November 5th

The emergency spillway concrete core wall repair is essentially complete.  The core wall repair is complete, backfill placed and compacted.  There is one final pour of concrete to finish the deck cover and some final cleanup activities to complete, however, Consumers is prepared to start refilling the pond beginning this afternoon, Thursday November 5.  A major part of the reason for beginning immediately is the relatively high flows in the Au Sable as discussed below.
The fish habitat improvement work in the Mio Pond has also been completed by Huron Pines RC&D.  
Due to recent rains, the Au Sable flow at the Red Oak gauge is reading about 980 cfs, Mio gauge is about 1200 cfs and Foote is pushing about 1500 cfs.  That's about 200 cfs above average flow rates for this time of year.  Starting immediately will allow us to take advantage of those higher flows to get the pond refilled, while still being able to minimize any potential flow reduction impact that will be seen downstream.
Based on current conditions,  the Mio Operators will begin reducing flow from Mio approximately 100 cfs, or by about 10% of the Red Oak flow.  This should equate to slightly less than a 0.5 foot per day increase in pond level.  The Operators will continue to adjust the Mio outflow in relationship to the Red Oak gauge as river conditions change - generally sticking with a target 10% reduction.  This decrease in flow is expected to have a minimal impact on the outflow from Foote.  If we see a need to change that plan we will get you an update or if someone has concerns about what they're seeing downstream - please let us know.
In other news, the Foote auto controls are being completed and following a shop test, which Consumers will monitor next week, should arrive on site the week of November 16.  Installation and testing is expected to begin around Thanksgiving.   Consumers will initially operate Foote on the auto controls during the day when an Operator can monitor the Project.  Off-hours will return to manual until experience is gained with the new system.


 

October 15, 2009

Met with Consumers Energy and Michigan DNR.  All sure sounded good!  Was told automated system would be installed in November at Foote Dam.  What this should do is stop the huge fluctuations in the water levels in our steelhead water on the lower Au Sable.  The automated system is suppose to take out operators predicting the water coming down the river - instead running dam right off of the upstream dam's data (Mio and Alcona) that are in run of river operations.  Hopefully we see some improvements this fall and winter.  This could really improve the steelhead run!!

 

Another article that was written by Eric Sharp of the Detroit Free Press after meeting in Oscoda with Consumers Energy.  A big thank you to Eric Sharp!
 
 

Dam right: Consumers will act on water woes

February 12, 2009

OSCODA -- Last year, anglers believed that Consumers Energy blew off their complaints about huge fluctuations in water levels that screwed up steelhead fishing on the Au Sable River below Foote Dam.

However, there was no question that the company was taking the angler's complaints seriously Tuesday when about 50 fishermen met with a half-dozen Consumers engineers and dam operators to come up with a solution -- automate Foote dam.

The two dams that are the farthest upstream on the Au Sable have computer-controlled, automated systems to make constant small changes in the pond water levels in response to the amount of water coming downstream. But Foote, the last dam downstream, is among four that still rely on operators to gauge when to keep water in and when to let it out.

When those operators leave at night, they must try to predict what the water levels will do while they are gone and set the flow gates accordingly, and those predictions are based on information from U.S. Geological Survey gauges that measure the current flow at various places.

But sometimes because of conditions, accurate predictions are nearly impossible.

Company officials said they had decided that putting an automated system in at Foote would not stop fluctuations in river levels below the dam, but it should spread them out over a 12- to 15-hour period and dampen the amplitude of the swings in water level.

There's a simple reason that Consumers works so hard to keep the pond levels within the parameters set by the dam licenses. Each time the water goes above or below those levels, Consumers must file a report with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and too many such reports could result in penalties and even make it tough for Consumers to get the dams relicensed in 2034.

In other words, there are serious penalties for messing up the water levels above Foote Dam, but not for changes in the water levels below it.

The company also must keep the pond levels within given limits to satisfy people who have homes on the ponds and own docks and boat moorings, and to meet state and federal efforts to minimize erosion along the shorelines.

