Engineering – Page 2 – Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment.

The Transcontinental Aqueduct, spur 14: The Wilson Canyon Solar farm and pumped storage plant.

One of the many problems facing solar farms is that they produce electricity only when the sun shines, which is less than half the time, so for the rest of the time electricity must be provided some other way. Historically peak power demands were provided by pumped storage plant, but very few have been built since the 70’s. Peak power is now supplied by natural gas electric plants, which is for now the most economic solution. If we want to get real about reducing our fossil fuel dependence, pumped storage must be looked at seriously, especially when changing our vehicle fleet from gasoline or diesel fuel to electric power source.

Here is spur 14 proposal sketch

Spur 14 is 100 miles long, starting at 3000′ and ending at 4700′

Dam 1 is the White Oaks Canyon Lake. To fill this lake in a year requires Spur 14 to have a capacity of 120 cfs. It will require 190 GWh to fill the lake from the aqueduct.. It has a 2000 feet wide and up to 480 feet high dam, topping out at 5140 feet, and the lake holds a volume of up to 100,000 acre-ft of water.

Dam 2 dams the Pine Canyon dam. It has a 2,200 feet wide and up to 240 feet high dam, topping out at 5,620 feet, and the lake holds a water volume of up to 60,000 acre-ft. Water is pumped from and released to the White Oaks Canyon lake to the Pine Canyon pumped storage via a 2 mile tunnel.

Dam 3 dams the Sitting Bull Canyon well above the Sitting Bull Falls recreation area. It has a 2,000 feet wide and up to 360 feet high dam, topping out at 5,610 feet, and the lake holds a water volume of up to 40,000 acre-ft. Water is pumped from and released to the White Oaks Canyon lake to the Pine Canyon pumped storage via a 2.4 mile tunnel.

How much energy will it generate per day? Dam 2 will release 60,000 acre-ft for 5 hrs generating 45 GWh per day or 9 GW of peak power for 5 hrs. Dam 3 will release 40,000 acre-ft for 5 hrs generating 28 GWh per day or 5.6 GW of peak power for 5 hrs. To again fill dam 2 and 3 will require 17 GW of power from the solar panels. An alternate power would be 4.5 GW of LFTR power plants, generating 4.5 GW of alternate peak power when water is released.

This pumped storage plant will add another 70% to the U.S. pumped storage capacity.

The Transcontinental aqueduct Leg 12: From the East Diversion dam to connecting to the Central Arizona aqueduct 45 miles WNW of Phoenix.

Leg 12 of the Transcontinental aqueduct is complicated. The total length of this segment is 105 miles, 20 miles is a 6,200 cfs aqueduct, and 85 miles is the Gila River. This map may help explain it:

But there is a problem that must be solved. Gila River is now mostly dry, and goes through an Indian reservation. The Gila River used to provide about 1.3 Million Acre-ft per year, snow-melt and monsoon rains providing nearly all of it, but was seasonally dry. Now all the water and then some is spoken for, so the Indians get nothing, and without water you can do no farming, so the reserve is largely depopulated. See map:

The home of the Gila River Indian Community The Salt and Gila Rivers flow east to west. Present day dams that divert the Salt River into a series of canals are indicated. Roosevelt Dam was completed in 1911, creating Theodore Roosevelt Lake, and Coolidge Dam was completed in 1930. Important locations include the Casa Grande structure, an artifact of the Hohokam times, and the city of Florence, site of the Florence Canal, which is described in the text. The Gila Indians today live on the Reserve shown, with headquarters at Sacaton. The related Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indians live on a separate reserve on the Salt.

In Phase 1, the Gila River will free flow. In Phase 2 there will be a55 mile aqueduct thru the Indian reserve dimensioned for 10,000 cfs flow. It will provide some power with a drop of over 400 feet. The maps will look like this:

Leg 12 east starts out at 1580′ and ends at Arlington Dam, 795′

Leg 12 west starts at Arlington dam, 705′ and ends at the CAP canal at 1,380′

Total power required for Leg 12 is 160 MW for phase 1 and 320 MW for Phase 2. Since it is continuous it is best served by three 100 MW LFTR reactors.

