Click the link to read the article on The Montrose Press website (Katharynn Heidelberg). Here’s an excerpt:
December 7, 2024
Hydropower infrastructure at Blue Mesa Reservoir will see some urgent updates, with the help of money coming through the Interior Department’s Aging Infrastructure Account. The account received more than $3 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. As part of an $849 million disbursement announced by the Interior on Dec. 3, more than $32.03 million will go to replace butterfly valves at the Blue Mesa power plant and to refurbish two ring follower gates at the dam there. This funding will pay for planning, final design and implementation.
“The infrastructure at Blue Mesa dates to the facility’s original construction, with most installations made in 1963,” a Bureau of Reclamation official said via email, in response to questions. “Given a typical service life of 50 years, much of the equipment has exceeded this threshold and requires either refurbishment or replacement. Currently, funding is allocated to priority projects that address these urgent needs.”
The government further is providing $1.3 million to pave the public access road to the power plant and $650,000 to replace the electrical “bus” that transmits power from generator to transformer at the plant…According to Bureau of Reclamation information, Blue Mesa’s power plant is composed of two 30,000-kilowatt generators, driven by 41.55-horsepower turbines; each turbine operates at a maximum head of 360 feet. The plant’s generating capacity is 86,000 kilowatts…The Department of the Interior in its announcement said the money is an investment through President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda, and aimed at revitalizing aging water delivery systems. The funding is gong to 77 projects overall, in several Western states, including 14 in the Colorado River Basin, totaling $118.3 million.
