What does the Bonneville Power Administration do?
The Bonneville Power Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, sells the output of 29 federal hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin; two in the Rogue River Basin of Southern Oregon; one non-federal nuclear power plant, the Columbia Generating Station near Richland, Washington; and several …
What is the power output of Bonneville Dam?
Bonneville Lock & Dam is one of three hydroelectric power plants operated by the Portland District along the Columbia River. The dam generates enough electricity to power approximately 900,000 homes, or a city the size of Portland, Ore.
Do reservoirs have fish?
RESERVOIR GAME FISH SPECIES That eagerness to bite makes reservoir fly fishing wildly popular as well, especially for beginning fly fishing anglers. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, bluegill, crappie and perch are other game fish species that are often found in reservoirs or flowages.
What is a dam advantage and disadvantage?
The buildup of water within the lake ensures that when required and also when water is released for electricity production, the energy can be stored. When used the electricity generated by the dams does not generate greenhouse gases and therefore does not cause pollution.
Do dams decrease turbidity?
Water quality was analyzed from eight locations before and after reservoir construction. Relative to an upstream reference site, the reservoir significantly decreased turbidity (mean, 38%) and concentrations of total solids (23%), total phosphorus (28%), and nitrate (14%).
What happens if turbidity is too high?
High turbidity can significantly reduce the aesthetic quality of lakes and streams, having a harmful impact on recreation and tourism. It can increase the cost of water treatment for drinking and food processing.
Why is silting a problem in dams?
Reservoir siltation affects the safety of old reservoir in several ways. The sediment in the reservoirs increases the load on the wall of the dam. The reduction in storage capacity re- duces the attenuation of the flood and it may increase outflow, hence the head above the crest, for a given reservoir inflow.
How erosion reduces the life of reservoirs?
Reservoir sedimentation is the problem of prime concerns for water resources engineers and gets accelerated due to catchment soil erosion. Soil eroded from the upland areas of the catchment, gets deposited in the rivers causing aggradation thereby the normal flow path in the river course gets congested.
Why do most dams and reservoirs not last indefinitely?
(Possible answers: Dams do not last forever because sun, wind, seepage, earth settlement and other natural erosion forces slowly weaken the dam structure.
How can I reduce silting?
Prevent silting of your dam – use a silt trap Silt traps are an effective way of reducing silt moving into dams. Good groundcover in the upstream catchment combined with management of surface water will significantly reduce siltation in the trap and the dam.