GCDAMP- HFE 2014

High Flow Experiment- 2014

2014 High Flow Experiment Snapshot

• The 2014 HFE represents the 3rd controlled high flow release conducted under the HFE Protocol.

Schedule & Duration

• November 10, 9:00 am begin upramp to powerplant capacity (~9,100 cfs)
• November 15, 2:00 pm end of HFE
• Total duration: 5 days & 5 hours (96 hours at peak release)

Ramp Rates

• Ramp up: 4,000 cfs/hr from 5,000 - 19,100 cfs, then 3,750 cfs/hr to peak (37,500 cfs)
• Ramp down: 1,875 cfs/hr from 37,500 - 19,100 cfs, then 1,500 cfs/hr to 8,000 cfs

HFE Release Details

• Maximum total release: ~37,500 cfs
• Powerplant capacity: ~19,100 cfs
• River outlet tubes: 15,000 cfs
• Hydropower generation units available: 7
• River outlet tubes: 4

Releases and Lake Elevation

• Releases will range from 5,000 to 8,000 cfs prior to and after the HFE
• Estimated acre feet of water bypassed during HFE: ~129 kaf
• November volume = 670 kaf

Costs

• Estimated costs to hydropower: $1.749 million million
• Actual costs to hydropower: $2.1 million
• Direct expenses for removal of concession assets: $9,961

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

• Financial Analysis of Experimental Releases Conducted at Glen Canyon Dam during Water Year 2015 by D.J. Graziano, L.A. Poch, and T.D. Veselka.
• Updates on 2014 HFE, 2015 Paria sediment inputs, and sediment mass balance
• Memo from Jennifer Gimbel, Chair, Glen Canyon Leadership Team dated October 24, 2014, to Brent Rhees, Acting Regional Director, Subject: Approval of Recommendation for Experimental High-Flow Release from Glen Canyon Dam, November 2014*Fall 2014 HFE Planning and PPT
• DOI Memo: Approval of Recommendation for Experimental High-Flow release from Glen Canyon Dam, November 2014
• Planning for a Fall 2014 High Flow Experiment
• Fall 2014 HFE Planning

COMPLIANCE

• A 30-day letter was sent notifying MOA signatories of a possible HFE in October 9, 2014.
• DOI consultation meeting with the Basin States_ October 07, 2014.
• Government to Government tribal consultation: Pueblo of Zuni_
• Government to Government tribal consultation: Navajo Nation_
• Report made available and presented at AMWG_ August 27-28, 2014.
• USBR conducted a webinar with TWG, October 1th, 2014.

CONCERNS

• Pueblo of Zuni: concern that multiple HFE's under the HFE protocol could result in power cost increases for individual rate payers.

Request to USBR made for detailed description on how the economic effects of multiple HFEs on power rate payers will be monitored.

SEDIMENT

• Sediment in the system: 1,195,000 metric tons
• "The quantity of sand available for this HFE is huge, and to put it in perspective, there will be more sand AFTER this HFE (about 800,000 mt) than before last year's HFE (about 650,000 mt)." [GKnowles_TWG MM_131106]

2014 Paria River discharge and cumulative sand inputs

ADDITIONAL

• GCMRC has installed digital cameras that capture 5 Images every day at 43 sandbar monitoring sites throughout Marble and Grand Canyon between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek.
• Modified original proposal to avoid additional WAPA hydropower loss (off-peak hour sales) -- Saves $30,000
• Glen Canyon Dam will start pumping an Olympic-sized swimming pool worth of water into the Colorado River every other minute--INCORRECT--LINK
• “By sending enough water downstream to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool every few seconds...
• the 96-hour-release will pick up enough sand from river channels to fill a building as big as a football field and as tall as the Washington Monument, all the way to the brim.”
• Lake Powell is expected to drop 2.5 feet during the course of the week. --LINK

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• SVaderkooi Fact Check on swimming pool comparison: Wikipedia Swimming pool size. Assuming a depth of 2 m, a 50 m x 25 m pool equals about 88,000 cubic feet. At peak Reclamation said the release from the dam was around 34,000 cfs so an olympic-sized pool would fill in about 2.6 s. Note that the USGS gage at Lees Ferry measured peak flow at about 37,000 cfs, so a little quicker (about 2.4 s) if you use that number.

Contributor: Category: Sediment, Recreation, Water delivery

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