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Thread: Bear Lake Controversy
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04-03-2008, 05:24 PM #1
Bear Lake Controversy
Bear Lake Controversy
What do you guys think about this? I'm all for the power but not at the cost of the lake.
A battle at a Utah landmark has erupted over a proposal to pump incredible amounts of water out of the lake every night and pour it back in every day to generate power."This is the most serious threat to Bear Lake that we've ever faced," said Merlin Olsen, president of Bear Lake Watch. "You are going to stir up incredible amounts of sediment in that water, and one of the things we love about that lake is its clarity and its color."
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04-03-2008 05:24 PM # ADS
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04-03-2008, 08:47 PM #2
They're pooling the water above the lake somewhere and when they bring it back through the turbines, the water is heated quite a bit. If Bear Lake is a cold water fishery, it's not going to like the heated water. This is one of those situations where our needs clash with environmental issues.
Did a little reading, they have been using this lake for power. For the home/business owners on the lake as well as the vacationers, the draw down at night must be the power company working with the complainants. The lake will still look all pristine and full by day and all business at night to early morning hours for generating power and people will not see the dropped levels. I say continue what they have been doing, you don't need you electrical bill going up 35% because they cannot use hydro at this facility. Generate, generate, generate. Even clean power gets attacked.
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04-04-2008, 06:21 AM #3Originally Posted by JPIt's only "science" if it supports the narrative.
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04-04-2008, 06:38 AM #4
Wow, pumping it out of BL, then coming back in? This will actually produce a net gain huh? Well, screw cold fusion.
I wonder how far the disturbed waters will reach. It is a pretty big lake, and it's shallow up there. I'm thinking the long shallow beaches will help keep the contamination down, just because there's less of a current?
I love the clarity and color of Bear Lake. If there's nothing else to do when I go up there, at least I can look from a good viewpoint down on the lake.
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04-04-2008, 07:32 AM #5Originally Posted by Sombeech
The clarity has been there, it will be there. The clarity hasn't been effected by the power plant. I can see the power company trying to pacify the complainants on the lake (Save the Lake People) and will generate only at night so the draw down cannot be seen. But, you can bet, if the area reaches a peak demand during the daytime, you bet they will be generating during those times.
But, we know how all these "Save The ??? People" are and start crying environmental catastrophe. It comes down to, "Not in my backyard". They're all for clean, as long as it doesn't affect them. They've been generating power there for sometime now, leave it be. If not, they'll need that cleaner power plant source, coal. Damn dirty water
If anybody has a complaint, I believe it would be down river of the plant. How long does it take that warm water to disperse? The river is only at normal flow for so many times during the day. But, if they primarily do it at night, the river would be at normal flow all day with no fluctuation. Hey, congrats for the power company making an effort to work with home/business owners.
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04-04-2008, 08:07 AM #6
Ah yes...the good ole NIMBY mentality.
It's only "science" if it supports the narrative.
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04-04-2008, 08:30 AM #7Originally Posted by rockgremlin
It's not like this is a new plant, right?
Our plant's have been here since the mid to late 1920's. We have two power companies here; Connecticut Light & Power-Northeast Utilities and United Illuminating. Both have hydro plants, but CL&P just sold quite a few of them on one river, Eco complaints. UI is on the same river, but their huge plant is located just in from Long Island Sound, so flowage isn't really an issue since this part of the river is tidal effected. I'm under UI and our rates went up a little, more for updating existing plants. But, CL&P rates went up 30% so far with more increases on the way. They don't generate on one river anymore and it's costing the consumers due to the Eco crap. So, for the past 80+ years this river (Housatonic) has been an electrical dream. Clean energy and keeping costs down. The Housatonic River starts in Massachusetts and was home to General Electric (GE "We bring good things to life") which used the river for their own personal PCB's dumping grounds, right where the river begins. This river is still effected by the PCB's, but since so many years have past since they stopped dumping, most of the PCB's are buried on the river bottom by sediment buildup.
But since the PCB's are not really a factor anymore, lets attack the power companies. The river's eco-system is all screwed up, the warm water discharge (warm water fishery), the constant fluctuation of water levels, ohhh man...it's all screwed up. It's been like this for 80+ years. And now it's a problem.
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04-04-2008, 08:48 AM #8Originally Posted by JPIt's only "science" if it supports the narrative.
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04-04-2008, 08:54 AM #9Originally Posted by Sombeech
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=3001671
It's a new twist on the principle of "buy low, sell high." They'd buy electricity to pump at night and sell electricity in the daytime at a profit. "Power is less expensive at night because there's no demand, and it's expensive in the daytime," explained Dr. Vincent Lamarra, CEO of Symbiotics LLC.
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04-04-2008, 12:24 PM #10Originally Posted by Udink
Needs colliding Our Pumped-Storage plant draws out of the river and pumps it uphill to a lake made for that exact purpose, power. And again, it was in the late 20's when it was being constructed. It all blends now. There seems to be no adverse effect to the lake, it holds a ton of water recreation including the Bass Masters Tournament.
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04-04-2008, 12:39 PM #11
It's not a good thing for Bear Lake--------the mud bottom would turn that lake murky . Do it at Jordanelle or one of those man made lakes that it wouldn't affect the natural enviorment.
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04-04-2008, 12:49 PM #12
Not to my beloved BEAR LAKE!!
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04-04-2008, 01:05 PM #13Originally Posted by accadacca
That northeastern shoreline has a lot of beach, no? Wow. Not too much development there either.
Here was an interesting link:
http://www.waterquality.utah.gov/wat...s/BEARLAKE.pdf
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04-04-2008, 01:07 PM #14Originally Posted by JP
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04-04-2008, 01:13 PM #15Originally Posted by accadacca
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