May 14, 2014, Wednesday - A Sip of Science at Aster Cafe

Time: 5:30pm

Location: Aster Cafe (River Room) 125 SE Main Street

May Sip of Science: Minnesota Falls Dam Removal and River Restoration Project with
Tom MacDonald,  Barr Engineering and Jim Bodensteiner, Xcel Energy Company

NEW: RSVP for Sip of Science  (We thank Barr Engineering for sponsoring some refreshments for the event!)
 
The US has over 75,000 dams on our rivers, many of them smaller dams that have been in place for decades.  Many dams have outlived their original function, whether that includes hydropower generation, flood control, water supply or diversion or a combination of functions.  In many cases, dam removal has become an economical alternative to dam maintenance and repair needed to maintain dam stability for public safety.
 
Beyond providing a potential economical benefit, dam removal can offer the opportunity to ‘restore’ a river by reestablishing river hydrology and ecological connectivity.  Join us for the story of the Minnesota Falls dam removal, a 100+ year-old dam initially placed as part of a hydroelectric power project . Learn of the dam’s history and operation with Xcel Energy since 1917, Xcel’s partnership with Barr Engineering to assess different alternatives for dam removal, the actual dam removal process that occurred in 2012-2013, and the site monitoring that has since occurred.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Tom MacDonald is a Water Resources Engineer at Barr Engineering Company.  His expertise is in fluvial geomorphology, sediment transport, hydraulic modeling and dam removal.  His graduate work at the University of Minnesota’s St Anthony Falls Laboratory (long, long ago) emphasized evaluation of channel migration prediction for Minnesota streams.

Jim Bodensteiner is a Principal Environmental Analyst at Xcel Energy Company.  His work experience has entailed ecological study development, implementation and oversight, particularly related to the cooling water intakes for and the thermal discharges from the company’s many steam electric plants sited along rivers in the upper Midwest.  He works on water resource and water quality issues for the company, including work in waters (e.g. dam maintenance or repair) projects and including discharge permitting and compliance.  He has a B.S. in biology and conducted Graduate Fisheries Science work at the University of Minnesota.