Officials from the U.S. Forest Service and Consumers said they hoped to see the new automated system installed at Foote by next fall, and while most of the anglers took a wait-and-see attitude toward that announcement, they were more hopeful.

"At least the company is listening," said Kelly Neuman, an Au Sable steelhead guide who lives in Fairview. "Last year we had a meeting, and all they did was talk at us, not with us. Now I think we'll work something out."

 
 
 
Here is an article that was written by Eric Sharp of the Detroit Free Press and is in Jan 22nd sport section regarding the lower Au Sable. Hopefully telling the public about this problem will help! In the past that has been a problem on the Au Sable with no writers/authors willing to help. A big thank you to Eric Sharp!
 
 

Au Sable flow frustrates anglers

Consumers Energy blamed for problem

BY ERIC SHARP • FREE PRESS OUTDOORS WRITER • January 22, 2009

 
Thousands of stream fishermen have bemoaned the collapse of the Lake Huron salmon fishery, where they used to troll for salmon offshore and intercept the chinooks when they entered the handful of rivers that offered some spawning gravel on the Michigan side.

However, there's a ray of hope for those anglers; in the past couple of years there has been a significant increase in the winter and spring steelhead fishery in the 11 miles of the Au Sable River below Foote Dam.

The fishing is still well below the peak of 10 years ago, and the steelhead have almost no chance of reproducing successfully because that part of the Au Sable gets too warm in summer.

Some of the few chinook salmon in the lake still make a fall spawning run and can produce young. And from about November to April the steelhead give it the old college try, and a number of dedicated anglers still brave frigid temperatures and knee-deep snow to try to catch them.

But that has been a lot tougher this winter, many say, because of rapid and wild fluctuations in the water flow caused by Consumers Energy Co. trying to maintain specified water levels in the pond above the dam.

Kelly Neuman, a salmon and steelhead guide from Fairview who fishes the Au Sable in winter, says the fluctuations are destroying the fishery and often leave large stretches of gravel exposed to sub-zero temperatures that no fish eggs can withstand.

"We've seen times when the river below the dam has gone from 1,000 or 1,200 cubic feet per second (CFS) to 500 or 600 CFS in less than an hour," he said. "And Consumers can't seem to get a handle on maintaining the levels in the pond. We had some of these same problems last year, and they said it was because a new employee made some mistakes. But now we're seeing the same thing again this winter. It seems like whenever they can't come up with another answer, Consumers blames it on operator error."

Foote is one of a series of hydroelectric dams built on the Au Sable between 1911 and 1924, but today they produce a total of about 41,000 kilowatts of electricity, or enough to run a town of about 20,000 people. That's insignificant considering Consumers' total production of 40-billion kilowatts. But all energy companies now fiercely protect old hydroelectric dams because the dams represent a significant portion of energy from renewable sources that are required under government mandates.

Kyle Kruger, a senior fisheries biologist from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, has been dealing with Consumers and complaining anglers, and he said one major problem is that the water levels above the Foote Dam are controlled by a manual system, while other dams upstream have automated systems that keep the water level more even.

"Another part of it isn't so much the size of the fluctuation as the speed at which the water goes up and down. If we came up with a system that changed the flow by 300 CFS over 12 hours instead of in 15 minutes, it would let the fishermen plan their day and let the fish settle down," he said.

And for the past two winters, large increases in the amount of ice forming on the river and snowmelt during thaws have made changes in the water flow even more unpredictable and difficult to manage. The extreme cold weather also requires that the hydroelectric plant at the dam run at higher capacity simply to keep the plant warm, Kruger added.

But Neuman said the erratic flows at Foote don't start until other dams upstream cut back their production during the winter ice season, and he believes some planning and operation modification on the part of the electric company could result in a far more natural flow in the Au Sable below Foote dam.

