Officials at the Bureau of Reclamation say that while bypassing water around the Trinity Dam generators cost the district money, it was done to help fish.
At the Nov. 10 board meeting of the Trinity Public Utility District, manager Paul Hauser explained the Bureau of Reclamation had been letting some water go around the generators, forgoing significant income from the generation and sale of power. Hauser said while the BOR bypasses the water to meet its river temperature goals, he was skeptical that the small change in temperature benefits fish at all.
Questions submitted to the Bureau of Reclamation Nov. 17 required multiple reviews before they were answered Nov. 21, a day after the bypass operation had concluded.
According to BOR Information Officer Mary Lee Knecht, the purpose of the bypass is to protect chinook salmon and coho salmon eggs.
“This is conducted by extracting the reservoir’s cooler water from the dam’s bypass inlets at the bottom of the reservoir rather than the generator inlets higher up in the reservoir where the water is warmer,” she said.
Asked if colder outdoor temperatures would negate the need for the bypass to continue, Knecht noted that the operations concluded Nov. 20.
However, bypassing the generator inlets is done at significant loss to the Bureau. Officials conservatively estimate the value loss to be $17,500 per day and the bypass started Sept. 23. That calculates to a $997,500 loss over 57 full days.
“Trinity Dam Hemispherical Bulkhead Refurbishment” seems a technical way of saying work will be done on the intake at the Trinity River Dam. According to a release from the U.S. Forest Service, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, the Bureau of Reclamation will be working on the inlet during specific weeks until March.
“The BOR and Advanced American Construction, will begin to remove the existing intake cover sections and bulkhead assembly from the intake structure and refurbishing,” according to the STNF. “Testing the guide frame, cleaning out the Bellmouth and providing a temporary cover to the intake structure until refurbishment is completed.”
Crews started unloading equipment via the Minersville Boat Ramp on Nov. 7.
“The BOR wanted to share its Notice to Mariners: We will work diligently with the local public to ensure that we keep disruptions of public boat launching to a minimum,” the release stated.
► Construction will occur during the week of Nov. 28 through Dec. 2.
► Expect more activity during the week of Feb. 6 through Feb. 10.
► Final construction will happen during the week of March 6 through March 10.
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