OCR Text |
Show Opportunities for Further Development of Primary Facilities There are in the basin opportunities for the de- velopment of primary facilities for irrigation, hy- droelectric power production, and navigation. Some of these possibilities are being taken advan- tage of in projects now being constructed, or in those authorized for near-term construction. Others remain for future review and considera- tion. The major opportunities appear to be in the construction of hydroelectric generating facilities, with important but lesser developments possible for irrigation and navigation. Hydroelectric Power It is estimated that there are 387 additional sites capable of development in the basin, suitable for an installed capacity of approximately 31 million1 TABLE 2.-Potential hydroelectric power in Columbia River Basin Number of projects Installed capacity Average annual generation EXISTING HT1>BOELKCTEIC POWEB Constructed projects: Federal... 8 41 Kilowatts 1,969,387 930,720 1,000 kUo-watt-hours 13,783.000 6,134,000 Non-Federa! * Total......... 49 2,900,107 19,917,000 UNDEVELOPED HYDBOELECTRIC JPOWER Projects under construction: Federal... ....... 7 0 2,603,500 16,993,000 Non-Federsl... Total... ¦ 7 14 365 2,503,500 * 7,470,100 » 21,395,900 16,993,000 '39,283,000 •92,749,000 Authorized projects: Federal..... Other projects. _........... Total undeveloped power..... 387 31,369,500 149,025,000 Total potential power........ 436 34,269,607 168,942,000 12,500 kilowatts or more installed capacity. 'Includes additional installations authorized at existing Federal plants. * Includes additions to and redevelopments of existing plants. Source: Federal Power Commission, 1950. kilowatts, and average annual generation of 149 billion kilowatt-hours. Projects are in construc- tion, or authorized for construction, on 21 of these sites, for 9.9 million kilowatts installed capacity, and 56 billion kilowatt-hours generation annually. (See table 2.) There remain accordingly about 21 million kilowatts capacity for future possible de- velopments, with estimated annual generation of 93 billion kilowatt-hours annually. These poten- tial developments are widely scattered over the basin, although a large part of the potential capac- ity is on the main stem of the Columbia and the lower courses of the main tributaries. Irrigation of New Lands A rough estimate of the irrigable but now unir- rigated lands of the basin is 4 million acres, dis- tributed from southeastern Idaho and western Montana to the Willamette Valley. Of this land, 2.4 million acres are included in projects investi- gated in sufficient detail to be suggested for possible future development or recommended for authori- zation by the Bureau of Reclamation. Facilities for the eventual servicing of about a million acres more are now under construction in central Wash- ington.2 Therefore a total of about 3 million acres remains for possible future irrigation developments in all parts of the basin. This includes a number of small potential enterprises which it may be pos- sible for local organizations to develop, provided credit and technical assistance are available. Navigation The Columbia region is well situated in having a river channel of substantial flow leading into its heart. Development of this channel for bulk transportation of timber, minerals, and farm prod- ucts is a natural part of a complete river plan. A channel between the river mouth and Lewiston, Idaho, will be opened to medium-draft barge traffic when projects authorized or in construction are completed. 1 Some es-timates of capacity in the basin have been as high as 5O million kilowatts. * This acreage will be serviced provided present reser- vations around the Hanford, Wash., atomic energy plant do not remain permanent. At present these reserva- tions are for 107,500 acres of potentially irrigable land included in the project. However, it is likely that only about 45,000 acres of this, or 4 J/2 percent of the project irrigable land area, will be permanently reserved. 22 |