Bob Stuber, fisheries manager for the Huron-Manistee natural forest that lines much of the Au Sable, wrote in an e-mail that the problems at Foote were not anticipated when the dam was relicensed in 1992 under an agreement that most people thought would see environmental improvements.

Stuber has called for a public meeting of any and all interested parties for a "frank, open discussion."

Consumers Energy spokesman Kelly Hall said the meeting with interest groups would be held Feb. 14 in Oscoda. He added that because the company has a state mandate to double its renewable energy output from the present 5% to 10% by 2015, the hydroelectric plants represent a significant part of that goal.

Neuman and some angling and conservation groups want the DNR to charge Consumers with violating the 1992 re-licensing agreement, but Kruger said that anglers don't understand that a court would be unlikely to shut down the Foote hydroelectric plant.

But he said that because Consumers and other energy companies are so eager to retain these old hydroelectric systems, it gives environmentalists, anglers and state agencies a powerful bargaining chip in convincing to make changes that would improve the river flow.

 

 

A meeting at the AmericInn of Oscoda (see address below) has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 10 beginning at 7:00 PM to discuss concerns regarding the Au Sable River.  At 3:00 PM on Tuesday, February 10 arrangements have also been made to visit the Foote Dam powerhouse.  

Topics to be discussed during the meeting are 1) what are the license requirements regarding operations for the six dams, 2) a discussion of run-of-river, peaking and re-regulation, 3) a brief discussion of the available data, 4) a discussion of potential alternatives being looked into.  The primary focus of the meeting will be to discuss what can be done to address the operating concerns and maintain compliance with the project license.  

Dave McIntosh
Hydro Generation
Consumers Energy Company

Americlnn Of Oscoda
720 E Harbor St.
Oscoda, MI 48750
989-739-1986

 

 

 
 
Jan 15th - Here is photo taken by Shawn Tidball showing how low river has been let run by Consumers Energy today.  Many sections of the river bottom are sitting dry now.  Those that oversee operations (DNR, US Forest Service, etc) are not doing there job in my opinion and that is just putting my views mildly!  The Au Sable Big Water Preservation Association lead by Tom Buhr has really stepped up and shown a commitment to the river by seeking legal council on this issue www.asbwpa.org    I sure hope more conservation groups, fly fishing guides & business and concerned citizens get involved.
 
New regional coordinator keeps telling me how he will stand up for what is right, really he states if data shows in the future he will stand up for us, (no backbone approach the way I see it) on the Au Sable River. If you do not like the way the current problem is being handled then tell him so.
Kurt R. Newman, Ph.D.
Lake Huron Basin Coordinator
Fisheries Division
Michigan Department of Natural Resources P.O. Box 30446 Lansing, MI 48909 office (517)241-3623
FAX (517)373-0381
NewmanK@michigan.gov
 
 
 
Jan 15th - Why all of the ice build up?  Flows went for 1500cfs to 500cfs.  Currents are so slow water is just freezing up.  There is lots of water, ice and snow upstream and hopefully problem gets corrected very soon!
 
 
 
 
 
Jan 9th - Foote Dam and the way it has been operated has been the topic of discussion of late.  I have received emails from lots of steelhead anglers and it is very to nice hear how many people really care.  Finally the right people are looking into the way Consumers is running thing here.  Here is statement I got yesterday from the US Forest Service and it is sounding very good:

Today the Resource Agency and Michigan Hydro Re-Licensing Coalition representatives had a conference call with Consumers Energy to discuss the recent concerns that you have raised regarding flow fluctuations in the Au Sable River that have occurred this winter.  I would like to see these issues resolved.
First, I acknowledge that there are problems achieving the desired run-of-river flow regime (including the re-regulated flow out of the Foote Project to simulate a run-of-river operation if no dams were in place upstream).  There are problems with the accuracy of the USGS data in some instances (e.g., when icing yield erroneous readings).  There are also problems in the manual operation in terms of anticipating what is going to happen with future flows based on the upstream gauge data and weather events.  Bottom line is that achieving the desired run-of-river flow regime below the Foote project is not as easy as we thought when the license articles for this were agreed upon back in 1992.
Having said that, this does not mean that efforts cannot be made to improve the operations to try and get closer to our desired target of run-of-river flows below the Foote Project during the winter months.  It is my recommendation to Consumers Energy that we (Resource Agencies, MHRC, Consumers, and yourself as concerned publics) sit down to discuss the following in the near future to try to improve operational flow regimes in the Au Sable River, primarily below the Foote Project.  I think it's important to have frank, open discussion on the following items:


