Hydro Leader March 2021

Leader ydro H VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3

Malcolm Woolf of the National Hydropower Association: A Voice for the Water Power Industry

march 2021

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Malcolm Woolf of the National Hydropower Association: A Voice for the Water Power Industry

Hydro Leader Hydro Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for July/August and November/December by

an American company established in 2009.

STAFF: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief Joshua Dill, Managing Editor Tyler Young, Writer Stephanie Biddle, Graphic Designer Eliza Moreno, Web Designer Caroline Polly, Production Assistant and Social Media Coordinator Cassandra Leonard, Staff Assistant SUBMISSIONS: Hydro Leader welcomes manuscript, photography, and art submissions. However, the right to edit or deny publishing submissions is reserved. Submissions are returned only upon request. For more information, please contact our office at (202) 698-0690 or hydro.leader@waterstrategies.com.

Contents March 2021 Volume 2, Issue 3

5 D am Safety in the United States and Canada

By Kris Polly

24 J arrod Malenchak of Manitoba Hydro on Water Resources and Dam Safety

8 Malcolm

Woolf of the National Hydropower Association: A Voice for the Water Power Industry

30 P aul Meeks: Signing Up for Dam Safety

14 Dusty

Myers: Ensuring Dam Safety at Eagle Creek Renewable Energy

36 S unnyside Valley Irrigation District’s New Boom Fish Guidance System

20 A nnick Bigras on Hydro-Québec’s Commitment to Dam Safety

ADVERTISING: Hydro Leader accepts half-page and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or hydro.leader@waterstrategies.com.

CIRCULATION: Hydro Leader is distributed to all hydroelectric facility owners in the United States, to hydrorelated businesses, and to every member of Congress and governor’s office. For address corrections or additions, or if you would prefer to receive Hydro Leader in electronic form, please contact us at admin@waterstrategies.com.

Copyright © 2019 Water Strategies LLC. Hydro Leader relies on the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Hydro Leader magazine, its editors, or Water Strategies LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Hydro Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies LLC or Hydro Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised.

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COVER PHOTO:

Do you have a story idea for an upcoming issue? Contact our editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

4 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

Malcolm Woolf, President and CEO, National Hydropower Association.

Photo courtesy of the NHA.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NHA.

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Dam Safety in the United States and Canada

By Kris Polly

I

n this month's Hydro Leader, Malcolm Woolf, the president and CEO of the National Hydropower Association, the national trade association for the hydropower association, tells us about new developments in the water power world.

Hydropower plays an important role in supporting the grid and enabling the use of other carbon-neutral energy technologies; in light of its importance, relicensing should be made easier and its tax treatment should be made equal to that of other renewable energy technologies.

Dusty Myers, chief dam safety engineer at Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, gives us a look at the development of the dam safety program at the rapidly growing energy company.

Mr. Myers is bringing Eagle Creek up to speed with new dam safety and public safety policies, all while keeping an eye on the evolving requirements of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Annick Bigras, the director of dams and infrastructure expertise at Hydro-Québec, tells us about how her agency learned from the 1‑in-10,000‑year Saguenay Flood of 1996.

In addition to responding to its own specific circumstances, Hydro-Québec is actively involved in knowledge sharing through national and international organizations like the Canadian Dam Association (CDA) and the Centre for Energy Advancement through Technological Innovation.

Jarrod Malenchak, head of the water resources engineering section at Manitoba Hydro, is also concerned

with dam safety. In addition to his day job providing safe, reliable energy to Manitobans, he is the chair of the CDA’s dam safety committee.

Canadian dams benefit from a largely standardized set of signage guidelines. Paul Meeks of Worthington Products would like the United States to follow that example. He explains the fundamentals of good dam signage design and informs us about Worthington’s offerings.

Finally, we speak with Lori Brady of Washington State’s Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District, which is installing a fish guidance boom system.

As our interviews this month demonstrate, dam safety can be promoted through a wide variety of channels. In-house dam safety sections, national associations, cross-company standards, and government regulations all play an important role. Together, the hydropower industry is making strides to guarantee that it continues to provide its critical power in the safest manner possible. H Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Hydro Leader magazine and the president and CEO of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

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Malcolm Woolf of the National Hydropower Association: A Voice for the Water Power Industry as a force multiplier to integrate variable wind and solar, hydropower is an essential part of any climate solution. For these reasons, I’m excited to join the hydropower family.

Hydro Leader: How long have you been in your current position as president and CEO of the NHA? Malcolm Woolf: 15 months.

Hydro Leader: Would you please introduce the NHA?

Malcolm Woolf tours Voith Hydro’s manufacturing facility in York, Pennsylvania.

T

he National Hydropower Association (NHA) is the national trade association for the hydropower association, encompassing all water power technologies, including traditional reservoir hydropower, pumped storage, wave energy, and tidal energy. While hydropower is often seen as a mature technology, it is still experiencing significant innovation and promises to be a crucial component of the 21st-century U.S. energy mix. In this interview, NHA President and CEO Malcolm Woolf tells Hydro Leader about the NHA’s activities and explains why national and state policymakers and regulators should update their views of hydropower.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

8 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

Hydro Leader: Who are your members?

Malcolm Woolf: Our more than 240 members span the entire supply chain, from soup to nuts, and include large generators, independent power producers, equipment manufacturers, engineering consultants, and legal support.

Hydro Leader: What sorts of technologies fall under the category of marine energy?

Malcolm Woolf: Marine energy covers a wide array of incredibly exciting technologies based on tidal, wave, thermal, and current power. We believe that marine energy is America’s next-generation renewable, and we are working to help this sector reach full-scale commercialization.

One of the most significant challenges to the domestic marine-energy industry is the need to continually attract private investment to fund innovation and initial demonstrations during the precompetitive stages of technology development, primarily due to the timelines and technical risk involved. Unfortunately, the United States has

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE NHA.

Malcolm Woolf: I’m an energy lawyer by training and am a self-described policy wonk. I have spent most of my career advocating for sustainable energy technologies, including wind, solar, batteries, and electric vehicles. I’m a late adopter of hydro, but I’ve realized that it’s time to fall in love with hydro again. It’s America’s first renewable energy source and an amazing source of flexible, carbon-free power.

In fact, with over 100 gigawatts (GW) of zero-carbon electricity capacity already on the grid and the ability to act

Malcolm Woolf: The NHA is the national trade association for the hydropower industry, covering all forms of water power, including conventional hydropower, pumped storage, conduit hydropower, and marine energy. A lot of people think of the NHA as the voice of the industry in Washington, DC, which it certainly is. We actively engage with Congress and the administration, but we also convene almost a dozen events per year in which the industry can get together and exchange technical expertise. We also run a host of technical committees on subjects like hydraulic power, pumped storage, water power innovation, small hydro, and marine energy.

The aim of those committees is to help the industry work through those issues and to train the industry. We operate as a chamber of commerce for the hydropower industry.

ADVERTISEMENT fallen behind its leading global competitors, which benefit from significantly higher government support dedicated toward research, innovation, and early commercial activities.

The NHA is working to ensure that funding is available to accelerate research.

One of our members just installed a next-generation current energy project in New York City’s East River to take advantage of the river’s steady currents. There are also projects moving forward in Alaska right now that can provide power in remote areas where there is no grid. There is the potential for widespread use of the technology in decades ahead.

Hydro Leader: What are the NHA’s current top issues?

Malcolm Woolf: Hydropower is an amazing solution for the needs of the 21st-century U.S. grid. We currently provide electricity to roughly 30 million Americans, offering zerocarbon electricity with the flexibility to integrate variable wind and solar onto the grid. Hydropower also offers a wide array of other grid services, such as black start capability, spinning reserves, and voltage support.

However, the current system makes it unnecessarily difficult to realize hydropower’s potential. The licensing and relicensing process is too uncertain and expensive and takes too long. Hydropower is not treated equitably by the federal tax code, state clean-energy standards, or renewable portfolio standards. A big part of our advocacy deals with ensuring that people understand the flexibility that we provide and raising awareness of why hydropower should enjoy a level playing field with wind, solar, and other zero-carbon technologies.

hydropower flexibility appropriately, thereby establishing new, alternative revenue streams for the industry.

Hydro Leader: Who is the main audience for your advocacy activities?

