The Colorado Small Hydro Association is holding a workshop Monday to brief irrigators about new federal and state regulations that make it easier to install water-driven power plants on agricultural canals.
“There’s definitely a potential to add a hydro system,” Sterling Moss, director of the Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Durango. “But it’s catchy because it depends on how much water you have and how much head.”
A hydro system that doesn’t produce enough power to make it worthwhile investing in a grid hookup can be used in a pasture to turn a center pivot, Moss said.
The use of hydro is not widespread in Southwest Colorado, said Moss, who is scheduled as a speaker at the workshop to be held at Fort Lewis College. The meeting will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in Noble Hall, room 130.
“Our agency could help with design,” Moss said. “Maybe next year, we could have some money available.”
La Plata Electric Association systems engineer Dan Harms said location is everything. A hydro system should have a good water source with a strong flow, he said. If it’s to be connected to the grid, it must be reasonably close to a power line.
Joe Bigley, a Chromo rancher, has had a hydro system connected to the LPEA grid for about five years. Grants covered $31,000 of the $36,000 the system cost him, Bigley said.
The seasonal 1.8 cubic feet per second of water he receives from a ditch off the Navajo River falls 110 feet to turn two turbines. The electricity it produces in five months (the duration of his ditch water) covers 10 months of ranch expenses, Bigley said.
The intervention of Colorado legislators in Washington has helped streamline the federal permitting process for small hydro installation, Kurt Johnson with the small hydro association said in an interview this week.
Colorado state legislators approved similar regulations in House Bill 14-1030, which is expected to be signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper.
The bill directs the Colorado Energy Office to facilitate the review of hydro projects by state agencies with a goal of allowing applicants to win federal and state approval in 60 for non-controversial small hydro projects.
The bill also orders that the electrical inspection process be streamlined. National Electrical Code guidelines should be followed.
In January, the Colorado Department of Agriculture said a study indicates pressurized irrigation is the most cost-effective way to irrigate agricultural land.
The state’s capacity of untapped pressurized irrigation should be around 30 megawatts, the study said. Most of the potential could be developed economically, the study said.
daler@duangoherald.com
If you go
Colorado Small Hydro Association workshop, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Monday, Noble Hall, Room 130, Fort Lewis College.