From my perspective, we are all in this together whether one is a Resource Agency biologist, a river guide, an employee of Consumers Energy, or a conservation organization member.  I believe each of us wants the best thing for the river and we need to work together to achieve this as best we can realistically do so.
Please let me know if you would like to meet at a location of your convenience where we could discuss these issues and work together to improve the winter flow conditions on the Au Sable River below the Foote Project.


Bob Stuber
Fisheries Biologist, Huron-Manistee National Forests
U.S. Forest Service
1755 South Mitchell Street
Cadillac, MI  49601
(231) 775-5023  Extension 8763
email: rstuber@fs.fed.us

 

 
Jan 3rd - The graph above shows how poorly Consumers has operated the dams on the Au Sable in December.  Pink is Foote, blue is Alcona, and yellow is above all the dam.  The operations at these dams is supposed to mimic the river above dams (yellow line) and you can all see the problem.  Drastic flows changes at Foote Dam negatively effect our winter steelhead fishing and are poor for the river.  Last winter we had meeting in Oscoda with Consumers and a number of the overseeing agencies (DNR, US Forest, and a few others) and many anglers expressed there views on how poor operations have been the last couple of winters.  This year the same problems and same bull shit from Consumers.  Here is Consumers lame explanation:
This is a follow-up note from our evaluation of the changes in flow at Foote that occurred on 12-20.
I've also included a graph that Dave McIntosh prepared using the USGS data over the last several days for the Curtisville, Au Sable and Red Oak gauges overlaid on a plot so we can see the inter-relationship of all of the flows.
The variation in flow on 12-17 was caused by having to use spill at Alcona for the passage of water due to the transmission system owner, ITC, performing maintenance on the transmission line.  The spill tube gates at Alcona by their design, cannot be modulated, so they must be either fully opened or closed.  The generating load at Alcona had to be reduced due to the transmission line outage, so we had to use the open and closing of the spill tubes to maintain flow and headwater level at the Plant during that time. The Operators at Alcona attempted to maintain an overall run-of-river average flow coming from Alcona during the ITC maintenance activity.  The Operators at Foote did not try and mimic the flow oscillations at Alcona, knowing that the Alcona Operators were attempting to maintain run-of-river.  The maintenance activity was completed by about 2200 and by about 0000 on 12-18 Alcona was back to normal operation.
Moving ahead to 12-18 at about 1600, the flow at Alcona starts dropping and continues to drop until about 0630 on 12-19, Alcona is automatically responding to changes in pond level.  At 0930 the Operator at Foote started to reduce flow in response to the reduced flow from Alcona.  As flows begin to rise at Alcona, the Foote Operator adjusts flow and at about 1445 increases flow at Foote until it eventually levels off at about 1330 cfs.  At about 1600 on 12-19 Alcona flows start to drop, turn and peak out slightly at 2145 and then start dropping to a low flow of 715 cfs by 1000 on 12-20.  In response, the Foote operator started to initiate a flow reduction at Foote at about 0945 on 12-20 to follow the Alcona flow down until a flow of 800 cfs is reached at about 1230 hours.  At about 1415, the Foote Operator starts to increase flow again.
 Like I mentioned in one of my previous notes, the Operators at Foote don't solely look at the flows out of one pond or a single gauge reading to set the flows at Foote, as they are also responding to the headwater level of the Foote pond.  The change in flow that was made at Foote was also complicated by the flow having reduced to below that which we could operate two units, so while the Operator was reducing the overall flow, he was also adjusting the flow down on one unit to remove the unit from service while adjusting it up on another unit to carry the flow from the other unit.
Making flow adjustments for Foote in real time during winter conditions on the Au Sable is complicated by the natural obstructions caused by River icing and the effect on the flow gauges of the ice retaining and releasing staged water unpredictably.  We've also seen the overnight temperature drops impact not only the River flow, but also the flow contributed by the tributaries.  The rise on the Red Oak gauge starting on 12-21shown on the plot as it appears to be getting iced in is one of the items that demonstrates where Operator judgement is necessary when adjusting flow and there is not a typical pattern to how long or how much the flow or the gauge will be affected, so they make their best estimate.
If the Operator had not taken the action to reduce the flow at Foote, the falling headwater level at Foote would have continued to fall due to the reduced upstream flow from Alcona into the rest of the River.  After the initial reduction was made, the Operator adjusted the flow back up on 12-20 as the Foote headwater level started to recover.
We are always looking to optimize the adjustment of re-regulation flows at Foote to try to minimize the impact on the downstream habitat.  We will also commit to making the flow changes as gradual as possible within the limits of the equipment while still meeting our license requirements.
Here is my reply back to them:
For the last year many have told you how the drastic flow changes negatively affect the lower Au Sable and our steelhead fishing but you continue to just try and explain it away.  Never once have we heard something like:  Maybe we can try to help the problem and make a few changes.  Shutting Foote down to a level below all of the upstream dams and below Red Oak will always be poor operations!  Looking at the data that you gave me I do not see how operations should be as complicated as you state.  What I see is lots of over compensating flow changes by the dam operations causing system to look more complicated than it is.  During the time on the graph you attached, flows coming from the upper river (above Mio Dam) are very constant over each 24 hour period.  I thought run-of-river operations was supposed to monitor the flows coming in and mimic the natural running river upstream.  When you compare Red Oak to Mio & Alcona they have basically nothing in common and do not look like the same river.   It appears to me that your operations are trying to keep ponds level at all cost by sacrificing flows in many sections of the river.
 