Malcolm Woolf: If we want to get the policy framework to recognize the value that hydropower can provide, we need to communicate in multiple arenas. Congress is one arena— unequitable tax treatment is one example of an issue that falls under Congress’s authority.

The regional transmission organizations and independent system operators regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are another. Market rules for wholesale markets is another topic on which we are increasingly active. Current market rules fail to recognize and compensate hydropower for the services that grid operators ask us to provide.

A third audience consists of the federal and state resource agencies that have a role in licensing hydropower facilities, including the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state clean water programs.

Hydro Leader: In what ways is hydropower not treated equitably today?

Malcolm Woolf: Under the federal production tax credit, hydro only gets half the credits that wind and solar do.

Similarly, existing hydro doesn’t count for most state renewable portfolio standards. Wind and solar get credits for every megawatt of carbon-free energy they generate, but most hydropower does not. It is hard to compete and attract inventors when you’re not getting the same tax incentives or state policy support, but you’re called on whenever the grid needs flexibility. Grid operators assume the hydropower industry will be there, but they are not compensating it for those services. Hydropower is more than just clean energy. The dynamic contributions it provides to grid reliability, economic efficiency, and resilience make it worth more than the sum of its parts. And with low natural gas prices leading to reduction in energy prices over the last decade, the economic and financial landscape has changed for hydropower operators.

With roughly 30 percent of hydro projects up for license renewal in the next decade, we must do everything we can to prevent them from becoming stranded assets. Doing so means creating new market mechanisms that can compensate

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Daniel Simmons, assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy in the U.S. Department of Energy, speaks at Waterpower Week in 2019.

Hydro Leader: Do you also do communications work that is directed to the general public?

Malcolm Woolf: Absolutely! Through social media, digital advertising, and other tools, we work to raise public awareness of the benefits of hydropower. We’ve got a great story to tell, and I think many people take hydropower for granted and haven’t given it much thought in recent decades.

Hydro Leader: What are the main misconceptions that you are trying to overcome in your advocacy and communications work?

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ADVERTISEMENT Malcolm Woolf: First, people should know that hydropower isn’t tapped out. Over the last decade, hydropower has added generation capacity, and significant growth potential remains. One way to add new generation is by powering existing nonpowered dams. Only 3 percent of U.S. dams and impoundments actually produce electricity. The vast majority of dams are designed for other purposes, such as flood control, irrigation, water storage, or recreation. Of the 90,000 dams listed on the official U.S. inventory, only about 2,400 have generation units. By adding hydropower to that existing infrastructure, we could generate a whole lot more power without building new dams or impoundments.

Another misconception we hear is the idea that if we just build more wind and solar installations and maybe some batteries, the grid will somehow balance out and work. From an engineering perspective, that’s not true, or at least it will not be within my lifetime. For the foreseeable future, we need gigawatts of long-duration energy storage and flexibility to balance the variable renewable energy sources. The only long-duration storage technology that’s cost effective right now is pumped storage. I don’t think the hydropower industry gets the credit for that that we deserve.

like Whooshh Innovations’ fish cannon. There is also a lot of exciting innovation to standardize design for nonpower dams and small hydro and marine energy applications, which are working toward full-scale commercialization.

Hydro Leader: What role can hydropower play in the recovery from the economic recession caused by the COVID‑19 pandemic?

Malcolm Woolf: Hydropower played a key role in keeping the lights on during this pandemic. Many hydropower companies invoked emergency sequestration procedures to keep their workforces healthy and on the job and to prevent electricity supply disruptions. At the same time, during the California summer heat wave, hydropower stepped up to provide roughly one-third of all electricity during the critical afternoon/evening ramp.

Hydropower can play an even larger role in helping the nation climb out of the recession. There’s a whole backlog of work that is supposed to happen over the next few years but that has been disrupted by the pandemic. If we made a concerted effort to accelerate the development of clean energy infrastructure, we could build out more carbon-free, flexible energy resources and put people to work at the same time.

To give one specific example, there are three pumpedstorage facilities that are fully permitted in this country. For the first time in 20 years, we’re ready to start construction on any one of those three facilities if we can simply resolve the financial challenges. I am hopeful that we can break ground on those facilities in 2021, although the pandemic has not made it any easier.

Hydro Leader: What are your expectations for the hydropower and energy policies of the new administration?

Attendees at the NHA’s Northeast Regional Meeting tour Boott Hydro’s Lowell Hydroelectric Project in Massachusetts.

Hydro Leader: What are the major technological trends that are shaping the hydropower industry today?

10 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE NHA.

Malcolm Woolf: Many people think of hydropower as a mature technology that is not being influenced by a lot of technological innovation today. They are absolutely mistaken.

From bringing artificial intelligence and machine learning to the powerhouse to environmental enhancements, our industry continues to make technological advancements.

Manufacturers have developed a new generation of turbine that helps address dissolved-oxygen concerns. Other companies have invented fish-friendly turbines that allow fish to continue migrating. There are innovations in fish passage,

Malcolm Woolf: President Biden has announced that addressing climate is one of the four pillars of his administration. I read recently that of the 20 world leaders with whom he spoke upon winning the presidency, he raised climate with 18 of them. He recognizes that climate is a global challenge and that the United States has to be a leader in addressing it.

That bodes well for hydropower, because hydropower is a flexible, zero-carbon technology. Together, hydropower and pumped storage already provide over 100 GW of carbonfree electricity capacity. Upgrading the existing fleet, adding power to existing nonpowered dams, and building closed-loop pumped storage can add almost 50 GW of additional carbonfree generation, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

At the same time, hydropower is a force multiplier because of its ability to integrate variable wind and solar onto the grid.

The Biden administration has the opportunity to embrace hydropower as a critical part of a clean energy grid. To do so, however, requires the modernization of the antiquated and needlessly expensive licensing and relicensing process.

ADVERTISEMENT Hydropower also needs parity in federal tax treatment, which is why the NHA is supporting a new tax credit to accelerate dam safety and environmental upgrades and to encourage the financing of long-duration energy storage. Finally, hydropower should be considered on the same playing field with wind, solar, and other zero-carbon technologies in any climate package or clean energy standard.

Hydro Leader: What events is the NHA holding in 2021, and how is it holding them amid the pandemic?

Malcolm Woolf: This is going to be an exciting year for the hydropower industry, with three major events. First, we’re holding our Waterpower Week in Washington event virtually in April. Refocusing the event on the critical policy challenges facing the industry, we are going to take advantage of being virtual to expand our outreach on Capitol Hill and to connect people to the policymakers of the new administration.

Our second major event is the International Conference on Ocean Energy, also in April 2021. This will be the first time that the United States has ever hosted this international event. While we are forced to host the event on a digital platform, we believe that it will be a great opportunity to showcase state-of-the art marine energy technologies. We are hoping that the event will be able to reach an even broader audience of innovators than the traditional, in-person version because of the elimination of the need for international travel.

Finally, the NHA is launching, for the first time, our own trade show and conference, Clean Currents 2021.

That will be an in-person event in Atlanta in October.

Promoted by North American waterpower for the benefit of the industry, Clean Currents will showcase innovative solutions, thought leadership, and exclusive educational opportunities to ensure that the advantages of hydropower remain relevant long into the future.

We are so excited about all three of those big events.

In addition, the NHA will be hosting five regional events across the country in 2021. The first few may be virtual, but we’re hoping that we’ll be able to come together again in person during the second half of the year.

Hydro Leader: In addition to your office in Washington, do you have a presence elsewhere in the country?

Malcolm Woolf: We’ve got staff working remotely in several places across the country, but our only physical office is in Washington.

Hydro Leader: Is there anything else you would like to add?

people think of as mature and perhaps not as shiny as some of the other clean energy technologies, I am amazed at how much value hydropower provides. As we think about how to achieve the deep decarbonization of the electricity grid, investors are hungry for a zero-carbon technology that is dispatchable, clean, affordable, and reliable. It’s amazing that hydropower checks all those boxes and yet keeps getting overlooked in favor of sexier new technologies. I think there is huge potential for the industry to remind investors and regulators that there is already a proven, established solution in their own backyards, and no new dams or impoundments are needed to take advantage of it. Hydropower is an amazing solution to the needs of the 21st‑century grid.

Seattle City Light accepts the NHA’s Outstanding Steward of America’s Waters Award at Waterpower Week in 2019.

