November 10, 2005 at 7:09 a.m.
Agreement to regulate flow over dam after years of negotiations between power company and Wisconsin officials
Agreement to regulate flow over dam after years of negotiations between power company and Wisconsin officials
The power company is agreeing in the MOU to adjust dam flow management practices to more closely resemble “run-of-river” flows instead of the “peaking” flows the dam has previously been managed under.
According to the MOU, which was supplied to the Chisago County Press by the Wisconsin DNR, the plan includes modified flows to protect river species and maintain habitat.
The flows have been a topic of negotiations between the Wisc. DNR and Xcel for some 14 years, according to Rob Olson, Wisconsin hydro-electric licensing specialist.
Olson explained that the power company and Wisc. DNR have disputed the state’s authority to regulate the dam flow for years, and this MOU keeps the issue out of the courts and the potential to become a protracted legal battle.
The management of flow has been tied historically to power demand and the new agreement is geared more toward restricting what’s released over the dam to better approximate inflow to the reservoir.
Olson also explained that new research and findings about riverway habitat and the marine life that the river supports have come into consideration. In particular the needs of an endangered mussel species found in the vicinity of the facility.
The St. Croix River has national significance, the MOU states, as one of the most diverse riverine ecosystems in the midwest. At least 68 fish species have been identified and 39 mussel species and 497 aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa counted. The only confirmed viable population of the winged maple leaf mussel inhabits a 12 mile reach of the St. Croix below the dam, according to the MOU.
“This (MOU) is an attempt to balance the energy value in the facility with the value of the river system,” Xcel spokesperson Brian Elwood told the Press. The goal is to have this MOU signed and finalized in the coming weeks.
Wisconsin is the regulatory power over the St. Croix River hydro-electric facility basically because the power plant is on the Wisconsin side.
Minnesota officials have been involved in the negotiations on this agreement. and are also invited to comment on the MOU.
According to Olson-- riverway users will notice less fluctuation in river levels after this flow management agreement is initiated.
He said the goal is to create no greater than a six inch approximate fluctuation in the upstream reservoir.
A statement released through the Wisconsin River Alliance, a non-profit environmental group based in Madison, did not entirely support the MOU.
The alliance said that in 1992 a multi-agency team was convened and drafted a recovery plan for the endangered winged maple-leaf mussel, and the top recommendation was to change dam flow operations.
The Wisc. River Alliance argues that the MOU is insufficient for enforcing and monitoring the flows.
The alliance statement argued, “WDNR eliminated any mechanisms to pursue violations and ignored the need to write an Environmental Assessment, and to have public input on the (MOU).”
Olson, though, points out that the agreement if adopted the way it is written can be cancelled with 90-days’ notice by either party.
He described the MOU as a three-year test during which Xcel will jointly review the operational records with DNR to monitor performance. “If either side determines this isn’t working the way it should we can pull out of the agreement,” he said.
The test period is also important to the power company to see if the adjustments affect power supply. The facility generates approximately 119.6 million kilowatt hours of hydro-electricity annually.
Elwood noted that Xcel is losing some of its “peaking storage capability” (ie: holding flow back behind dam) although there are clauses in the MOU for flows to be modified if there’s a natural crisis or electricity brown-out or other “exception to normal operating.”
There is an opportunity for the Wisconsin DNR to get public input.
Anyone who’d like to send comments about flows or environmental issues related to flow in the St. Croix can direct the comments to Terry Margeneau in Spooner, at 1-715-635-4105 (FAX line) or e-mail him at [email protected].
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