Small Scale Hydropower Development A Case Study Of The Salmon Falls River

There are many good reasons to use New England's small-scale hydropower resources to generate electricity. But current production capacity in the three northern states is only 1300 MW, just 35% of the 3710 MW estimated to be available to the states. Though the benefits of properly designed projects seem substantial, many factors combine to hinder their development. The Black River project in Springfield, Vermont, exemplifies the problem. Even after the two has invested over five years and $1 million in its effort to develop 30 MW of capacity, it still has not received either federal or state approval to proceed with construction. The first 4 years of the Springfield experience are described and factors that have greatly increased the cost and planning time for the project are identified. The purpose is to identify changes that could facilitate efforts to develop small-scale hydropower at other acceptable sites. On the basis of this experience it is recommended that: after issuance of a FERC permit, a preliminary determination of the project's impacts should be made by FERC officials; if environmental impacts are solely local or limited, environmental analysis/determination should be placed in the hands of the state; short-form licensing should be used for all run-of-river hydro projects that utilize and do not significantly modify existing water impoundment areas and do not significantly alter downstream flow patterns; and a hydro ombudsman with power at the state level should be established to facilitate governmental inter-agency coordination and project-related information transfer: one-stop licensing. (LCL).

The case study concerns two modern human uses of the Columbia River - irrigation aimed at agricultural land reclamation and hydroelectric power. The Grand Coulee Dam has become synonomous with large-scale generation of hydroelectric power providing the Pacific Northwest with some of the least-expensive electricity in the United States. The Columbia Basin Project has created a half-million acres of farmland in Washington out of a spectacular and vast desert. The South Columbia River Basin Irrigation District is seeking to harness the energy present in the water which already runs through its canals, drains, and wasteways. The South District's development strategy is aimed toward reducing the costs its farmers pay for irrigation and raising the capital required to serve the remaining 550,000 acres originally planned as part of the Columbia Basin Project. The economic, institutional, and regulatory problems of harnessing the energy at site PEC 22.7, one of six sites proposed for development, are examined in this case study.