Hydro Leader: What is your vision for the future of the NHA? Malcolm Woolf: The NHA is the voice of the hydropower industry, which is entering an exciting phase. Our association is uniquely positioned to bring the industry together, and I’m excited about the launch of Clean Currents 2021, the first national industry trade show that is being put together by the industry for the industry. We’re also well positioned with a policy message for legislators on Capitol Hill and for regulators at the state and federal levels that hydropower is an essential part of any kind of climate solution. It needs to be part of legislators’ and regulators’ 21st‑century electricity planning. We have an exciting year ahead of us during which we will continue to bring the industry together, provide technical insights to our members, and make our policy voice heard. H Malcolm Woolf is the president and CEO of the National Hydropower Association.

He can be contacted at mwoolf@hydro.org.

Malcolm Woolf: As a relatively new member of the hydropower family, I’m incredibly impressed by the dedication and innovation of the industry. For a technology that many hydroleadermagazine.com

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Dusty Myers: Ensuring Dam Safety at Eagle Creek Renewable Energy

Eagle Creek operates the Narrows Dam on the Yadkin River near Badin, North Carolina.

E

agle Creek Renewable Energy owns and operates 86 hydroelectric projects across the United States, representing about 620 megawatts (MW) of power capacity. A wholly owned subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation (OPG), Eagle Creek recently merged with Cube Hydro Partners, expanding its portfolio and its capacities. In this interview, Dusty Myers, Eagle Creek’s chief dam safety engineer, tells us about the company’s hydro assets, his team’s work, and the regulatory trends that are shaping the dam safety field.

Dusty Myers: My career in dam safety has included stints as a regulator at the state level; at a federal dam owner; and now at a private dam owner, Eagle Creek. I graduated from Mississippi State University in December 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and received a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Jackson State University in 2010. After graduating from Mississippi State,

14 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

PHOTOS COURTESY OF EAGLE CREEK RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

I accepted a position with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), performing surface water quality modeling for impaired water bodies within the state. In November 2007, I transitioned into dam safety by accepting a position with the dam safety division of MDEQ as a staff dam safety engineer. When I started with MDEQ dam safety, the program was responsible for the regulation of approximately 3,800 dams around the state of Mississippi.

As time progressed, I began to get more involved in the dam safety community through the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO), first as a member of the newly formed dam failures and incidents committee in 2010 and then as a southeast regional representative to the ASDSO board of directors in 2011. I served on the ASDSO board of directors from 2011 to 2019 and was president of the association from 2016 to 2017. Throughout my time on the board, I was highly involved in a lot of other ongoing work with the association and served as a member or chair in nine task groups or committees. I continue to be involved with ASDSO as a member of the dam failures and incidents

ADVERTISEMENT committee, the model dam safety program task force, and the advisory committee.

In February 2014, I was selected as the chief of the MDEQ dam safety division. A couple of the major initiatives of the program during my tenure as the chief of the division were the reinventory of dams in the state, which increased the inventory of dams to more than 6,500, and participation in a regional probable maximum precipitation study for Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.

In May 2019, I decided to accept a position as senior specialist in dam safety policy with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Chattanooga, Tennessee. My focus during my tenure at TVA was on dam safety protocols and oversight of the TVA dam safety independent review board.

After a few months at TVA, I received a call about an opening for the chief dam safety engineer position at Eagle Creek Renewable Energy and decided to join Eagle Creek in November 2019. In summer 2020, I relocated to Oak Ridge, North Carolina, so that I would be closer to the Eagle Creek Office in Badin, North Carolina.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about Eagle Creek as a company.

Dusty Myers: Eagle Creek traces its earliest roots to 1978, when the North American Hydro Company began operations in the upper Midwest, acquiring small, nonoperating, or underperforming plants and rehabilitating them to increase power production and reliability, eventually creating a portfolio of well-performing hydroelectric power facilities. Eagle Creek was founded by initial investor Hudson Clean Energy Partners in 2010 to acquire, enhance, and operate the Mongaup River Hydroelectric System in New York. It subsequently acquired North American Hydro in 2012, benefiting from the expertise of the staff there.

Later in 2012, Eagle Creek acquired the development rights to the Ball Mountain and Townshend projects in Vermont and began work to construct those facilities. In 2013, with additional financing from investors led by Power Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada, Eagle Creek acquired 10 small hydroelectric facilities in the Northeast and began work to rehabilitate and enhance them. Since 2013, Eagle Creek has grown through the acquisition of operating, partially operating, and nonoperating facilities and has rehabilitated and improved more than 25 hydroelectric turbines that were previously out of service.

Meanwhile, Cube Hydro was formed in 2014 when Enduring Hydro entered into a partnership with I Squared Capital Infrastructure Fund to pursue the development and acquisition of hydroelectric power plants in North America. Enduring Hydro was originally founded in 2011 by Dr. Kristina M. Johnson, former under secretary of energy for the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2012 and 2013, the Enduring Hydro team successfully completed the permitting and construction of the 6 MW Mahoning Creek Hydroelectric Plant on an existing U.S. Army Corps hydroleadermagazine.com

Eagle Creek owns and operates two facilities on the Kennebec River in Anson and Madison, Maine.

of Engineers dam located in Kittanning, Pennsylvania. This was the first hydroelectric power plant built in Pennsylvania in over 25 years. After 2014, Cube Hydro grew rapidly through acquisitions.

In November 2018, OPG acquired Eagle Creek from Hudson Clean Energy Partners, Power Energy Corporation, and its other previous investors. On October 8, 2019, OPG announced the finalization of the acquisition of Cube Hydro Partners and Helix Partners (collectively, Cube Hydro) from I Squared Capital. The two companies are now merged and operating under the Eagle Creek name.

Eagle Creek continues to seek opportunities to acquire small hydroelectric facilities and improve them to increase clean power production, operate them in harmony with the environment around them, and enhance the value of the company’s hydroelectric portfolio for its investor, employees, host communities, and all stakeholders in the projects.

Hydro Leader: Who does Eagle Creek sell its energy to?

Dusty Myers: We sell our power to regional power markets or specified offtakers through power purchase agreements.

Hydro Leader: What is the average age of your facilities?

Dusty Myers: The projects Eagle Creek owns or operates were constructed from the late 1800s to as late as 2013, with a large number constructed in the early 1900s. Thus, a large number of our facilities are around 100 years old.

Hydro Leader: How will Cube Hydro Partners’ assets benefit Eagle Creek?

Dusty Myers: The merger of Cube Hydro and Eagle Creek, both of which were small hydropower companies, has created a unique opportunity to strengthen internal expertise and improve in-house resources. A couple of specific changes that have been made involve building out a more robust in-house mechanical and electrical March 2021| HYDRO LEADER

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engineering team as well as a more robust dam safety team.

Cube Hydro previously had an in-house engineering team, but Eagle Creek did not. As mentioned, the increased size of the company also allowed us to hire a dam safety team whose sole focus is on dam and public safety.

Hydro Leader: Are you the person who has been in charge of the growth of the dam safety team?

Hydro Leader: What are the primary areas of your responsibility as chief dam safety engineer, and what are the primary safety risks that you work to mitigate?

Dusty Myers: My primary responsibility as chief dam safety engineer is to ensure that our dams are operated and

16 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

Hydro Leader: Are all your dams regulated by FERC? Dusty Myers: All our projects, except one small hydropower plant in Wisconsin, are regulated by FERC. A few of our projects are also at dams owned by state or federal governments, where our dam safety responsibilities are minimal.

Hydro Leader: Does your role encompass the issue of public safety around dams?

Dusty Myers: Yes. Public safety is an integral part of the Eagle Creek dam safety program.

Hydro Leader: Given that Eagle Creek is owned by OPG, do you follow the public safety guidelines that OPG has developed? hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF EAGLE CREEK RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Dusty Myers: The short answer is yes. I was hired by Eagle Creek in November 2019, shortly after OPG acquired Cube Hydro. From November 2019 until mid2020, my team was focused on the 65 projects that were in the legacy Eagle Creek portfolio. The legacy Cube dam safety program continued to be managed by other existing staff until mid-2020, when all dam and public safety responsibilities were integrated under one team. In September 2020, we filed a revised Owners Dam Safety Program with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), fully integrating the dam and public safety programs of the two legacy companies.

maintained in a safe and reliable manner in order to protect downstream lives and property. The risk-mitigating projects that we are generally focused on deal with the typical things you would expect to see at older hydropower projects, such as deteriorated concrete, painting old gates, and upgrading mechanical and electrical systems.

