Catch-22
Dear HCN,
In response to your article about benefits from releasing water from Glen Canyon Dam (HCN, 7/22/96), I called the Bureau of Reclamation in late April, and their best projection was that 104,000,000 kwh of hydro generation would be lost due to the release.
It takes more than 60,000 tons of coal to generate that much electricity in the average conventional power plant. So, the environmental downside of releases that bypass the turbines is more air pollution and an increase in justification for constructing additional power plants.
Eric Wagner
Walden, Colorado
In response to your article about benefits from releasing water from Glen Canyon Dam (HCN, 7/22/96), I called the Bureau of Reclamation in late April, and their best projection was that 104,000,000 kwh of hydro generation would be lost due to the release.
It takes more than 60,000 tons of coal to generate that much electricity in the average conventional power plant. So, the environmental downside of releases that bypass the turbines is more air pollution and an increase in justification for constructing additional power plants.
Eric Wagner
Walden, Colorado