esummers
09-10-2008, 12:40 PM
I've been following this story over the past week on the Madison River below Quake and Hebgen Lakes. A major problem with the Dam could have a huge impact on the river below Quake Lake. The info below was taken from the Madison River Fishing Company in Ennis, Mt:
The news now is grim. The bulkhead plan did not work. There was to much turbulence at the dam intake for them to place the steel plate and stem the flow. At the moment there does not seem to be a “plan B”. The flow is still at springtime level. They are losing more than 5 inches of reservoir water elevation every 24 hours and this will accelerate as the level drops due to the cone shape nature of the reservoir bed. There are two scenarios that are scaring us at the moment.
First; they decide there is no other choice but to drain the lake to fix the dam. Second; they cannot get a handle on the flows and the lake drains either completely or to the point that it will take years to refill. Either way the outcome has the potential to be tragic.
At the moment, despite rumors to the contrary, there are no plans to drain the reservoir. This is and will remain a “last resort” option.
I’m sure PP&L is frantic. The potential for a huge PR nightmare is every large company’s worst fear. This situation has that potential. If they drain that lake it could effectively kill this river for years. It would be an environmental disaster of enormous magnitude effecting not only the Madison Valley but the whole state of Montana and far beyond.
As of this update they are trying to get a dive boat on-sight to place a sonar device and possibly a camera down to the level where they can see and assess the structural integrity of the outer surface of the intake structure. If they determine that the structure is sound they will then have more options to put in place a stop-gap of some sort to stem the flow. They will then be able to assess the damage to the intake gates themselves and hopefully come up with a solution that does not involve draining the reservoir.
I’m not sure who PP&L has working on the problem but there has to be someone, somewhere in the country who is familiar with handling situations like this. Time to start lighting some fires. Please, take a minute and contact these folks:
Governor Brian D. Schweitzer Office of the Governor Montana State Capitol Bldg. P.O. Box 200801 Helena MT 59620-0801 (406) 444-3111, FAX (406) 444-5529 http://governor.mt.gov/contact/commentsform.asp
Jeff Hagener-Director Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks http://fwp.mt.gov/contact/direct.aspx?id=2057080
Montana Dept of Natural Resources http://www.dnrc.mt.gov/About_Us/Contact_Us.asp
The news now is grim. The bulkhead plan did not work. There was to much turbulence at the dam intake for them to place the steel plate and stem the flow. At the moment there does not seem to be a “plan B”. The flow is still at springtime level. They are losing more than 5 inches of reservoir water elevation every 24 hours and this will accelerate as the level drops due to the cone shape nature of the reservoir bed. There are two scenarios that are scaring us at the moment.
First; they decide there is no other choice but to drain the lake to fix the dam. Second; they cannot get a handle on the flows and the lake drains either completely or to the point that it will take years to refill. Either way the outcome has the potential to be tragic.
At the moment, despite rumors to the contrary, there are no plans to drain the reservoir. This is and will remain a “last resort” option.
I’m sure PP&L is frantic. The potential for a huge PR nightmare is every large company’s worst fear. This situation has that potential. If they drain that lake it could effectively kill this river for years. It would be an environmental disaster of enormous magnitude effecting not only the Madison Valley but the whole state of Montana and far beyond.
As of this update they are trying to get a dive boat on-sight to place a sonar device and possibly a camera down to the level where they can see and assess the structural integrity of the outer surface of the intake structure. If they determine that the structure is sound they will then have more options to put in place a stop-gap of some sort to stem the flow. They will then be able to assess the damage to the intake gates themselves and hopefully come up with a solution that does not involve draining the reservoir.
I’m not sure who PP&L has working on the problem but there has to be someone, somewhere in the country who is familiar with handling situations like this. Time to start lighting some fires. Please, take a minute and contact these folks:
Governor Brian D. Schweitzer Office of the Governor Montana State Capitol Bldg. P.O. Box 200801 Helena MT 59620-0801 (406) 444-3111, FAX (406) 444-5529 http://governor.mt.gov/contact/commentsform.asp
Jeff Hagener-Director Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks http://fwp.mt.gov/contact/direct.aspx?id=2057080
Montana Dept of Natural Resources http://www.dnrc.mt.gov/About_Us/Contact_Us.asp