We also have a number of ongoing engineering studies at our projects to reevaluate stability and spillway capacity.

Some of these studies have resulted in modifications to our projects but most only result in an improved understanding of our dams.

ADVERTISEMENT Hydro Leader: Given that some of the dams you own and operate are 100 years old or older, do they require major rehabilitation?

Dusty Myers: A number of significant modifications, including spillway upgrades and modifications and anchor installations, were made at some of our projects in the 1980s, but most work since that time has been primarily maintenance and relatively minor capital investments.

However, as dam safety regulations and guidelines continue to evolve and older analyses, such as inflow design flood analysis and stability analysis, continue to be reevaluated, some of our projects may require rehabilitation or more significant upgrades in the future.

Hydro Leader: Are there any other major trends in dam safety that are affecting Eagle Creek?

Dusty Myers: One thing we are tracking closely is the proposed FERC guideline revisions that were published in 2020. These proposed revisions would significantly alter the requirements for the FERC part 12D inspections that are required at our high- and significant-hazard projects.

The proposed revisions will incorporate risk analysis in the part 12 process, and as such, we have decided to proactively begin incorporating risk discussions in our part 12 potential failure modes analysis process to better prepare ourselves for this change.

Hydro Leader: What is your vision for the future of the Eagle Creek dam safety program?

The 6,750-kilowatt Swinging Bridge facility is one of three generating facilities that make up the Mongaup River System.

Dusty Myers: Our team is slowly transitioning and making improvements to our public safety program to better align our program with OPG’s, while still meeting the requirements of the FERC guidelines. Recently, OPG requested that we begin using a classification system it developed for categorizing dam and public safety incidents so that any issues that arise can be reported up consistently to the OPG board. As such, we developed our own policies and procedures to mirror these guidelines as much as possible. hydroleadermagazine.com

Dusty Myers: Our dam safety team and the company as a whole are focused on continuous improvement. For the dam safety program, we are using the maturity matrices developed by the Centre for Energy Advancement through Technological Innovation and its member dam owners. The matrices are a tool that breaks dam safety down into 12 elements (governance, surveillance and monitoring, public safety, flow control equipment, etc.).

Through our internal assessments, we identify actions that we can take to improve the dam safety program each year. Our end goal is to have a strong dam safety program that is well aligned with the industry and comparable to those of hydropower owners that have been in the business much longer. H

Dusty Myers is the chief dam safety engineer at Eagle Creek Renewable Energy. He can be contacted at dusty.myers@eaglecreekre.com.

March 2021| HYDRO LEADER

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Annick Bigras on Hydro-Québec’s Commitment to Dam Safety

Spillway of the Robert-Bourassa Generating Station, located on the La Grande River, which forms part of the James Bay Project.

H

ydro-Québec is the publicly owned hydropower company that provides 99 percent of the electricity in the province of Québec. The province’s long history of hydropower, coupled with the policies that were put into place after the Saguenay Flood of 1996, have resulted in Hydro‑Québec’s excellent dam safety program. In this interview, Hydro-Québec Director of Dams and Infrastructure Expertise Annick Bigras tells Hydro Leader about her organization and its commitment to dam safety.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

20 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

Annick Bigras: Hydro-Québec is wholly owned by the government of Québec. It was the result of the nationalization of hydroelectricity in 1944 and 1963. Today, Hydro-Québec has about 20,000 employees and is made up of four divisions: Hydro-Québec Production, which generates electricity; HydroQuébec TransÉnergie, which transmits high-voltage electricity; Hydro-Québec Distribution, which distributes energy for consumer use; and Hydro-Québec Équipement, which designs and builds dams, generating stations, and transmission lines.

We have 62 generating stations with a total installed capacity of 37,000 megawatts. We own 668 dams and 27 reservoirs.

Hydro Leader: Is all your infrastructure located in the province of Québec?

Annick Bigras: Yes. We operate only in Québec. We buy some electricity from Churchill Falls Generating Station, but most of our generation occurs in Québec.

Hydro Leader: Does the fact that Hydro-Québec resulted from the nationalization of hydropower imply that your company is the only hydroelectric company in the province? hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HYDRO-QUÉBEC.

Annick Bigras: I have a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in geotechnics, which I earned in a collaboration with Hydro-Québec. Afterward, I began working on a Hydro-Québec construction site, where a 171‑meter rockfill dam was being built. I’ve been with Hydro-Québec for 24 years. I worked in the company’s design and construction division for 13 years before moving to the power generation division in 2010. I was in charge of the dams expertise department and managed a group of 40 engineers in hydrology, hydraulics, geotechnics and structural analysis. Last year, I became the director of dams and infrastructure expertise.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about Hydro-Québec.

ADVERTISEMENT Annick Bigras: No, there are other small producers, but we are the only one that sells to consumers. We also buy power from small utilities when they have more electricity than they need.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about the importance of dam safety for your company.

Annick Bigras: The Saguenay Flood of 1996, which occurred in Québec, was a 1‑in-10,000‑year event. HydroQuébec didn’t suffer any dam failures, but other owners did.

After the Saguenay Flood, a government study group made improvements to Québec’s Dam Safety Act. There’s a big difference between the regulation of dam safety in Québec and in the rest of Canada. The province has had dam safety legislation for many years, and Hydro-Québec’s dam safety program was already in place before the Dam Safety Act came into effect.

Hydro-Québec has extensive experience in building dams as well as solid experience in their operation and maintenance. The elaborate requirements of our dam safety program cover the inspection and maintenance of dams and all instrumentation used for monitoring them.

When a problem occurs, there are multiple measures to ensure safety. We have more than 100 engineers dedicated to dam safety and about 100 technicians who inspect our dams.

The Beauharnois Generating Station, located on the St. Lawrence River, just downstream of Montréal, is Québec's fifth-largest power station.

Hydro Leader: How does Hydro-Québec’s dam safety program differ from dam safety programs in the United States or elsewhere?

Annick Bigras: The big difference stems from the fact that we experienced an event like the Saguenay Flood and adjusted our dam safety protocols accordingly. The Saguenay Flood influenced dam safety policies in Québec. You learn a lot from such an event, and afterward, you enact policies to ensure people’s safety. Also, we have been building dams for a long time in this province and have several hundred large dams. This background helps explain where we are today.

Hydro Leader: What role does maintenance and inspection play in your dam safety program?

Construction on the Romaine-4 Generating Station on the Romaine River, north of the municipality of Havre-Saint-Pierre, which will be commissioned in 2022.

Annick Bigras: We have carefully planned maintenance and inspection timelines. Concrete dams have an average lifespan of 70 years, and earth-filled dams can last more than 100 years—very long lifespans. We work throughout the entire lifespans of our structures to ensure they are safe and last the number of years they were built for.

well maintained. Every dam is carefully analyzed on an individual basis. We consider its various uses—hydropower, recreation, etc.—during rehabilitation to ensure our dams stay safe for everyone.

Given that many of our dams were built 70–100 years ago, we have several rehabilitation projects planned in the coming years.

Hydro Leader: When a particular structure reaches the end of its design life, do you rebuild it or rehabilitate it?

Hydro Leader: Do Hydro-Québec and the province of Québec also get ideas from other Canadian provinces?

Annick Bigras: We do a lot of rehabilitation work. We rarely deconstruct to reconstruct because our structures are

Annick Bigras: Hydro-Québec has long been committed to collaborating with other provinces on innovation. We

hydroleadermagazine.com

March 2021| HYDRO LEADER

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The Daniel Johnson Dam, located on the Manicouagan River.

conduct research on dam safety, and we’re also active in several organizations, including the Canadian Dam Association (CDA), the International Commission on Large Dams, and the Centre for Energy Advancement through Technological Innovation (CEATI). We have a long tradition of involvement in different scientific committees.

We are always looking at what others are doing elsewhere and learning from that, but we also produce several technical publications so we can share our work.

major undertaking in mid-northern Québec that provided significant economic benefits for the province. Many of our grandparents were involved in the construction of these huge projects. James Bay also brought us closer to the First Nations, and our relationship has improved significantly since then. When we develop a new project in Québec, environmental concerns are addressed first.

We are in constant contact with the First Nations, and the environment is one of our top priorities.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about CEATI.

