Stage 8 went from Arch Lewis Canyon Lake to Martin Tank Lake. The Martin Tank Lake dam is 22260 feet wide and 230 feet high. The Lake will contain about 30,000 Acre-ft when full, about eighteen hours worth of storage.
plus The elevation at the Martin Tank lake will top out at 4620 feet with maximum water level at 4610 feet. The aqueduct will first descend to 3980 feet, as it crosses the Rio Grande in La Mesa, a distance of 50 miles. The elevation difference is (4620 – 3980 – 50 X 2.2) feet = 530 feet. Releasing 24,000 cfs of water 530 feet will generate 1 GW of energy for 19 hrs/day. From La Mesa it will climb to the Poppy Canyon lower Reservoir. The dam is 480 feet high and will top out at 4680 feet with a maximum water level at 4650 feet. The Poppy Canyon is special and will be described more in Leg 10. The total lift of the water in stage 9 is (4320 – 3980 + 160×2.2) feet = 692 ft. To lift 24,000 cubic feet per second 692 feet requires five 100 MW LFTR nuclear reactors, plus the energy generated from the early decrease in altitude. The Poppy Canyon Reservoir will look like this:
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 