In Phase 2 the CAP aqueduct will be replaced by one that flows from east to west, and the Mark Wilmer pumping station will be converted to the Mark Wilmer generating station with the same capacity. Electricity generated will be 16% less than the energy that used to be consumed to pump up the water.

Mark Wilmer PP Aerial March 29, 2012 Central Arizona Project photo by Philip A. Fortnam

What is in it for Arizona? The Greater Phoenix area will get an increased water supply from the canal,since Tucson is already served in Leg 11. The Gila Indian reserve will get back the water supply that was taken away from them, a way of reparation, and will again make the Gila Indian reserve a viable community.

The Transcontinental Aqueduct. Leg 10: The highest pumping station in Arizona to San Carlos Lake, a distance of 93 miles.

The aqueduct stage of this leg is 32 miles and is generating power.The drop is average (4,200 – 3,000 – 32×2.2) = 1,130 feet. The maximum flow is 16,800 cfs. This stage is capable of generating maximum 1.4 GW of power 24 hours a day. Then it drains into Gila River for 47 miles, following 14 miles of San Carlos lake, for a total of 93 miles.

San_Carlos_Lake is located within the 3,000-square-mile (7,800 km²) San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, and is thus subject to tribal regulations. It has been full only three times, in 1993 it overflowed the spillway and about 35,000 cfs of water caused erosion damage to natural gas pipelines. The lake contained (April 6,2021) less than 100 acre-ft of water. All fish was dead.

When former President Coolidge dedicated the dam in 1930, the dam had not begun to fill. Humorist Will Rogers looked at the grass in the lake bed, and said, “If this were my dam, I’d mow it.”^[

When the Transcontinental aqueduct is built the lake will always be nearly filled, level will be at 2510 feet with flood control nearly automatic, it will never overflow, and it will look like this, or better:

The San Carlos lake, when filled will hold 1,000,000 acre-ft of water. Here it is half filled.

The Coolidge dam will have to be retrofitted to accommodate a 17,000 cfs water flow. When water starts flowing at half capacity, 8,400 cfs in phase 1 of the building project it will take 2 months to fill the lake.

What’s in it for Arizona? The San Carlos Lake has been a great disappointment. It is more often empty than even half full, and when it is empty, all fish die. With The Gila river will be rejuvenated and will be able to carry fish again, making it the great recreation spot it was meant to be. In addition it will generate up to 1,4 GW of Power and carry up to 12 Million Acre-ft per year of water to the thirsty American South-west. In the first phase, while the aqueduct is built to full capacity, when the power stations have installed only half capacity, the flow will be 6 MAf per year, and power generated will be up to 700 MW.

The Transcontinental Aqueduct. Leg 11: The highest pumping station in Arizona to San Carlos Lake, a distance of 93 miles.

When former President Coolidge dedicated the dam in 1930, the dam had not begun to fill. Humorist Will Rogers looked at the grass in the lake bed, and said, “If this were my dam, I’d mow it.”^[

The San Carlos lake, when filled will hold 1,000,000 acre-ft of water.

The Coolidge dam will have to be retrofitted for a 25,000 cfs water flow

The Coolidge dam will have to be retrofitted for a 17,000 cfs water flow. When water starts flowing at half capacity, 8,400 cfs in phase 1 of the building project it will take 2 months to fill the lake.

The Transcontinental Aqueduct. Leg 10: Martin Tank Lake to the highest pumping station in Arizona, a distance of 200 miles.

The Martin Tank Lake dam is 2,260 feet wide and 230 feet high. The Lake will contain about 30,000 Acre-ft when full, about twenty-one hours worth of storage.