Hydro Leader: Is there anything else you wanted to discuss that we haven’t touched on yet?

Annick Bigras: CEATI is an organization whose members are utilities from around the world, including from North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It’s divided into a number of interest groups. I’m actually the cochair of the dam safety interest group, which is made up of 70 utilities.

CEATI is a user-driven organization committed to providing technology solutions to its electrical utility participants. By sharing and developing practical and applicable knowledge, members collaborate and act jointly to advance the industry.

Annick Bigras: We’re really proud of our hydroelectricity.

More than 99 percent of the electricity produced in Québec is renewable, because it comes from hydropower.

The positive perception of hydropower in Québec dates back to the James Bay Project of the 1970s, which was a

22 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

Annick Bigras is the director of dams and infrastructure expertise at Hydro-Québec. For more on Hydro-Québec, visit hydroquebec.com.

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HYDRO-QUÉBEC.

Hydro Leader: What is the public perception of hydropower in Québec and in Canada generally?

Annick Bigras: We’re all about innovation and sharing knowledge in the dam industry. It’s important that we share knowledge, because our dams must be state of the art. We need to improve our knowledge of the physics of our old dams so we can make our new dams even better. There have been great advances in the fundamental science behind the physics of our dams. We need to improve on this knowledge in geotechnics, hydraulics, and structure. Safe dams are good for the industry. Every company must be profitable, but at the end of the day, our dams need to be safe. H

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Jarrod Malenchak of Manitoba Hydro on Water Resources and Dam Safety

The Pointe du Bois Generating Station in Manitoba.

M

anitoba Hydro is the sole energy provider for the Canadian province of Manitoba. The provincially owned corporation produces the majority of its energy with its 15 hydropower facilities and has a current total capacity of 5,600 megawatts (MW). In this interview, Jarrod Malenchak, a section head within Manitoba Hydro’s water resources engineering department, tells Hydro Leader about his work at the company and about his role as chair of the Canadian Dam Association's (CDA) dam safety committee (DSC).

doctorate in the specialized topic of river ice engineering.

The project was directly sponsored by Manitoba Hydro’s research and development program. By the time I obtained my PhD in 2012, I had already been working part time for Manitoba Hydro for almost 5 years. Not long after that, I took on a role as a section head in water resources engineering and have been in that role ever since.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Jarrod Malenchak: The electric power industry has a history of over 100 years in Manitoba. Manitoba Hydro as we know it today was formed in 1961 through the merger of the Manitoba Power Commission and the Manitoba Hydroelectric Board. In 1999, Manitoba Hydro purchased Centric Gas, the main natural gas supplier in the province, from West Coast Energy, Inc. In 2002, Manitoba Hydro purchased Winnipeg Hydro, which was mainly focused on supplying electric power to the city of Winnipeg. After those two purchases, Manitoba Hydro became the sole energy provider in the province. We supply both electric power and natural gas to all customers in the province.

Our infrastructure comprises 15 hydroelectric facilities spread over five different rivers—the Burntwood, Laurie,

24 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF MANITOBA HYDRO.

Jarrod Malenchak: I am a section head within the water resources engineering department at Manitoba Hydro. My section provides the river ice and environmental engineering expertise for the company and leads the water resources engineering support for the Keeyask Generation Project in northern Manitoba, which is in the final stages of construction. I grew up in rural Manitoba, in the Interlake Region, and studied civil engineering at the University of Manitoba. During my undergrad years, I got interested in water resources research. By the time I graduated in 2004, I had plans for graduate school, which eventually led to a

Hydro Leader: Tell us about Manitoba Hydro.

ADVERTISEMENT Nelson, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg Rivers. We also have two thermal plants, which are rarely used and serve primarily as backup, and 4 diesel generating stations, which are located in remote areas of the province. We have 5,600 MW of installed electricity generation capacity.

This will be increased by 695 MW with the addition of the Keeyask Generation Project, which is coming online this year. Our corporation is governed by the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board, which is appointed by our lone shareholder, the provincial government of Manitoba. That makes us a crown corporation. We currently employ about 5,400 people.

Hydro Leader: What is a crown corporation?

Jarrod Malenchak: In Canada, a crown corporation is a corporation that is wholly owned by the crown, represented by the federal or provincial government. The fact that our sole shareholder is the Province of Manitoba means we are a crown corporation. However, Manitoba Hydro is not a government organization, and it doesn’t function like a typical government department. The governance of the corporation is through the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board, which is appointed by the provincial government. All our assets and liabilities are backed by the province.

Hydro Leader: How many dams does Manitoba Hydro own?

Jarrod Malenchak: Manitoba Hydro has over 100 dam structures within its 15 hydroelectric facilities. These facilities generate about 5,600 MW, which, for context, is about one-sixth of the hydroelectric generating capacity of Hydro-Québec.

Hydro Leader: Is that because Québec has a higher population?

Jarrod Malenchak: Yes, one of the factors that drives the capacity requirements in both provinces is the population base, and Québec does have roughly six times the population of Manitoba. Both provinces have abundant water supplies, and therefore the vast majority of their energy supply comes from hydroelectricity. Both provinces are also connected to U.S. markets through specific corridors based on their geographic location. Hydro-Québec, given its relationship to the northeastern part of the United States, is able to export excess capacity to that area.

Manitoba Hydro has about 590,000 electricity customers and 290,000 natural gas customers, and we are the only energy provider for all of Manitoba. Ninety-eight percent of the energy we supply is generated by hydropower, and we have interconnections to our Canadian neighbors and to the United States, which allow us to import energy during low-water-supply years and to generate additional revenue through export sales facilitated by dependable and opportunity contracts. hydroleadermagazine.com

Hydro Leader: Does Manitoba Hydro have any concerns about water supply or drought?

Jarrod Malenchak: As with any hydroelectric utility, the lifeblood of our system is the water supply. In our case, the northern part of Manitoba is at the downstream end of a 1.1‑million-squarekilometer (424,712-square-mile) basin that feeds the Nelson River outlet to Hudson Bay. It collects water from a region near the Great Lakes in the southeast; from the headwaters of the Red River, close to the headwaters of the Mississippi River, to the south; and from regions ranging all the way to the Rocky Mountains in the west. When you add in the Churchill River diversion, the drainage area increases to 1.4 million square kilometers (540,543 square miles). Because the drainage area is so large, the likelihood of the entire area being in drought or flood at one time is quite low. As luck would have it, we have enjoyed healthy water supplies in recent years and have generally been in a wet cycle for the last 15–16 years. Of course, it is uncertain how long this cycle will continue. A growing number of climate models are predicting an overall increase in water supply inputs to areas like Manitoba and Québec, where snowmelt is an important component of the overall water supply, but how it all balances out with the other factors influencing the ultimate amount of water available is still fairly uncertain.

Hydro Leader: Is there an overlap between your natural gas and electric customers?

Jarrod Malenchak: Yes, and I myself am an example.

Where natural gas is available, it is by far the more economical way to heat your home. That is an important part of our system, especially in urban areas and the larger rural areas that have natural gas service. The reality is that if all of Manitoba wanted to switch to purely electrical energy, we would not have the capacity to satisfy the demand. In Manitoba, the heating load in winter is quite high, so we need natural gas supply to meet overall energy requirements.

Hydro Leader: Is Manitoba Hydro focused exclusively on the province, or does it look beyond its provincial and national borders?

Jarrod Malenchak: Manitoba Hydro’s goal is to provide safe, reliable energy to Manitobans in the most cost-effective way possible. One of those ways is to sell or export excess capacity when we have it. Generally speaking, if it makes business sense to export excess energy to subsidize Manitoba rate payers, then we pursue the opportunity. But the primary goal is always in the best interests of Manitobans.

Hydro Leader: Tell us about your role as chair of the CDA’s DSC. Jarrod Malenchak: The DSC is the technical committee that is primarily responsible for the stewardship of the March 2021| HYDRO LEADER

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CDA’s dam safety guidelines and the technical bulletins that go along with them. The committee’s responsibilities include reviewing and revising the guidelines, assuring the quality of technical material, creating new guidelines when needed, and engaging in general communication about the guidelines. Our committee reports to the CDA board of directors, which governs and oversees the association. We assist the board in developing technical position statements and communications related to dam safety and recommend policies and actions for it to consider.

