ON PARADE – Children dressed as their favorite animals hold a Sitka Spruce Tips 4-H Club banner as they march down Lincoln Street on Earth Day, Monday. The Parade of Species was held in recognition of Earth Day. It was hosted by Sitka Conservation Society, University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and the Sitka Sound Science Center. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
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Sentinel Staff Writer
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Sentinel Sports Editor
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Alaska Beacon
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April 23
At 3:14 a.m. a downtown bar report [ ... ]
Vaughn Blankenship
Dies at Age 91
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By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
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Sentinel Staff Writer
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City to Conduct
Relay Testing
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Sentinel Staff Writer
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Sentinel Staff Writer
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Hydro Managers Balance Wealth of Water
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Water started spilling over the Green Lake dam last week, and the water level is continuing to climb at the expanded Blue Lake well ahead of projections, the city electric department said today.
Cameron Bowers, one of eight Barnard Construction workers still at the site, takes a photograph of the Blue Lake Dam this morning. The lake level is less than nine feet from spilling over the top of the recently expanded dam. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
“We projected two years to fill Blue Lake, as a worst-case scenario,” said Chris Brewton, utility director. “It’s well ahead of schedule.”
Water started spilling at the Green Lake dam this weekend. The water level rose to 396.2 feet today, more than a foot above the spillway notch at 395 feet elevation.
At Blue Lake the water level was at 416.6 feet this morning, less than nine feet below the 425-foot spill level on the new dam.
Brewton said when the city laid out the $143 million project raising the height of the dam by 83 feet, planners had predicted it would take at least a year, or possibly two, for the expanded reservoir to fill.
But the lake is filling faster than even the rosiest projections because of the warm weather and heavy rainfall this fall and winter.
“It means we’re in excellent shape going into the new year for hydrogeneration,” Brewton said. “The lake levels are higher than normal.”
But spilling means wasted energy, so the department tries to balance the output of the two hydro plants and keep water from going over the top of either dam when possible.
The hydrogeneration year runs from November to November. Generally the lakes stop filling in November, when precipitation consists of snow instead of rain. When spring comes, the snowpack melts and the lakes start to fill again.
But this year, there hasn’t been much snow, which is unusual.
“Right now we’re still filling,” Brewton said of the lakes. “We’ve never had so much rain and warm weather. ... What typically falls as snowpack is falling as rain.”
The best-case scenario is for the lakes to fill to the point of spill, and then for snow to start to accumulate in the mountains.
“It’s ‘cold storage,’ if you will,” he said. “Snow is sitting on the mountain, and come spring – when the lakes are lower and it’s not raining as much – the snow will start melting and fill the lakes.”
But even without snowpack as “cold storage,” he’s not worried about Sitka’s hydrogenerating capacity for the year. With the higher dam at Blue Lake, Sitka now has more “wet storage.”
“Right now, because the lakes are full, we feel like ... we’re not projecting diesel generation for this year due to our excellent lake level and new storage capacity,” Brewton said.
To get Green Lake lower than its dam height, the electric department is maximizing the generating capacity of that plant.
“We’ve backed off Blue Lake,” Brewton said. “We’re trying to use as much from Green Lake as possible to keep it from spilling.”
He said he’s pleased to see the Blue Lake project finished on time, and Sitka on track with its energy goals.
“Better than on track – life is good,” Brewton said.
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20 YEARS AGO
April 2004
Michael Stringer, environmental specialist for Sitka Tribe of Alaska and a founder of the community garden, takes the concept of Earth Week literally. This weekend he hopes others will share his appreciation for “earth” and things growing in it by joining him in preparing the community garden just behind Blatchley Middle School for another growing season.
50 YEARS AGO
April 1974
Classified ads Houses for Sale: Price dropped to $36,500 for 2-story, 4-bdrm. carpeted home on Cascade. Kitchen appliances, drapes, laundry room, carport, handy to schools.