How Hydro Can Boost Irrigation and Municipal Water

By Kris Polly

Alan Lackner is the new head of Columbia Basin Hydropower (CBHP), which manages seven hydropower facilities built on the canals and infrastructure of the Columbia Basin Project by its three constituent irrigation districts. We speak with Mr. Lackner about this important synthesis of hydropower and irrigated agriculture, discuss how CBHP offsets costs for local farmers, and learn about the organization’s planned upgrades and envisioned projects.

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. In Henry Obermeyer’s case, necessity came in the form of a typo in a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission document that required him to do the seemingly impossible. In response, he created a type of pneumatically controlled spillway gate that has become the foundation of Obermeyer Hydro, the business he started more than 25 years ago. In our interview, Mr. Obermeyer tells us more about his products and their applications.

InPipe Energy has created the HydroXS, a micro hydro system that converts excess pressure in existing municipal and industrial water pipelines into clean, renewable energy. Recently, that attractive proposition has become even better: With a new, patented process, the HydroXS can now run at variable speeds, making it even more efficient. Founder and CEO Gregg Semler tells us more.

Next, we speak with John Letal, the general manager of Iris Power, which provides a comprehensive suite of tools and services designed to monitor and maintain generators and other hydropower equipment. We get a full look at Iris’s range of products and learn how they benefit customers.

Malcolm Woolf is the president and CEO of the National Hydropower Association, the leading hydro industry body. In our interview, we learn about the association’s current top issues and goals.

Andy Dunau is retiring after three decades at the helm of the Foundation for Water and Energy Education, which exists to provide balanced information about hydropower as the leading renewable energy resource in the Northwest. In our conversation, Mr. Dunau tells us about the foundation’s activities and how it has reacted to demands for sustainability, industry workforce issues, increasing power demand, and more.

This month’s articles illustrate the fact that hydropower naturally integrates with other water sector industries, including irrigated agriculture and municipal water. There are many opportunities to increase hydropower production using existing water conveyance structures and pipelines, boosting clean power production and providing a source of revenue for further improvements.

Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Hydro Leader magazine and the president and CEO of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.