We accomplish a lot of our work through a working group model. When the DSC identifies a need or a technical product that we’d like to produce, we usually form a working group that engages the broader CDA membership and generally functions on its own under the oversight of the DSC. The DSC currently has seven active working groups. One is a dams 101 working group; the other six focus on dam safety reviews, emergency management, public safety, design and construction issues, dam safety program management, and functions and failure modes.

in-kind contributions of its members and their employers, and volunteers are critical to the overall success of the organization. My level of personal interest in the DSC and in the CDA helps to facilitate those contributions.

Hydro Leader: How many employees does CDA have?

Jarrod Malenchak: The organization has grown to be big enough to have some core management functions, though until recently those paid functions were rather small.

Previously, there were approximately two nearly full-time employees, a number of part-time coordinators, and other contributors who helped the committees get their work done and helped run the association. A new association management company has come online as of January 1, 2021, and will provide more resources to support the work that the CDA has in its strategic plan. This additional support reflects how the CDA has grown and the larger initiatives that are now in front of it.

Hydro Leader: Do you have a working group that focuses on security?

Jarrod Malenchak: There is no working group that focuses specifically on this topic at the present time. It is a topic that has come up in other infrastructure-related organizations around the world, though not as much at the CDA. The CDA does provide some guidance on how to respond to hazards or events.

Hydro Leader: Does the DSC also focus on public safety around dams?

Jarrod Malenchak: Yes. Public safety is an area of focus for the CDA and for all dam owners in Canada. We must protect the public from the operation and the existence of our structures. There has been an active working group focusing on public safety issues for over 10 years. The guidelines and technical bulletins that have been developed specifically for public safety topics have been presented in workshops and shared and adopted in a number of jurisdictions worldwide.

Hydro Leader: Are your contributions to the work of the CDA considered a core part of your job at Manitoba Hydro?

26 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

Hydro Leader: How long has the CDA existed?

Jarrod Malenchak: There used to be two dam-related associations in Canada, the Canadian Dam Safety Association and the Canadian National Committee on Large Dams. They merged into the CDA in 1997 to better represent the entire dam community in Canada and to serve the industry more effectively.

Hydro Leader: How would you compare Canadian companies’ commitment to dam safety to that of companies abroad? hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MANITOBA HYDRO.

Jarrod Malenchak: There are a number of employees at Manitoba Hydro who contribute to and support the CDA on an in-kind or volunteer basis nearly every day. My position’s functional role in the company is not necessarily defined that way, however. My involvement with the CDA is based on my background, technical experience, and professional interests. The CDA does rely on the many

Construction on the Keeyask Generating Station, which will come online in 2021.

ADVERTISEMENT Jarrod Malenchak: I have a lot of confidence in Canada’s commitment to and concern with dam safety. If we were to compare ourselves with our neighbors in the United States, one of the biggest differences is the regulatory environment as it relates to dam safety. The regulatory responsibilities in Canada are allocated to the provinces, so choices in how dam safety is regulated or not regulated across the country are made by the provinces.

As expected, those regulations vary from province to province. Nevertheless, the CDA provides a means for the Canadian dam industry to come together, collaborate, share information, and demonstrate its commitment to dam safety practices.

Hydro Leader: What is the public opinion on hydropower in Manitoba?

Jarrod Malenchak: Generally speaking, a lot of Canadians view hydropower as a clean, renewable, homegrown energy source that’s reliable and cost effective. It’s also fast becoming a way for many jurisdictions to meet the greenhouse gas reduction targets that are being implemented around the world.

One challenge associated with hydropower development is that while it benefits society as a whole because it is a clean, renewable energy supply, it typically does have some adverse effects that are borne primarily by a subset of the population.

Through modern planning and design practices, we are getting better at identifying those effects, talking about them, and mitigating them to the extent that we are able.

One part of my job for the last number of years is that I am the water resources subject-matter lead for the design and construction of the Keeyask Generation Project. I have worked on the project through the planning and regulatory phases, during which much of the discussion related to environmental impacts and mitigation strategies. This carried through to the final design and construction phases of the project, which are nearly complete now.

Hydro Leader: Do these discussions around environmental issues include fish passage?

Jarrod Malenchak: Fish passage at dams in general is an important topic in Canada, especially when it comes to migratory species like salmon, which need to migrate to a certain area in order to complete their life cycles. We don’t have those types of species in Manitoba, but we do have other important species, including the lake sturgeon.

Reversing the recent decline of the lake sturgeon population is of great interest to Manitoba Hydro, its stakeholders, the public, and regulators. The lake sturgeon does not have a strong migratory function, so much of the conversation has been about finding ways to facilitate its life function outside the immediate dam area, rather than providing passage around existing dam facilities. hydroleadermagazine.com

Hydro Leader: Has Manitoba Hydro decommissioned any dams?

Jarrod Malenchak: To date, we have not decommissioned any dams in Manitoba, nor are any decommissions on the radar. Some of our facilities are more than 100 years old, and they’ve undergone some significant rehabilitation and maintenance, but no facility has required full replacement or decommissioning to date.

Hydro Leader: What is your outlook on the future?

Jarrod Malenchak: One thing that may be of interest is that the CDA is currently embarking on a fairly thorough review of its dam safety guidelines, something that has not been done in a major way since 2007. While the guidelines as they currently stand still represent industry good practice in Canada, there are emerging topics like operational safety and systems-based dam safety approaches that need greater emphasis. A lot of our engineering design criteria are based on extreme criteria for floods and earthquakes. Of course, you want longlasting, critical structures like dams to be engineered to withstand those extreme events, but such events only rarely contribute to dam failures or large dam incidents because, by definition, they happen so infrequently— sometimes with an exceedance probability of once every 10,000 years, for instance. It is becoming clear that series of more frequent events, aligning in an unusual way, more often contribute to the dam incidents that we see. These types of safety management issues do not represent a new way of thinking, but they are emerging topics in the dam safety world and can influence the choice of where to invest safety dollars.

Our future guidelines should also include a framework to help answer an important question that often comes up when we start talking about risk management and dam safety: How safe is safe enough? This gets to the idea of determining acceptable risk criteria, recognizing that, for a whole host of reasons, there won’t be a one-size-fits-all criterion for all jurisdictions and regulatory environments across Canada or the world. It has also become quite clear that the answer to this complex question won’t be found solely in engineering-based criteria, which are what are often used throughout the present standards-based guidelines. The DSC is presently leading the effort to develop this framework. H

Jarrod Malenchak is a section head in the water resources engineering department at Manitoba Hydro. He can be contacted at jmalenchak@hydro.mb.ca.

March 2021| HYDRO LEADER

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Paul Meeks: Signing Up for Dam Safety

Centered, difficult to read, dull in color, and nonreflective, the sign on the left is an example of what not to do. Worthington's signs are standardized, bold, reflective, left aligned, and to the point.

D

ams and reservoirs provide not only clean, renewable hydropower, but also opportunities for public recreation.

However, the operation of these facilities can also create hazards for boaters, fishermen, and swimmers upstream and downstream of the powerhouse and dam. Proper signage can alert the public to safety hazards so that they avoid dangerous situations. Today, settled practice for signage is inconsistent or nonexistent in the United States. Paul Meeks of Worthington Products, Inc., recognized a need to address this issue and started taking action. Mr. Meeks tells Hydro Leader about Worthington’s efforts to integrate best practices from the United States and Canada to develop signs suited to dam safety issues and advise dam owners and utilities on how to properly deploy signs and protect the public.

Hydro Leader: Please introduce yourself and Worthington Products as a company.

Paul Meeks: I started Worthington in 2001 as a manufacturer of waterway barriers for debris control. We continue to offer debris barriers, but we have grown to also offer public safety floating barriers, fish guidance systems, and ice booms. After recognizing a need for quality signage around dams, we created a signage division in late 2019.

Paul Meeks: Too many Americans were dying at our nation’s dams, less from negligence than from being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not knowing what the dangers were.

At the same time, in Canada, which has signage guidelines as part of the Canadian Dam Association’s (CDA) Guidelines

30 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WORTHINGTON PRODUCTS.

Hydro Leader: What was the need that you saw that led you to start producing dam safety signs?

for Public Safety Around Dams, there were maybe one or two deaths per year. One dam in Tennessee had two deaths at the spillway in 2020 alone.

