Water levels released from Appalachian Power’s Smith Mountain Project have returned to normal following lower-than-normal levels being released for about a month.
According to a news release from Appalachian Power, water releases from the Smith Mountain Project into the Staunton River were lower than normal between December 21 and January 18. That is no longer the case, according to an Appalachian Power news release.
“We’re pleased that the water management plan worked as intended,” said Teresa Rogers, process supervisor for the Hydro Generation Department at Appalachian Power. “Late last year, as we headed deeper into drought conditions we were able to adjust water releases under the approved plan. Once merited, we were able to consult with state agencies and stakeholders to ultimately seek and attain the variance to further decrease releases.”
Heavy rain on January 18 and cutting the flow helped get the project back to normal levels.
Here is the news release from Appalachian Power:
Water flows from Appalachian Power’s Smith Mountain Pumped Storage Project are once again normal. The company releases water from the project into the Staunton River under a water release plan approved by state and federal regulators. From December 21 to January 18, water releases were lower than normal and done under a variance approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
“We’re pleased that the water management plan worked as intended,” said Teresa Rogers, process supervisor for the Hydro Generation Department at Appalachian Power. “Late last year, as we headed deeper into drought conditions we were able to adjust water releases under the approved plan. Once merited, we were able to consult with state agencies and stakeholders to ultimately seek and attain the variance to further decrease releases.”
Cutting the flows as detailed in the plan, then implementing the variance in conjunction with rain events that occurred resulted in the Smith Mountain Project filling to normal operating levels on January 18.
“We will continue to conference with stakeholders monthly and monitor flows as we go into Spring when water releases increase to accommodate striped bass spawning downstream,” Rogers said.
Appalachian developed the recommended variance releases in consultation with various stakeholders including DEQ, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, US Fish and Wildlife, US Corps of Engineers, Smith Mountain Lake Association, Citizens for the Preservation of the River, Counties of Bedford, Franklin, Campbell and Pittsylvania and Dominion Virginia Power.
The Water Management Plan can be found on-line at www.smithmtn.com under the resources heading.
Appalachian Power has 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, which delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.