The elevation at the Martin Tank lake will top out at 5,220 feet with maximum water level at 5,210 feet. Because there is no water storage en route water will be pumped at all times at 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 (5,120 – 3980 – 50 X 2.2) feet = 1.030 feet. Releasing 16,900 cfs of water 1,030 feet will generate 1.285GW of energy continuously. From La Mesa it will climb to the highest pumping station in Arizona, located 10 miles west of the border, at 4,200 feet. The total lift of the water in stage 10 is (4,200 – 3980 + 160×2.2) feet = 572 ft. To lift 16,900 cubic feet per second 592 feet requires 892 MW of power, for a net electricity generation of 393 MW.

What’s in it for New Mexico and Arizona? Up to 16,900 cfs of soft water is being delivered to the thirsty south western states. This corresponds to 12 Million Acre-feet per year. The Colorado river contributes 15 MAF/year.

The Transcontinental Aqueduct. Leg 10: Martin Tank Lake to Poppy Canyon pumped storage reservoirs, a distance of 200 miles.

The Martin Tank Lake dam is 2,260 feet wide and 230 feet high. The Lake will contain about 30,000 Acre-ft when full, about eighteen hours worth of storage.

The elevation at the Martin Tank lake will top out at 5,220 feet with maximum water level at 5,210 feet. Because there is no water storage en route water will be pumped at all times at 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 (5,120 – 3980 – 50 X 2.2) feet = 1.030 feet. Releasing 16,900 cfs of water 1,030 feet will generate 1.285GW of energy continously. From La Mesa it will climb to the Poppy Canyon Upper Reservoir. The dam is 480 feet high and will top out at 5,400 feet with a maximum water level at 5,490 feet. The total lift of the water in stage 10 is (5,000 – 3980 + 160×2.2) feet = 1196 ft. To lift 16,900 cubic feet per second 1196 feet requires 1,508 MW of power, for a net need of 225 MW. This can be supplied by two 100 MW LFTR nuclear reactors, operating 24 hrs /day The Poppy Canyon Reservoir will look like this:

The Poppy Canyon is a pumped power storage, consisting of an upper dam:

Dam width 4,500′ height 540′ water storage 230,000 acre-ft

and a lower dam:

Dam width 4,500′ height 500′, water storage 200,000 acre-ft

The total lift of the water in the pumping stage is maximum (5,390 – 4,400) feet = 990 ft. and the minimum lift is 200ft, for an average lift of 350 ft. The pumping stage pumps up 10,000 acre-ft per hour for i9 hours needing maximum 10.7 GW of power. During the release stage 38,000 acre-ft of water is released per hour for a total power generation of 78 GWh / day of pumped storage electricity. In addition, the 107 100 MW LFTR SMRs will generate 53.5 GWh of virtual power storage when no water is pumped up.

What’s in it for New Mexico and Arizona? 16,900 cfs of soft water is being delivered to be divided among the south western states. In addition this stage will provide up to 133.5 GWh of pumped storage peak energy daily to help stabilize the grid when more solar power panels are installed and electric cats and trucks are recharged.

Leg 8 of the Transcontinental aqueduct. A 20 mile tunnel from the White Oaks Canyon dam and pumped storage plant to the North Hammock Canyon dam and pumped storage plant.

Dam 1 is the White Oaks Canyon Lake. It has a 2000 feet wide and up to 500 feet high dam, topping out at 5,140 feet, and the lake holds a volume of up to 80,000 acre-ft of water.

White Oaks Canyon dam, 500′ high, elevation 5140′

Dam 2 dams the Pine Canyon dam. It has a 2200 feet wide and up to 240 feet high dam, topping out at 5,620 feet, and the lake holds a water volume of up to 60,000 acre-ft. Water is pumped from and released to the White Oaks Canyon lake to the Pine Canyon pumped storage via a 2 mile tunnel.

Leg 8 consists of a tunnel, starting at 4,640 feet and ending at 4140 feet. The 20 mile long tunnel will drop 40 feet as it passes under the mountain. At the 16 mile mark there will be a 460′ vertical drop.

Dam 3 dams the Kingston Canyon lake. It has a 1600 feet wide and up to 250 feet high dam, topping out at 5,210 feet, and the storage holds a volume of up to 25,000 acre-ft of water.