During our visits to hydro plants across America, we Follow this QR code to see had a chance to look at the Worthington's video, signage that they had, and “Your Dam Signs Stink!” quite frankly, the signs that we saw stunk. We even created a video titled “Your Dam Signs Stink!” to drive home the point to dam owners. They were every different size and color, had varying fonts and text alignments, and displayed no consistency in messaging. They looked as if the graphics art department had made the signs just so that they looked appealing. There was zero consistency among signs at individual power plants belonging to the same company, to say nothing of consistency across the nation. We saw a need for proper signage standards that would ensure that if you’re boating at a Duke Energy facility in North Carolina and then take your boat to a Georgia Power facility in Georgia, you would see some consistency in signs.

We looked at the sign standards of agencies like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and others, but they were outdated and, in our view, not very effective. We realized that the government was interested in this. FEMA and FERC were working on updated sign standards, but the wheels of government do not typically move at a fast pace, and I did not think we should wait.

Worthington took the best practices from the United States and North America and decided to start offering proper

ADVERTISEMENT signage based on principles that we hope may end up Regrettably, she lost her husband on that day. Having proper resembling the eventual standard in the United States. signage to alert people to the dangers of dams can save the lives Here is why I was not willing to wait for new sign I asked the dam engineers and owners about. guidance at dams and why this issue is so important to Worthington Products: On February 20, 2020, at Pickwick Hydro Leader: What are some of the standards and best Dam in Hardin County, Tennessee, a 45‑year-old father, practices that you compiled, and what standards did you use his 15‑year-old son, and his son’s 15‑year-old friend were to build your own signs? participating in a local high school fishing tournament on the reservoir above the hydroelectric dam. At the time, Paul Meeks: Here’s what we learned very early on. The the dam was spilling water. The motor on their boat died. standards already existed; they just needed someone There were open floodgates, ineffective signage, and no to consolidate them into a meaningful format directly boat barriers that we are aware of. The boat went through addressed to dam owners. Take, for example, the U.S. Army the spillgate. All three perished. But the damage goes Corps of Engineers’ EP 310 sign standard. It is a work beyond three lost lives. Think about all the family members of art. However, much of it doesn’t apply to hydropower and other people forever affected by this horrible—and plants, so it is a cumbersome read. Many of the sign preventable—incident. It is not an isolated event. standards in the CDA’s Guidelines for Public Safety Around When I talk to engineers and dam owners, I pose this Dams also derive from EP 310. In turn, both EP 310 and question: “If it were in your power to save 40 lives, would the CDA Guidelines ultimately point back to the American you do something about it?” The obvious answer is yes.

National Standards Institute (ANSI) sign standard Z535.2.

Then I ask, “What if you Like EP 310, ANSI Z535.2 is could save 20 lives, 8 lives, a long document. How long? or just 1 life?” The question Try 80–120 pages long. Folks that follows is, “How can quickly get lost in it. What a dam safety engineer or we did was take the ANSI power plant superintendent standards and consolidate save lives?” I believe a good what mattered to dam owners. starting point for operators We have to thank the good is to install proper signage folks at Ontario Power to alert the boating public to Generation (OPG), who really the dangers of these dams. gave of their time to help us Do you think that you understand these standards. could walk up to the front We see the craziest signs door of a coal-fired, gasat dams. Sometimes the legal powered, or nuclear power folks are given free rein, and the plant? You couldn’t, because result is a novel on a billboard.

This Worthington-manufactured sign warns members of the public there are fences and security Signs don’t need a ton of words. about danger at the Rundle Plant near Banff, Alberta, Canada. all around those facilities. Yet What they need is to be easily if you’re on the water, you can and quickly understood. So drive your boat right up to the intake of a hydroelectric power here is the basic premise behind our signs: plant or park your boat directly in front of its spillgates. You First, the sign should have a signal word which is either can even go below the dam and park your boat in its discharge DANGER or WARNING. Ninety percent of your signs are canal or below the spillgates. People don’t go out to these going to use the word DANGER. places to die, but if the motors on their boats fail or they aren’t Second, the message below the word DANGER should aware of the dangers, there is nothing to prevent them from tell you what the danger is. Keep the message simple. Use going through or getting swamped. wording like dam ahead or dam upstream.

I believe signage—proper signage—is a good starting point.

Last, now that you’ve told the people what the danger Two weeks ago, a woman called our office. Although her story is, you need to tell them what action you expect of them. was upsetting to hear, it reinforced our conviction that what Here, it is important to keep the message panel simple. we are trying to do with signs is the right thing to do. She and Action messages like keep out or keep away serve the purpose. her husband were kayaking on a small river near Zanesville, Keeping the message text simple and to the point allows the Ohio, in June 2019 and were approaching a low-head dam. A text height to be maximized for greatest upstream visibility. low-head dam looks like an infinity pool; you can’t tell there’s Now that we’ve established the message, the next a dam there until you’re on it. She pulled off the river, but he question is how to design and format the sign. If it’s a was ahead of her and didn’t notice it. In her words, by the time danger sign, it should be on a sufficiently large panel, he saw the tiny sign on the dam, he was already going over it. typically made of aluminum; it should be on retroreflective hydroleadermagazine.com

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Paul Meeks with Worthington signs and safety equipment.

sheeting; and it should be red with white lettering, so that it’s visible in low-light conditions. The lettering should be left aligned, not centered—it takes 14 percent longer to read a sign that is centered than a sign that is left aligned.

When OPG was doing its research on sign wording, it actually conducted focus-group studies to determine what words and messages worked with the general public. I think the work by OPG was excellent and the message text is spot on. However, I also believe more work is needed in this area and that focus group studies should be conducted in the United States to make sure that the message resonates with someone in Alabama as much as it does with someone in Montana.

Hydro Leader: In addition to some standards and guidelines from agencies like the Army Corps, are there existing legal requirements for dam owners to have signs?

32 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

Hydro Leader: What can you tell us about the overall signage program that a dam should have?

Paul Meeks: There should be multiple signs, but not overkill. Sign programs are costly to initiate and costly to maintain. Dam owners should have land-facing and water-facing signs. Let’s start with water-facing signs.

These signs should be placed above the danger zones, not within them. The danger zone is the area near the dam itself where the water velocities become much higher or turbulent and a boater’s ability to get to shoreline is reduced. The risk of injury or death increases significantly in the danger zone, and you don’t want people going into them. You want them to be able to turn left or right or to turn back upstream before the flows get too high.

The message text on the sign should be visible from the middle of the reservoir or river. Some of these signs can get large. At Conowingo Dam in Maryland, there’s a sign larger than a highway billboard. Some of the Army Corps signs on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers are massive.

Signs of that size can get hugely expensive, so we need to be cognizant of that and bring some common sense into the signage program. hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WORTHINGTON PRODUCTS.

Paul Meeks: I am not aware of any legal requirements, but there are some existing guidelines. For instance, FERC licensees file a public safety plan that includes signage.

However, FERC will not dictate the type of signage, where it is to be placed, its size, or anything else. Some states, namely Indiana and Pennsylvania, have in the past 15 months passed legislation requiring signage at low-head dams.

After many incidents, the survivors file lawsuits against the dam owner or utility, and even when the owner is not found

liable, the cost of defending themselves is significant. At the end, the utility will likely enact a safety program anyway. Why do people have to die before we do what is right?

ADVERTISEMENT The same principles apply downstream of the dam. You still have a danger zone—a lot of the deaths we see happen downstream of dams. I read an article this morning about an incident in July 2019 at Pickwick Dam. A man was fishing in a 16‑foot aluminum boat, the motor probably died, and the boat was drawn into the boiling water coming out of a spillgate. The boat went under, and this gentleman lost his life. This same dam had a similar event in 2018 and two in 2020. Signs help make people aware of those dangers so that they keep themselves out of harm’s way.

Many owners mount signs directly above the spillgates.

I am not a fan of this placement location, but the signs can be effective provided the lettering is tall enough that people can see it from 300 feet away or more. That may require a large sign.

For shoreline signs, you want to look for areas where the public has access. That involves doing a public safety audit of your property. The simplest aspect of it is finding points of access by walking the banks or any fence lines to find areas where people are coming in, where they’re setting up fires, or where you see beer cans laying on the shore.

Those are areas where you might want to have smaller signs—12 by 18 inches or 20 by 30 inches, for instance— that would inform people on foot of the dangers in the area they’re heading toward.

