January 28, 2009 - Wyoming Project Re-Certified at January LIHI Board Meeting

 

 

PORTLAND, ME – (January 28, 2009) - The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) announced that at their January 22, 2009 meeting they re-certified the Strawberry Creek Hydroelectric Project as low impact. The Project is located on Strawberry Creek on 25 acres of the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Lincoln County, Wyoming. The 1,500 kilowatt, run-of-river facility is owned and operated by Lower Valley Energy, and licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

 

In 2004, the Strawberry Creek Project (FERC #2032) became the first Wyoming hydropower facility to earn LIHI certification.  

 

The Strawberry Creek Project consists of a reinforced concrete gravity dam 22 feet high and 110 feet long with a 40-foot-long overflow spillway at an elevation of approximately 7,000 feet, an intake sluice, a reservoir with a surface area of 2.8 acres, a penstock, a powerhouse with three turbine-generator units, a substation with associated transmission lines, and an operator’s dwelling. The 2.3-mile-long penstock results in a bypassed reach approximately two miles long. A ten-foot wide road provides access along the penstock and to the dam and impoundment. The applicant diverts all flow up to 48 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Strawberry Creek for power generation; there are no required minimum flows for the bypass reach. Facility operations dewater the bypass reach between late October and mid April. Below the facility boundary Strawberry Creek is dewatered by irrigation diversions (between June and September) and by natural subsurface flows. The applicant operates the project manually in a run-of-river mode.

 

The Strawberry Creek Project continues to meet LIHI’s eight environmentally rigorous Low Impact criteria addressing river flows, water quality, fish passage and protection, watershed health, endangered species protection, cultural resources, recreation use and access, and whether or not the dam itself has been recommended for removal. The Strawberry Creek Project successfully completed LIHI’s application process, which includes a public comment period, review by LIHI staff including consultation with state and federal natural resource agencies, and evaluation by the LIHI Governing Board. The Board’s vote to certify the Strawberry Creek Project was unanimous.

 

 

 

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