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Show Page 4 NORTH COUNTY NEWSPAPERS Thursday, December 20, 2007 Pacif iCorp removes hydroelectric dam from American Fork River Vim Caleb Warnock DAILY HERALD For the first time in a century, cen-tury, trout in American Fork River can run the stream all the way to Tibbie Fork Dam. PacifiCorp has removed its one-megawatt hydroelectric plant from the river, taking out two cement dams one of them measuring 30 feet long and 4 feet high that have blocked access for trout to the 7-mile 7-mile reach of the river from the mouth of the canyon to Tibbie Fork Reservoir for 100 years. Pacif iCorp has also donated its water rights to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, meaning that water will now remain permanently in the stream to benefit fish year-round, year-round, said Doug Sakaguchi, habitat biologist with DWR. PacifiCorp turned the water rights over after the utility decided it was no longer economical eco-nomical to oerate its American Ameri-can Fork hydroelectric plant, said Mark Hadley of the DWR in a statement. "The water rights transfer means up to 50 cubic feet per second of stream water is guaranteed guar-anteed to remain in the stream," Hadley said. "That guaranteed stream flow will improve habitat for both fish and wildlife." . Fish can now migrate up the stream. "American Fork Creek is mostly a brown trout fishery, but it's also stocked with rainbow rain-bow trout," said Scott Root of the DWR. "Some cutthroat trout are also found on the upper up-per stretch of the creek. "The restoration efforts have created some beautiful, clear pools of water, providing excellent cover and spawning areas for trout." The trout in the area are la I - ' """" 0 a? v I . ' V , . - . t 2 J MARIO RUiZDaily Herald American Fork River fishing may improve now that a dam has been removed. now easy to see, he said. "They're stacked up in the newly constructed pools of water," wa-ter," he said. The project was a cooperative coopera-tive effort among PacifiCorp, the DWR, American Whitewater, White-water, Trout Unlimited and others. "We're delighted, of course," said David Eskelsen, PacifiCorp Pacifi-Corp spokesman, of the dam removal and donation of water. wa-ter. PacifiCorp's water rights had allowed them to leave as Chained to a long-term home loan? TsiEs YffiJUO ISff With our 5 or 7 year mortgano 5 ucar 7 year' hi a little as 4 cubic feet per second of water in the stream, removing remov-ing up to 50 cubic feet per second sec-ond in a segment of the river in a pipeline to power the hydro-plant. hydro-plant. Keeping that water in the river will significantly raise water levels in the fall, when brown trout spawn, and winter, win-ter, improving the fishery. In the past, low water flows had sometimes frozen, killing fish eggs, something that is unlikely un-likely to happen now because of the water donation, Root said. The fish living in the stretch of river between the dam at the mouth of the canyon and Tibbie Fork "would have essentially es-sentially been trapped in that segment" Root said. Those fish, and the fish trapped below G5-uD Am Sam lain M iMmMt at MMIar m lift I tin ism m vwr Imm. TAKE VOUn HFf BACK! AvtOUNTMN HIGH FEDERAL CREDIT UNION Our Iftghvxt Intmrwt Is Call to ftat you own paraonallzjao mortgage plan. Lanl 70S-S31Z Pmvo 377-S647 Sucuraal Latlna (Lti no arncti 655-0777 Sprlnsvllla 9 1 -8993 Spanish Fork 798-1423 Payaon 445-9898 Eureka 4SS-433-2006 Ncphl 3S-23-2322 OOlSrtlMO SOOt ... ArTACtUINI 'IILHIIJ-, MW1 '"" ' J"'' ' f I f SI t: 1 t -tw -wawaa mmmm ra' ifni"" ' -'"","--a-.nm ram' nrirMw jii AMERICAN FORK PLEASANT GROVE 1 24 N. W. State Rd. ' 366 E. State Street American Fork, UT Pleasant Grove, UT 0REM 175 E. 200 S. Orem, UT SPRINGVILLE 645S.1750W. Springville, UT LIND0N 585 N. State Street Lindon, UT PAYSON 1052 S. Turf Farm Road Payson, UT the dam, will now have access to the canyon reach of the stream. The 100-year-old plant generated gen-erated electricity by diverting water from the creek into a 2-mile 2-mile pipeline. Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp, has owned and operated the American Fork Hydroelectric project since 1913. The 12,000-foot-long steel flow -line pipe carried water from the creek diversion high along the north slope of the canyon. There the water descended de-scended into the plant where the force of the falling water generated electricity, said Hadley. The pipeline leaked several times and had been damaged by the elements of nature, in cluding landslides. Over time, the cost of maintaining and repairing the facility and pipeline pipe-line increased to the point that it was no longer economical to operate the facility, he said. The pipeline that ran along the north side of the canyon has been removed. Title to the building that housed the power plant has been given to the Forest Service. Ser-vice. "We see great value in the facility as an historical building," build-ing," said John Logan, a representative repre-sentative for the USFS. "We're still discussing several options. One possibility is highlighting the history of the facility by using us-ing the building as a museum." wmtm INSURANCE AGENCY home auto life business . i 'j 1 w I I 394-0395 mum w v www.footeinsurance.com 305 N. FREEDOM BLVD. PROYO &) of) Wt -Hi- i! if r. " 1 : 1 |