Lastly, if you have boat launches above any of these dams, it is helpful to put informational signs there.

Hydro Leader: How should these signs be best combined with other safety tools, such as barriers?

Paul Meeks: That comes down to conducting a public safety audit. Is the risk high that someone is going to get injured or die? If it is, then you certainly want to augment your signs with barriers that are actually going to keep people out, such as continuous boom or buoy lines. Downstream of the dam, you might want to have audible devices or sirens to alert people when you’re going to be opening spillgates or starting up hydro units. If you have sirens, you also want to have a smaller attachment underneath your primary downstream danger sign that tells the people what the siren means.

Hydro Leader: Worthington also produces floating signs.

How should those be used?

Paul Meeks: A floating sign is good if you have a large reservoir. If your reservoir is 2,000 feet or more across, you would have to use exceptionally large signs at each end of the reservoir for them to be easily visible, and that would be costly. In that case, you may want to put special floats with signs mounted on them in your reservoir, maybe one every 300 feet. You must be careful with floating signs, because a big, flat sign can act as a sail. You have to make sure that the flotation is sufficient to prevent the sign from flipping over during high winds or wave action. hydroleadermagazine.com

Hydro Leader: What are some of the biggest mistakes that dam owners make with their signs?

Paul Meeks: Really, the biggest mistake we see is lack of consistency. There are a lot of signs made by people with good intentions but who approach sign design more from an artistic point of view than a utility point of view. We see signs with fun fonts, centered text, and lots of verbiage. I saw a sign in Pennsylvania that listed you everything you could not do. After I read through this diatribe, which was obviously written by an attorney, I finally realized that all they were trying to tell people was, “Hey, there is a dangerous dam downstream, and you need to keep away.” If you try to be specific and say no fishing, a lawyer is going to split hairs and say, “Well, that means you can go swimming.”

Forget about covering every possibility. Just get to the basics.

What do you want the people to do? If you want them to keep out, say keep out.

Hydro Leader: Do you support the regulation of dam signage?

Paul Meeks: I’m not a fan of government regulation. We have enough regulations on the books. I would like to see more dam owners recognizing the importance of public safety around dams by taking concrete actions to safeguard the members of the public who recreate in, fish in, and enjoy the great water resources we have in this country. I look forward to agencies like FERC and FEMA updating their guidance for dam owners in areas like signage and warning devices. When I visit lakes in New Brunswick, Canada, and then travel to a lake across the country in British Columbia, I can guarantee you with 95 percent confidence that the signs I see on the east coast of Canada will be nearly or completely identical to the signs on the west coast. If it’s a danger sign, it’s going to be red with white lettering, it is going to be retroreflective, and it’s going to have the same simple message. This is intentional. The results are that Canada has a dramatically lower rate of incidents and fatalities at dams than the United States. I would like to see those same results in the United States, and I am using my company’s reach to get that message out.

Hydro Leader: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Paul Meeks: Dams are great resources. Let’s let people recreate around these facilities in a way that is safe for them and for the dam owners by helping them recognize what the dangers are. Signage is a great, easy way to do that. H Paul Meeks is the president and CEO of Worthington Products. He can be contacted at pmeeks@tuffboom.com or (330) 452‑7400.

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Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District’s New Boom Fish Guidance System

T

he Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District (SVID) provides irrigation water to 94,000 acres growing row crops, hops, grapes, and tree fruit in central Washington. As with many central Washington dams, SVID’s Sunnyside Dam poses challenges for juvenile fish survival. To address this problem, SVID is installing a new boom fish guidance system. In this interview, SVID General Manager Lori Brady gives Hydro Leader the details.

Hydro Leader: Please tell us about SVID as a district and its infrastructure, particularly Sunnyside Dam. Lori Brady: SVID is located in the Yakima Valley in the southern part of central Washington. The 94,000‑acre project serves irrigation water to parts of Yakima and Benton Counties in the lower Yakima River Valley. The original diversion dam was constructed in 1878–79 by the Konewock Ditch Company. The first water diversion was in the spring of 1880 by Konewock Ditch Company. The Konewock headworks were later used by the Sunnyside Canal.

Hydro Leader: What concerns does the Sunnyside Dam pose in terms of fish passage?

The new gate will go downstream of this existing sluice gate.

Hydro Leader: When did SVID first decide to address this issue and what were the first steps it took?

36 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021

Lori Brady: This issue first came to the district’s attention through a presentation. The first 2 years of a 3‑year smolt outmigration survival study were presented to SVID staff by Bureau of Reclamation staff in 2019. Several months later, the same presentation was given to the SVID board. After the presentation, the board realized that keeping salmon and steelhead smolts from entering the Sunnyside Main Canal was vital for improving their migration. It was an important issue that needed to be addressed, and the board wanted to be a part of the solution.

Hydro Leader: How did SVID and its partners decide to go with the solution of a boom fish guidance system? What were the other options you considered?

Lori Brady: Fish guidance systems are common at many hydro facilities throughout the Columbia River basin and other regions of the Pacific Northwest as a means to route salmon and steelhead smolts to fish collector systems or hydroleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SVID.

Lori Brady: The Sunnyside Dam Fish Passage Improvement Project seeks to improve salmon and steelhead smolt outmigration survival through the lower Yakima River. The ongoing Lower Yakima River Smolt Survival Study has identified serious mortality of juvenile salmon and steelhead associated with traveling through an irrigation diversion on their way down the Yakima River. Although the study is currently still underway, preliminary results showed that about 25 percent of yearling chinook smolts were also entrained at Sunnyside Dam, located at river mile 102.1, upstream of Prosser Dam. Preliminary data suggest that mortality rates at Sunnyside Main Canal are similar to those observed at Prosser Dam. The cumulative effects of smolts traveling through bypass systems at multiple dams (Roza, Wapato, Sunnyside, and Prosser) pose significant challenges for Yakima basin salmon runs. Improving smolt survival at water diversion dams is considered a key strategy for maintaining viable salmon and steelhead populations in the Yakima basin.

ADVERTISEMENT to desired passage routes. Some examples of facilities with fish guidance systems are the Bonneville, McNary, and Rocky Reach Dams on the Columbia River. In California, a fish guidance system is used to modify yearling Chinook outmigration routes in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The only other option was a multimillion-dollar fish screening system upstream of the SVID headgate.

to achieve. The community of agencies worked for one common goal: to improve salmon and steelhead smolt survival. Whether you come from an irrigation perspective or a fish perspective, the goal was the same, and all the agencies worked in unison. This Sunnyside Dam Fish Passage Improvement Project would not have happened if it were not for the partnerships in the Yakima River basin. H

Hydro Leader: What is the fish guidance system constructed of? Why was this material chosen?

Lori Brady: The fish boom is made of several sections of sealed high-density polyethylene pipe, which are connected to each other and to the anchors with heavy chains. Fourfoot-deep stainless-steel-wire wedge screens are attached to the pipe for most of the boom but are replaced by a heavy rubber curtain as the boom approaches the shore. The wedge wire meets National Marine Fisheries Service fish screening requirements, and it is durable, which should give us many years of service.

Hydro Leader: What is the timeline for installation?

Lori Brady: This project started in the last week of February, and weather permitting, will be completed by the last week of March. Work on the overshot gate is limited to lower river flows.

Hydro Leader: How is the system being paid for?

Lori Brady: This project has several funding sources. The first funding source was the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office. The second funding source was the Washington State Department of Ecology. Reclamation is a partner, providing in-kind work along with the Sunnyside Division Board of Control, for which SVID is the operating agency. This project has also benefited from other partnerships, too numerous to mention, with people who have advocated for this project and cleared a path for its advancement.

Hydro Leader: What results is the fish guidance system expected to have?

Lori Brady: This pilot project is expected to reduce the entrainment of smolts into the Sunnyside Canal, which will increase the number of smolts surviving this portion of their downstream migration.

Hydro Leader: Do you have any advice for other dam owners and operators who are considering installing a similar system?

The chain that will be used to anchor the guidance system, with a $20 bill for scale.

Lori Brady is the general manager of the Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District in Sunnyside, Washington. She can be reached at bradyl@svid.org.

Lori Brady: The key is partnerships. Most projects have to overcome a series of roadblocks and can take years hydroleadermagazine.com

March 2021| HYDRO LEADER

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