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Metadata for Court Order Spill Web-page:
In accordance with the Court
Order, spill was initiated at the Snake River Projects at 0001 hours on
April 3, 2008. The Court Order calls for the following spill levels at
the Federal Snake River Projects:
| Project |
Spring
Spill (April 3 - June 20) |
Summer
Spill (June 21 - August 31) |
| Day / Night
Spill |
Day / Night
Spill |
| Lower Granite |
20 Kcfs /
20 Kcfs |
18 Kcfs /
18 Kcfs |
| Little Goose |
30% / 30% |
30% / 30% |
| Lower Monumental |
Gas Cap /
Gas Cap |
17 Kcfs /
17 Kcfs |
| Ice Harbor |
30% / 30%
vs 45 Kcfs / Gas Cap |
30% / 30%
vs. 45 Kcfs / Gas Cap |
Court ordered spill at the
lower Columbia projects began on April 10, 2008. The Court Order calls
for the following spill levels at the Federal Lower Columbia River Projects:
| Project |
Spring
Spill (April 10- June 30)* |
Summer
Spill (July 1 - August 31) |
| Day / Night
Spill |
Day / Night
Spill |
| McNary |
40% / 40% |
40% / 40%
vs. 60%/60% (beginning around June 15th) |
| John Day |
0 / 60%; 30% / 30% vs. 40% / 40% study |
30% / 30% vs. 40% / 40% study |
| The Dalles |
40% / 40% |
40% / 40% |
| Bonneville |
100 Kcfs /
100 Kcfs |
85 Kcfs / Gas Cap (June
21 - July 20)
75 Kcfs / Gas Cap (July
21 - Aug 31)
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*MCN and BON beginning summer
spill research prior to July 1 (see
dates in above table)
Court Order Spill:
All projects have a minimum
powerhouse flow requirement:
| Project |
Minimum Powerhouse
Flow (kcfs) |
| Lower Granite |
12 |
| Little Goose |
11.5 |
| Lower Monumental |
11.5 |
| Ice Harbor |
9.5 (Mar-Jul), 9 (Aug-Nov) |
| McNary |
50 |
| John Day |
50 |
| The Dalles |
50 |
| Bonneville |
30 |
At low flows the Court Ordered
spill amounts cannot always be provided along with minimum powerhouse
flows (PH Min). In this instance all estimates of Court Order Spill (i.e.,
red line on graphs) are adjusted for project specific powerhouse minimum
requirements using the following criteria:
If Total Flow > Court
Order + PH Min ' Court Order = Court Order
If Total Flow < Court Order + PH Min ' Court Order = Total Flow
- PH Min.
Spill to the Gas Cap:
In the Court Order, spill to
the gas cap means to spill a volume of water that achieves the total dissolved
gas (TDG) waivers, specifically, the 120% tailrace TDG criteria, and the
downstream forebay 115% TDG criteria. To assess whether the Court Order
is being implemented the spill should be evaluated relative to whether
the 120% TDG is being met in the tailrace, and the 115% is being achieved
at the next downstream forebay. Both TDG levels are plotted on the graph
for each project.
The US Army Corps of Engineers
(COE) develops daily levels of maximum spill that the COE estimates will
not exceed the TDG criteria. The "spill caps" estimated by the
COE are given to the project operators as maximum spill levels. The "spill
caps" presented in the graphs are taken directly from the COE. These
"spill caps" are updated by the COE every two weeks so the graphs
may lag several days. The COE's assessment of meeting the Court Order
is dependent on whether a project spills to the "spill caps".
LGS:
Court Order spill at LGS for spring 2008 is 30% of instantaneous flow
for 24-hours a day. The Court Order calls for night-time
spill to be provided to the gas cap for 14-days. The start date of this operation will be
determined by FPAC and will be between April 22nd and May 15.
IHR:
IHR is conducting spill tests under two different levels of Court Order
Spill (30%/30% versus 45 kcfs/Gas Cap). These different spill levels will
be tested in 2 day blocks throughout spring and summer 2008.
MCN:
MCN will be testing to levels of Court Order spill for summer 2008 beginning
around June 15th (40%/40% versus 60%/60%). These different spill levels will
be tested in 2 day blocks throughout the summer spill season.
JDA:
JDA will be testing to levels of Court Order spill for spring and summer 2008, beginning
around April 27th (30%/30% versus 40%/40%). These different spill levels will
be tested in 2 day blocks throughout the spring and summer spill seasons.
Note: Spill at some
projects varies relative to flow, therefore the scale of Y-axes may be
different for each project and may change from week to week at an individual
project.
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