The federal agency responsible for licensing the Conowingo Dam stated that major new investments are needed at the facility to help fish get up the Susquehanna River, but expressed skepticism that dam owners should be required to dredge sediments that have built up behind the 100-foot structure.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement July 30 that summarizes key environmental issues stemming from the dam’s operation and how FERC staff believes those problems should be addressed in a new license for the facility.
FERC is taking comments on the draft EIS until Sept. 29. The EIS also addresses relicensing at the upstream York Haven Dam and the Muddy Run Pumped Storage project.
But the most controversial issues rest with the Conowingo Dam, the largest dam on the lower Susquehanna, which is located just 10 miles upstream from the Bay.
Its current 30-year operating license was to have expired Sept. 1, but FERC was widely expected to issue a one-year extension to Exelon, which owns the dam, while final issues are resolved for the new license, which could be for as long as 46 years.
The most controversial issue involved in the relicensing is what to do about sediment that has been accumulating behind the dam since it was completed in 1928. Studies show that the 14-mile reservoir behind the dam is reaching its capacity to hold sediment coming down the Susquehanna. As it nears capacity, more sediment and phosphorus could be transported to the Bay.
FERC staff generally endorsed Exelon’s sediment plan, which primarily calls for managing only sediment that affects dam operation and to conduct detailed surveys every five years to monitor sediment accumulations behind the dam.
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