in hydro license reissues from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the Connecticut River. When licenses come up for renewal we begin our homework years in advance. Often we work with other river interests as we examine proposed operations for each facility. Then we make comments, and offer our own proposals to insure hydro operations are balanced with protections and improvements for the River.
There are nine main stem hydropower projects on the Connecticut. All are controlled by FERC licenses. Some dams are quite large, producing hundreds of megawatts of electricity. Their individual and cumulative river impacts are also huge, affecting flows and water levels from the Headwaters Region to Holyoke Dam, 86 miles from the sea. Hydro dams run our appliances, but they also slow rivers. They back up warming impoundments, impede oxygenating flows, and encourage siltation. Many lack functional fish passage. They are debilitating barriers to migratory and resident fish and scores of aquatic species requiring habitat access to sustain complex life cycles.
FERC licenses are issued for between 30 and 50 years—locking-in minimum flow requirements, impoundment levels, fish passage, and operating regimes for generations. Once a license is issued it is nearly impossible to make changes until it comes up for renewal. So CRWC begins work on license renewal improvements years in advance.
CRWC is currently participating in the Canaan Dam license renewal. Located in Stewartstown, NH and Canaan, VT, this 275 foot-long dam and hydro facility backs-up a 4,000 foot pond on the Connecticut. We’ve requested that FERC include fish passage in relicensing the site, plus stream bank protections, and improved fishing and recreation access. VT/NH River Steward David Deen is leading our work at Canaan Dam. Contact David.
The Turners Falls Project, which includes the River’s second main stem dam and the power canal feeding Cabot Station at Turners Falls, MA, Northfield Mountain, Vernon Dam and Bellows Falls will be relicensed in 2018. CRWC is now working toward significant river improvements for this license. MA River Steward Andrea Donlon is leading this work. Contact Andrea.
Recent main stem relicensing work
The 15-Mile Falls Project (FERC Project No. 2007-016) is a series of dams near Littleton, NH—the Moore, Comerford and McIndoes Falls dams. These impoundments represent the largest hydroelectric generating capacity in New England--affecting levels and flows from the Connecticut Lakes to the dam at Wilder, VT. CRWC is a signatory to the 2001 landmark agreement guaranteeing increased river flows. It also protects over 9,000 watershed acres, and created a $15 million Mitigation and Enhancement Fund.
The Holyoke Dam (FERC Project No. 2004-073) is the lowermost dam on the River, controlling fish access to 85% of the watershed’s spawning habitat. It directly affects migratory fish restoration to the Connecticut—including populations of American shad, blueback herring, shortnose sturgeon, and other species. In 1999, CRWC helped win increased habitat flows in the bypass reach below Holyoke Dam, as well as improvements in fish passage and the 401 Water Quality Certificate in the new license. CRWC's participation in a multitude of license requirements continues on.
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Photo credits (above): ©2006 Al Braden www.albradenphoto.com
Image Credits at Right - Illustrations: Bill Singleton; Photos: ©Al Braden www.albradenphoto.com, CRWC Staff.
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