LIHI Certificate #82 -Newfound Hydroelectric Project ,New Hampshire, (FERC #3107)
Newfound Hydroelectric Project Recieves LIHI Certification
Portland, Maine (November 17, 2011) -At their November 17, 2011 meeting the Institute’s Governing Board determined that the Newfound Hydroelectric Project met the LIHI Certification Criteria. In reaching its decision to certify the Newfound Hydroelectric Project, the LIHI’s Governing Board reviewed the application for certification, as well as the Application Reviewer’s report. The Board’s vote to certify the Newfound Hydroelectric Project was unanimous, and the Board approves certification for the Newfound Hydroelectric Project for five-years with the following conditions.
Condition No. 1: KTZ Hydro LLC shall develop a system for maintaining records sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the headpond elevation and flow management limitations of instantaneous run-of-river operation and maintenance of a minimum bypass flow as specified in Condition No. 2. Within three months of the date of issuance of the certification, KTZ Hydro LLC shall provide LIHI with a written flow management plan that outlines the systems to be used to properly manage flows and headpond levels and to produce compliance records. This shall include the design for the notch in the flashboards for the minimum bypass flow and a staff gage, if determined to be warranted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Prior to filing the plan, KTZ Hydro LLC shall obtain plan approval from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services; written confirmation of the approvals will be filed with the plan.
Condition No. 2: KTZ Hydro LLC shall increase the bypass minimum flow to a provisional 12.7 cfs immediately and shall notify LIHI within 7 days of taking such action. KTZ Hydro LLC will also conduct appropriate analysis and finalize a minimum flow in consultation and upon agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and provide the results to LIHI by no later than October 1, 2012, including written concurrence from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Condition No. 3: In the event that within the 5-year term of the certification fisheries agencies requests or prescribes upstream or downstream fish passage at the Project, KTZ Hydro LLC shall notify LIHI within 30 days of such action and the steps that KTZ Hydro LLC is prepared to take to install appropriate passage at the Project dam. In the event that KTZ Hydro LLC notifies LIHI that it does not intend to install appropriate passage, or that KTZ Hydro LLC cannot reach an agreement with resource agencies as to the nature of this passage, LIHI reserves the right to withdraw its certification should LIHI determine that KTZ Hydro LLC’s position is inconsistent with the LIHI fish passage criteria at that time.
The effective certification date for the Newfound Hydroelectric Project is May 13, 2011 and will expire on May 13, 2016. Any Commenter may submit a letter to the Certification Administrator requesting an appeal within 30 days of the posting of the Certification Decision on the Institute’s Web page. 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.
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Portland, Maine (May 16, 2011) – The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) announced today that Newfound Hydroelectric Company, a New Hampshire limited partnership, (“Applicant”) has submitted an application for certification of the Newfound Hydroelectric Project (“Project”). The Newfound Hydroelectric project is located in downtown Bristol, New Hampshire approximately 800 feet downstream from the crossing of Water Street over the Newfound River. The area in the vicinity of the dam is urban in character and typical of an old New England manufacturing city.
The land uses along the north side of the river to the east of the project’s diversion weir are predominantly industrial and to the west they are commercial. On the south side of the river the land usage to the east of the powerhouse is predominantly urban residential with commercial uses lying to the west. Along both banks above and below the dam the vegetation consists of planted ornamentals and those types typical of disturbed ground.
The facility is operated as a fully automated run of river project. At times of non-generation, the project is licensed to release an outflow equal to an instantaneous minimum of 5 cfs. When inflows fall below 5 cfs, inflow is equal to outflow.
The Construction of the Newfound hydroelectric project was completed in 1927. Project works consist of: (a) a diversion weir surmounted by wooden flashboards, totaling 10 feet in height; (b) a 0.23-acre reservoir with a storage capacity of 0.69 acre-feet; (c) a concrete intake channel; (d) a powerhouse containing two generating units (870 kW and 617 kW); a 6-foot diameter wooden penstock 420 feet long; (f) a 30-foot wide tailrace extending 175 feet to the confluence of the Newfound and Pemigewasset Rivers; (g) a 160-foot-long underground cable from the powerhouse to an existing pole of the power purchaser, Public Service Company of New Hampshire; and (h) appurtenant works.
On November 6, 1981 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a minor license to the Newfound Hydroelectric Company (Licensee) of Bristol, New Hampshire, under part I of the Federal Power Act, for a period of fifty years (FERC 3107, see Appendix 1-1). The project works consist of: (1) a diversion weir located adjacent to New Hampshire Route 3A in Bristol, New Hampshire; (2) a new 800-footlong water conveyance facility, leading to (3) a new powerhouse located approximately 800 feet downstream of the Water St. Bridge; and (4) appurtenant works. The installed capacity of the project is 1,500 kW.
The Newfound Project is operated as a run-of-river facility. Outflows from the project equal inflows on an instantaneous basis. The licensee is responsible for maintaining a continuous minimum flow of 5 cubic feet per second or the inflow to the project’s diversion weir, whichever is less, for the protection and enhancement of aquatic resources in the river. The Newfound Project discharges into the Pemigewasset River, seven miles above its confluence with the Winnipesaukee River. Historical river flows in the Pemigewasset River within the project area are 151 cfs.
The project is located in the Merrimack River Basin approximately seven miles above the confluence of the Pemigewasset and the Winnipesaukee Rivers. The generally south flowing Merrimack River is New England’s fifth largest river. The basin is 134 miles in length and 68 miles wide. Total drainage area is 5015 square miles. The two principal headwater streams are the Pemigwasset River (accounting for 20% of the entire drainage) and the Winnipesaukee River. These streams join in Franklin, New Hampshire to form the Merrimack. The tributary with the second largest sub-basin is the Contoocook.