Dam 4 dams the Upper Hammock Canyon Reservoir. It has a 3000 feet wide and up to 500 feet high dam, topping out at 4630 feet, and the lake holds a volume of up to 25,000 acre-ft of water.

Up to now all stages have pumped water uphill. This stage both generates peak power and pumps water. Let us first take the case for pumping water, Stage 1 thru 4.

Stage 1 pumps up to 60,000 acre-ft of water during the 19 off peak hours from an average height of 5,000′ in Dam 1 to an average height of 5,500 in dam 2,a lift of 500′ This requires 1,700 MW of power.

Stage 2, the first 16 miles of the tunnel. The water flow is down to 21,500 cfs , 19 hours a day. During these 19 hours 21,500 cfs flows down the tunnel, the power generated is coming from Dam 1 with a water level of between 4980 feet and 4700 feet with an average of 4940 feet. The tunnel will slope with a 2.2 ft per mile drop.

Stage 3. 16,000 cfs of the water will be pumped up to dam 3, with an average rise from 5,000 feet to between 5200 feet and 4930 feet, (average 5120) for 19 hours, an average lift of 160 feet. This requires a total of 230 MW of power .

Stage 4.The remaining 3,500 cfs of water will be released to dam 4 with an average drop of of 200 feet will generate about 60 MW of power.

Stages 1-4 requires a net power need of 1,570 MW during the 19 off-peak hours.

Stage 5 will release up to 60,000 acre-ft of water from Dam 2 to dam 1 during the 5 peak hours, dropping 500 feet, generating 5,500 WW of power, assuming a 92% generating efficiency.

Stage 6 will release up to 25,000 acre-ft of water from dam 3 to dam 4 during the 5 peak hours, dropping an average 600feet, generating 2.700 MW of power.

What’s in it for New Mexico? This leg is very important, since it will provide up to 41 GWh daily of pumped storage electricity to the national grid, and so make it possible to stabilize the net when more solar panels are installed. The 1,570 MW of power needed for this leg will hopefully come mostly from solar and wind power

Leg 7 of the Transcontinental aqueduct. From the Buffalo Soldier Draw dam to the White Oaks Canyon dam and pumped storage power plant.

Leg 7 of the Transcontinental aqueduct is 90 mils in Texas, rising from 2800′ to 3640′. From there it flows 115 miles in New Mexico rising to 5200′.

The upper dam of Soldier Mountain Draw, capacity 40,000 acre-ft.

The elevation at the buffalo Soldier Draw dam will top out at 2,850 feet with maximum water level at 2,830 feet. The White Oaks Canyon dam is 560 feet high and will top out at 5,240 feet with an average water level at 5,000 feet. The total lift of the water in stage 5 is (5,000 – 2,800 + 205×2) feet = 2610 ft. To lift 21,600 cubic feet per second 2610 feet requires fifty 100 MW LFTR nuclear reactors, twenty on the Texas Grid and thirty on the Western national grid. The White Oaks Canyon Lake will contain about 130,000 Acre-ft of water when full, about three days of storage. For 5 hours per day these fifty reactors used in this stage can provide 5.0 GW of peak power to the grid instead of pumping water, thus acting as a virtual hydroelectric peak power storage. 2 GW of this will be used by the Texas Power Grid, and 3 GW by the Western U.S. Power grid, and they have to be coordinated.The White Oaks dam will look like this:

What’s in it for Texas? Wind power is already 22% of the source for the Texas power grid, but Texas has up to now no pumped water storage, and until this is fixed coal and natural gas backup must be provided when the wind doesn’t blow. This leg will provide 2 GW of virtual hydro-power generation to the Texas power grid by not pumping water for up to 5 hours and thus provide 10 GWh of peak power daily. This will greatly help stabilize the Texas power grid, and facilitate the phasing out of coal power and help the transition to electric vehicles, which will add stress to the stability of the grid by their uneven recharging patterns.

What’s in it for New Mexico? This leg will provide 3 GW of virtual hydro-power generation by not pumping water for up to 5 hours and thus provide 15 GWh of peak power daily.

