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Less than two years after FERC completed an extensive relicensing proceeding for the El Dorado Irrigation District's 21-MW El Dorado Project 184, east of Sacramento, Calif., the district has declared an emergency in order to hire consultants and contractors to fix failed outlet works that threaten hydroelectric generation and water service and pose environmental and safety risks.
The district board of directors on July 1 authorized a crash program to make repairs to the 85-year-old structures. "This is an emergency and we need to do everything in our power to move quickly on the needed repairs," George Osborne, president of the board, said in a statement. He added that the overall dams themselves are not at risk of failing.
District workers had difficulties operating the outlet gates at both the Caples Lake dam in Alpine County, Calif., and Silver Lake dam in Almador County, Calif., so divers inspected the infrastructure. They found missing, broken or corroded parts, misaligned valve stems, eroded concrete and other problems at the Caples Lake main dam outflow.
Much of the problem concerns two slide gates located in a well-like shaft within the upper dam,...