LIHI Certifies Woronoco Hydro LLC's Woronoco Project on the Westfield River in Russell, Massachusetts

 

 

 

Portland, Maine (January 28, 2011) - At LIHI’s January 26, 2011 meeting, the Institute’s Governing Board determined that the Woronoco Hydroelectric Project meets the LIHI Certification Criteria.  

The LIHI Governing Board approves certification for the Woronoco Hydroelectric Project for five-years with project specific conditions (see below).  Any Commenter may submit within 30 days of the posting of the Certification Decision on the Institute’s Web page a letter to the Certification Administrator requesting an appeal.  An appeal request must include specific reasons why the hydropower facility should have failed one or more criteria.  If an individual or organization did not comment on the initial Application Package, they may not file an appeal.

In reaching its decision to certify the Woronoco Hydroelectric Project, the Low Impact Hydropower Institute’s Governing Board reviewed the application for certification, as well as the Application Reviewer’s report and recommendations. LIHI certification for the Woronoco Hydroelectric Project is granted for 5-year term beginning on January 28, 2010 and expiring on January 28, 2015. 

The LIHI certification for the Woronoco Project is conditioned, as set forth below, upon the applicant in 2011 commencing and completing, on a pre-established schedule and using pre-approved methods and sample sizes, downstream fish passage effectiveness testing for at its facility for Atlantic salmon and American eel, and demonstrating to LIHI from the results of that effectiveness testing that the downstream fish passage measures in place at the facility are appropriately protective of the Atlantic salmon and American eel that are attempting to move through the facility area. 

I. To this end, the applicant shall file with LIHI by March 31, 2011:

A. A copy of a Final 2011 Downstream Fish Passage Effectiveness Testing Plan for Atlantic Salmon and American Eel, containing, inter alia, the methodology, sample size, frequency of testing, and schedule for staging, testing, data sharing, data analysis, final reporting of results, and agency comments on those results;

B. Evidence that the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are of the opinion that this Final 2011 Downstream Fish Passage Effectiveness Testing Plan for Atlantic Salmon and American Eel, if implemented according to the Plan, will be sufficient to allow these agencies to determine whether the downstream fish passage measures at the Woronoco facility are appropriately protective of Atlantic salmon and American eel passing downstream; and

 C. A proposed schedule under which the applicant will report to LIHI and the resource agencies on a regular basis as to the progress of the effectiveness testing, analysis and evaluation as set forth in the Final 2011 Downstream Fish Passage Effectiveness Testing Plan for Atlantic Salmon and American Eel. LIHI reserves the right to add to or amend the applicant’s proposed schedule should it conclude that doing so is necessary for LIHI to make timely determinations regarding the applicant’s compliance with these certification conditions.

II. Thereafter, and pursuant to the schedule set forth in I.C. above:

Applicant-generated reports with LIHI that (1) document the progress and then the completion of its downstream effectiveness testing, (2) provide the results therefrom, and (3) demonstrate that the downstream fish passage measures at the Woronoco facility are appropriately protective of Atlantic salmon and American eel passing downstream.

LIHI reserves the right to terminate this certification should it conclude either that the testing plan is not adequate, is not being followed, or that the results of testing plan demonstrate that the existing downstream fish passage measures at the facility are not appropriately protective of Atlantic salmon and American eel that are, or soon may be attempting to move through the facility area.

###

Portland, Maine (January 28, 2010) – The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) announced today that Woronoco Hydro, LLC ("Applicant") has submitted an application for certification of the Woronoco Hydroelectric Project ("Project") which is located at river mile 18.5 on the Westfield River in, Russell, Massachusetts. The Westfield River originates in North-Western Massachusetts and flows 78.1 miles to its confluence with the Connecticut River in West Springfield. The Project's operating license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") was issued on April 30, 2002.

The project's principal features consist of:

(1) two non-contiguous dam sections and an earthen dike;

(2) a penstock intake area leading to a powerhouse, which contains three

turbine/ generator units with an installed capacity of 2.7 MW;

(3) a downstream fish passage facility and three upstream eel ladders;

(4) a 43-acre impoundment at the normal pool elevation; and,

(5) a bypassed reach with three channels, varying in length from 200 to 1,000 feet.

According to the FERC license for this project, there are three generating units installed. When the license was issued in 2002, the project operated with only one unit (Unit 3, which has a rated installed capacity of 1.9 MW with 30" flashboards). As part of its relicense application, the applicant proposed to rehabilitate the two non-operating low flow units (Units 1 and 2), which have a rated installed capacity of 0.4 MW each. With the rehabilitated units and flashboards, the project would generate at its full capacity of 2.7 MW and, with the Applicant's proposed minimum flow, would generate an estimated average of about 10,350 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity annually.

The FERC license says the project will continue to be, operated in a run-of-river mode, such that outflows from the project are approximately equal to the sum of the inflows to the project impoundment on an instantaneous basis. Woronoco Hydro would operate the project to minimize fluctuations to the impoundment water surface elevation.

Public Comments - We encourage public comments on this application. Specifically, we are interested in knowing whether you think the Woronoco Hydroelectric Project meets our LIHI criteria. Review the program and criteria in greater detail and then review the Woronoco Hydroelectric Project's application. Comments that are directly tied to specific LIHI criteria (flows, water quality, fish passage, etc) will be most helpful, but all comments will be considered. Comments may be submitted to the Institute by e-mail at info@lowimpacthydro.org with " Woronoco Hydroelectric Project comments" in the subject line; by fax at (206) – 984-3086; or by mail addressed to LIHI, 34 Providence Street, Portland, ME, 04103. Comments must be received at the Institute on or before 5 pm Eastern time on March 28, 2010 to be considered. All comments will be posted to the web site and the applicant will have an opportunity to respond. Any response will also be posted.

---

Files: