Getting two for one: Adding hydropower at the Milner Irrigation Dam
- Idaho Power Co., Boise, ID (United States)
Since 1905, Milner Dam has diverted water out of the Snake River to irrigate 500,000 acres of prime farmland in southern Idaho. Water not used for irrigation was spilled over the dam-essentially wasted. Beginning this fall, that wasted water will be used to generate inexpensive, renewable, clean hydropower, thanks to a cooperative agreement between two irrigation canal companies and an investor-owned utility. The Twin Falls Land and Water Co. built Milner Dam at the turn of the century as part of an irrigation development along the Snake River. The structure comprised three earth and rockfill embankments that spanned the river, north to south, connecting two islands with the shores. The original spillway-consisting of 99 wooden slide gates-was built on the southern island. Over decades of use, the island's rock cliff-on which the spillway discharged-had eroded back toward the spillway. In the mid-1980s, leaks along the dam raised concerns about the dam's stability and, consequently, its ability to withstand an earthquake. To ensure safety, the dam had to be rehabilitated. Milner dam, Inc. (a wholly owned company of the Twin Falls Canal and the North Side Canal companies), in partnership with Idaho Power Co., decided to rehabilitate the dam and, at the same time, to add hydroelectric facilities. Under the partnership agreement, Idaho Power will own and operate the new power facilities, and Milner Dam Inc. will own and operate the rebuilt dam and related structures. The developers received a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in 1988 to build the hydro project. Four years later, the dam has been rehabilitated and the 58.3-MW power facilities constructed. Turbine-generator testing is under way, and the project's three units should all be on line by the end of October 1992.
- OSTI ID:
- 5498912
- Journal Information:
- Hydro Review; (United States), Vol. 11:6; ISSN 0884-0385
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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