I was under the impression that Foote was operating as a re-regulation project (not run-of-river) because of the peaking dams (Cooke, Five Channels, Loud) upstream and there operations caused problems with run-of-river.  Now you state peaking project have not been operating since Oct 21st so that major factor has not even been involved in operating Foote during winter periods.  During peaking operations the bulk of flows are passed into ponds during a short period of time causing pond levels to fluctuate.  Now on Dec 20th you stated that Foote had to be changed from 1400 to 802 cfs so that Foote Pond’s level would stay constant.  During peaking operations you have no problem raising and lowering pond levels but now you would rather trash the steelhead water for a day to keep Foote Pond constant!  Shortly after this all flows come right back like they always do from a cold night.  Flows could have been cut 10% to 20% at the dams on Dec 20th and all would have run just fine.  The major flow changes were not from the river is was from your operations.
 
If you are sick of these actions then drop emails today to this people and tell them about it:
Consumers: David McIntosh: dcmcintosh@cmsenergy.com
US Forestry: rstuber@fs.fed.us
DNR: krugerk@michigan.gov
Consumers: William Schoenlein: waschoenlein@cmsenergy.com
 
 
 
 
Dec. 20th - Here is flow graph from Foote Dam this past week and you can see how water levels were almost cut in half on Saturday.  This show extremely poor operations from Consumers at Foote Dam.  Last year this was the norm and hopefully this is not the case this winter also.  When flows drop like this the steelhead bite is basically over and this is very poor for the river.  Consumers is still sticking to the story that these changes are need to keep system in check.  If you are sick of these actions then drop emails today to this people and tell them about it:
Consumers: David McIntosh: dcmcintosh@cmsenergy.com
US Forestry: rstuber@fs.fed.us
DNR: krugerk@michigan.gov
Consumers: William Schoenlein: waschoenlein@cmsenergy.com
 
 

 

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