2 • August 5, 2015 • Snoqualmie Valley Record
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In Brief
Chris Spens, a project engineer for Tollhouse Power, a holding company for the Black Canyon project, said that based on community feedback, both in initial meetings in 2011 and subsequent communications, the project team revised their plans to make as much of the project as possible underground. “I think the overwhelming sentiment from Ernie’s Grove is they want the least change possible, the least visual presence,” he said. The current version of plans for the Black Canyon plant feature, instead of a dam, a “roughened channel,” or stone lip that will divert up to 900 cubic feet per second of water from the river to a fish-screened, 8-footdiameter intake pipe that drops 450 feet to an underground powerhouse to produce electricity. Once through the powerhouse, the water, powered only by gravity, flows 8,600 feet and back into the river via the 200-foot, 12-foot-diameter tailrace, 1,000 feet upstream of the nearest house in Ernie’s Grove. “All of that water standing in that vertical pipe is creating pressure, which provides the energy,” Spens said.
Police host National Night Out in North Bend On Tuesday Aug. 4, the Snoqualmie Police Department will host its third annual National Night Out Against Crime from 4 to 8 p.m. at Si View Park. The National NIght Out event is designed to bring the community together to spread crime prevention awareness and build neighborhood bonds. There will be exhibits from the Washington State Patrol Bomb Squad and K-9 units, 911 Dispatch, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Peacekeeper. There will also be activities for kids like bouncy houses, airbrush tattoos and prizes. Police officers will be grilling hotdogs, hamburgers, and serving chips and drinks, all free. Community members are invited to get to know their local officers. For additional information follow the Snoqualmie Police Department on Twitter or Facebook.
Friends book sale starts Friday
Snoqualmie’s water source No other part of the system is pressurized Spens said, which is important since the project is near the Canyon Springs aquifer. “Canyon Springs is one of the significant sources of water for the city,” said Russ Porter. “It’s a historical source. It’s a gravity system, there’s only chlorine treatment and it’s a very high quality, so it’s kind of your best and cheapest water.” Porter, a water engineer with Gray and Osborne, was speaking to the Snoqualmie City Council at its July 13 meeting, to present his review of the recently published groundwater study conducted by Black Canyon. The study was made to project the impact of the power plant construction and operation on Canyon Springs, Porter said, because “one of our biggest concerns was the hydrology of the groundwater at Canyon Springs was not real well known…. At the time we did this, we thought that perhaps the river recharged the aquifer in this area.” The study suggested that Canyon Springs, among several area streams, drew water from a much larger area than they had projected, Porter said, adding, “The river may still have a contribution, but it’s probably not significant.” Snoqualmie has three water sources, and although it uses only about 25 percent of the water it had rights to from Canyon Springs last year, Porter said he was going to recommend changes to increase the Canyon Springs draw, “because it’s the most cost effective.“ Porter noted that his review focused on groundwater impacts, and although the aquifer had a larger supply area than originally thought, the Black Canyon project could still have an effect on the water in Canyon Springs. The aquifer recharge area narrows in
File Photo
Hydropower proponent Thom Fischer visits Tollhouse Power’s Black Creek hydroelectric plant in Hancock Forest in 2011. Tollhouse operates the 17-year-old, 4-megawatt facility for Puget Sound Energy, and has proposed the Black Canyon project for a larger plant, generating up to 25 megawatts, on the North Fork of the Snoqualmie, upriver from Ernie’s Grove. the same area that Black Canyon engineers are proposing to place the intake for the power plant, he said, and “there could be impact on water volume and quality.” He recommended requesting additional geotechnical studies and downstream monitoring on the project, if it goes forward.
Protected river Snoqualmie Watershed Coordinator Janne Kaje also had concerns about the project, which he said King County officials shared. Among them were environmental effects — because of its short distance, the project would not trigger a minimum in-stream flow requirement, and the protected status of that reach of the river. Although it’s not a Wild and Scenic River, the North Fork has been designated a protected area by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council “since the 1980s because of its outstanding fish and wildlife value…” Kaje said. Protected status doesn’t mean that hydropower projects can’t be implemented there, he said, but it does mean the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has to give strong consideration to the impact of those projects. “The definition of a protected area means that putting hydro there would create impacts that can’t be mitigated,” Kaje said. “It’s such an outstanding resource in the area, that the impacts can’t be mitigated.”
Regarding the question of instream flows, Spens said the project would take only excess water from the river, and “there wouldn’t likely be any operation from about mid-July to about mid-September, due to natural low flows.” To residents concerned about the possibility that his company might exercise eminent domain for some property acquisition as well as temporary and permanent access rights across several properties, he said he understood their concerns, and “We as a company have never used (eminent domain) before, and we’ve never had to use it…. it’s not something that we want to do.” Comments are still being accepted on the groundwater report, through Aug. 9. After the comments are received, FERC will determine if all of the investigation is complete. Spens said that Black Canyon next plans to hold meetings with various property owners, and hopes to submit a draft license application by Dec. 1 of this year. That application would undergo a 90-day review, and Spens estimated that the company would take two to three months to process the information from the review, before submitting the final license application in June or July of 2016. For more information, or to submit comments, visit www.ferc.gov and search for Black Canyon Hydro, or project number: 14110.
The Friends of the North Bend Library will kick off their annual book sale Friday, Aug. 7, at the library. The sale is on during the library’s open hours, daily through Sunday, Aug. 16. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Find lots of gently-used hardcover books, paperbacks, children’s book, DVDs and CDs, priced from 25 cents to $1. Genres include fiction, history, biography, business, health and wellness, literature, cookbooks, travel, sports and spirituality. The Friends of the North Bend Library organize the book sale from community donations. The proceeds help fund free-to-the-public adult and children’s programs as well as library enhancement.
Gain an hour with the right emergency preparation Carnation-Duvall Citizen Corps Council presents a free earthquake preparedness event, 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 11, at the Riverview School District Education Service Center, 15510 First Ave. N.E., Duvall. Professor John Vidale, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington will discuss earthquake risks and offer preparedness tips in a program called “An Hour to Spare.” For information about the “An Hour to Spare” series, send e-mail to info@carnationduvallcitizencorps.org.
Special candidate filing period is this week King County Elections will be holding a special candidate filing period Aug. 5 to 7 for Si View Metropolitan Park District, Commissioner Position 5. This position is currently held by Brenden Elwood, who is running for North Bend City Council. The filing period opens at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5, and closes at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. There is no filing fee for this position. All candidates to file in the special filing period will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. Candidates must complete a declaration of candidacy in person at King County Elections, located at 919 Southwest Grady Way, Renton.
Senior Center celebrates its volunteers with luncheon The Sno-Valley Senior Center will host a volunteer appreciation lunch at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5. The event will celebrate more than 200 volunteers that have worked at the center as well as Geary and Maya Smith, Bob Gilbertson, and Ronnie Brooks. Current volunteers can RSVP to receive a free lunch. For more information visit snovalleysenior.org or call the senior center at (425) 333-4152.