Bear River dam removed

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Sep 10, 2006 by Associated Press

GRACE, Idaho -- An aging, out-of-service dam on the Bear River in southeastern Idaho is expected to be demolished by today, a move environmentalists say will improve the habitat for dwindling numbers of Bonneville cutthroat trout.

Pacificorp, the Utah-based utility that owns the 89-year-old Cove Dam near the town of Grace, says its destruction will also benefit utility customers.

The 7.5-megawatt dam had not generated power for several years after a flow line broke and the cost of repairs was considered too high to justify in relation to the revenue from the electricity the dam produced.

"As the region has grown, a plant like this is a relatively small part of our resources," Pacificorp spokesman Dave Eskelsen told the Idaho State Journal. "Hydroelectricity is still very valuable. It is always a hard choice to decommission a hydroelectric plant."

Friday, two-thirds of the concrete dam built in 1917 had been removed as part of the $3.2 million project that will include site rehabilitation work that is expected to be completed in the spring.

An agreement to remove the dam was signed in July between the utility and various groups and agencies, including the Shoshone- Bannock Indian tribe, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

Conservationists applauded the removal of the dam, the smallest of four on the Bear River.

"To me, it's a win-win," said Kevin Lewis, Conservation Director for Idaho Rivers United. "You restore some connectivity to the river system so the Bonneville cutthroat can move through and it's a cost- saving for power consumers."

Added Warren Colyer, a biologist with Trout Unlimited: "We were all glad to see it happen. We are pretty excited to be involved in a dam decommission."

But others see a bit of the area's history washing away with the destruction of the Cove Dam.

"I started here at Grace and I done a lot of work on that cold flume back in '46 and '47," said Virgil Roholt, a retired Utah Power employee Employee who lives in Grace. PacifiCorp operates as Utah Power in Idaho and Utah.

"In those days, it was really important," said Roholt. "It was really a money maker."