IF A PROPOSAL TO ENLARGE FISH habitat by releasing more water from five dams on the White river System in Arkansas, US is adopted by Congress next year, it could cost the Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA) an estimated US$10M a year in a worst-case scenario.
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was authorised by Congress in 1999 to study a proposal to reallocate water in the five USACE operated dams on the White river system. The releases amount to 0.5m in Beaver Lake; 0.6m in Table Rock Lake; 1.0m in Norfork Lake; 1.5m in Bull Shoals Lake; and 0.9m in Greers Ferry Lake.
SWPA, a division of the US Department of Energy, sells electricity from 24 hydroelectric stations to cities and electric cooperatives in six states, which in turn retail to some 7 million consumers.