Leg 6 of the Transcontinental aqueduct. From Deadman Draw dam and pumped storage power plant to Buffalo Soldier Draw dam and optional pumped storage plant.

This leg has the freedom to pump water at 21,800 cfs or less, including stopping for up to 5 hrs/day to provide virtual peak hydro-power for the Texas grid. This must be coordinated with leg 5 and leg 7. Total distance of the aqueduct is 135 miles, from elevation 1830′ to elevation to 2840′.

From Deadman Draw dam to Buffalo Soldier Draw dam, a distance of 135 miles.

The water elevation at Deadman Draw dam is nominally 1,830 feet. The Buffalo Soldier Draw dam yet to be built will top out at 2,850 feet with maximum water level at 2,840 feet. The total lift of the water in stage 3 is (2,840 – 1,830 + 135×2) feet = 1,280 ft. To lift 21,800 cubic feet per second 1,280 feet requires twenty-five 100 MW LFTR nuclear reactors The upper reservoir will contain about 40,000 Acre-ft when full, about one day worth of storage. For 5 hours per day these twenty-five 100 MW reactors can provide 2.5 GW of peak power to the grid.

There will be a lower dam to provide hydroelectric power storage of 4.5 GWh, or 900 MW for 5 hours. After each use the lower dam will be re-emptied by pumping back the water to the upper dam, using 5.4 GWh of power, hopefully using surplus wind or solar power.

The aqueduct will go thru and dug sown at 1590’elevation

What’s in it for Texas? Wind power is already 22% of the source for the Texas power grid, but Texas has up to now no pumped water storage, and until this is fixed coal and natural gas backup must be provided when the wind doesn’t blow. This leg will provide 4.5 GWh of peak power per day from the pumped water storage. In addition the 2.3 GW of Nuclear power can provide virtual hydro-power generation by not pumping water for up to 5 hours and thus provide 6 GWh of peak power daily. This will greatly help stabilize the Texas power grid, and facilitate the phasing out of coal power and help the transition to electric vehicles, which will add stress to the stability of the grid by their uneven recharging patterns. I addition, the City of Lubbock can purchase water from the aqueduct, to be negotiated.

Leg 5 of the Transcontinental aqueduct. From Brad dam to Deadman Draw dam and pumped storage power plant.

The distance of leg 5 is 10 miles of water and 60 miles of aqueduct. This leg has the freedom to pump water at 22,000 cfs or less, including stopping for up to 5 hrs/day to provide virtual peak hydro-power for the Texas grid.

The elevation at Brad reservoir is nominally 1260 feet. From 25 miles East of Breckenridge the aqueduct goes W to 19.5 miles ENE of Abilene, a distance of 60 miles . The dam yet to be built will top out at 1840 feet with maximum water level at 1830 feet. The total lift of the water in stage 3 is (1830 – 1260 + 60×2) feet = 690 ft. To lift 22,000 cubic feet per second 690 feet requires twelve 100 MW LFTR nuclear reactors The upper Baird reservoir will contain about 90,000 Acre-ft when full, about two days worth of storage. For 5 hours per day these twelve 100 MW reactors can provide 1.2 GW of peak power to the grid. There will be a lower dam to provide hydroelectric power storage of 4 GWh, or 800 MW for 5 hours. After each use the lower dam will be re-emptied by pumping back the water to the upper dam, using 4.75 GWh of power, hopefully using surplus wind or solar power.

What’s in it for Texas? Wind power is already 22% of the source for the Texas power grid, but Texas has up to now no pumped water storage, and until this is fixed coal and natural gas backup must be provided when the wind doesn’t blow. This leg will provide 4 GWh of peak power per day from the pumped water storage. In addition the 1.2 GW of Nuclear power can provide virtual hydro-power generation by not pumping water for up to 5 hours and thus provide 6 GWh of peak power daily. This will greatly help stabilize the Texas power grid, and facilitate the phasing out of coal power and help the transition to electric vehicles, which will add stress to the stability of the grid by their uneven recharging patterns.