Hyrum has applied to renew its license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) so it can continue operating the dam about 10 miles up from the canyon's mouth.
Not only does it provide cheap electricity - about 7 cents a kilowatt hour - the seven-acre lake above the dam also is used for fishing and picnicking, said Brent Jensen, city administrator.
“We contemplated shutting it down . . . [but] we have a history of power generation. It is part of our community.”
The dam, located near Hardware Ranch, was built in the late 1920s and, at the time, was able to provide most of the electrical needs of the Cache County community.
Today, it produces 2,000 to 3,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month, only 4 percent to 5 percent of the needs for the city's more than 6,700 residents.
“Even though it's a small amount, it's by far our least-expensive source of energy,“ Jensen said. “It makes economic sense to keep it there.”
This may be the last relicensing, however, because the cost of completing the administrative process is high, he said. He expects the city will pay $200,000 for consultants and studies before the license is renewed.
The dam is on the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, and the Forest Service is one of a number of agencies being consulted about the project.
In a letter to FERC, forest Supervisor Faye Krueger suggested Hyrum put more study into the dam's effects on water quality and fish, particularly the Bonneville cutthroat trout - a sensitive species that soon could be listed as endangered.
There's also a question of whether the fish ladder at the dam is adequate, Krueger wrote.
“Our role in this is to help Hyrum City work through this FERC process and protect the resources . . . to be as light on the land as possible, with minimal impacts on fish,” said Rob Cruz, district ranger for the Logan area.
Hyrum also wants to refurbish the aging dam, but that will cost several million dollars, Jensen said.
The state Division of Water Rights last summer designated it as a hazardous dam because, if the dam fails, people could die in the two campgrounds or several homes downstream.
Matt Lindon, a dam safety engineer, said the designation does not mean the dam is unsafe. It only reflects what is downstream.
The Hyrum dam is one of 150 given the “hazardous” designation in Utah. It will probably take Hyrum five years to rise to the top of the priority list so it will be eligible to have the state pay 80 percent of repair costs, he said.
kmoulton@sltrib.com
