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Kathy Hochul, Governor
Mark M. Finkle, Chairman
John C. Callaghan, Executive Director
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Message from the
Executive Director
Update on Reservoir Elevations, HRBR Finances, Infrastructure Investments, Access Permits & Boating Safety!
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Water, Water, Everywhere
As of April 12, reservoirs under the Regulating District’s jurisdiction are more than full, having provided flood protection to downstream communities over the course of multiple rain – not snow – events over the winter months. This is atypical to say the least, as our storage reservoirs normally decrease in elevation – providing more storage – over the winter months when outflow from the reservoirs can greatly exceed inflow into the reservoirs. A central premise to this normal dynamic is that during the winter months, most precipitation falls as snow, at least in areas tributary to the reservoirs. The resulting snowpack does produce inflow, but typically not until late March, early April, when our target elevation rule curves show a pronounced increase in elevation.
This year, with the exception of the recent snowfall, we have already seen that inflow into the reservoirs. Essentially, this has put us up to 2 months ahead of schedule from a hydrology perspective. Does this mean we are not in a position to provide flood protection this spring if we receive heavy rainfall? Not at all. The impetus behind constructing the Conklingville Dam, for example, was reducing downstream flood peaks during events like the 1913 flood which devasted communities like Waterford, Troy, Cohoes, and Albany and galvanized public support for the creation of the Great Sacandaga Lake to reduce downstream flooding. Central to this reservoir functioning as intended is the ability to temporarily reduce much less outflow from the reservoir that the inflow coming in. The water that would naturally flow downstream in the Sacandaga River ultimately goes where gravity wants it to anyway, but it is the timing which is critical here, allowing the peak flood elevation to be reduced by spreading the extra water out over a greater period of time. Even when the reservoir is close to full, and in fact even when water is being conveyed over the spillway, these natural flows are throttled back successfully, with inflow exceeding outflow.
In particular, of all the reservoirs within our jurisdiction, Great Sacandaga Lake, where we are currently augmenting releases through the E.J. West hydroelectric plant with additional releases through the low level “Dow” outlet valves at Conklingville Dam, receives a tremendous amount of attention and generates a great deal of public interest where water management is concerned. On top of the very real (and beyond our control) meteorological factors that influence the inflow into the reservoir, a license from the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC) that the Regulating District had to accept because of Brookfield Renewable’s E.J. West Power Plant places real restrictions on whether, and to what extent, the Regulating District can release additional water from Great Sacandaga Lake beyond what the conditions of the license prescribe. Generally, this license tends to keep reservoir elevations higher so more electricity can be generated by Brookfield. More on the operation of Great Sacandaga Lake can be found here.
So we know that the elevations we are seeing have been very unusual – in some cases unprecedented – for this time of year. What does that mean for downstream communities? Well, with snowpack much lower than normal by an order of magnitude and the short-term outlook relatively warm and dry, the Regulating District’s reservoirs remain poised to provide important flood protection benefits. For residents on, and summertime visitors to, reservoirs under our jurisdiction? At this point, there’s no reason to fear either that springtime levels will approach flood stage, or that late summer levels will be abnormally low. Ultimately though, elevations will be a product of how much inflow we get, and what releases we can make from an operational, regulatory, and contractual standpoint.
Brookfield Dispute Update
Speaking of contracts, we are now in the 10 th month for which we have not received lease revenue for Brookfield Renewable’s operation at the E.J. West hydroelectric plant at Conklingville Dam. This revenue of $1.5 million annually had been a critical part of the Regulating District’s funding model, helping us control the share of operational and capital construction expenses that permit holders and beneficiaries, like the Counties of Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Albany, and Rensselaer, have been called on to bear. After enacting the first increase in Great Sacandaga Lake permit fees in 20 years in 2021, the Board has been clear that no additional permit fee increases will be proposed anytime in the near future. This means that the impact of Brookfield Renewable suspending payments to the Regulating District will be felt primarily by taxpayers in those downstream counties. The Regulating District will continue to fight to ensure that Brookfield is required to once again pay its fair share, and is represented by the New York State Attorney General in the matter.
In the meantime, the Regulating District continues to coordinate closely and effectively with the water management professionals at Brookfield in the day-to-day operation of Great Sacandaga Lake and other facilities. Members of the public who rely on the responsible management of our reservoirs for flood protection, flow augmentation, livelihood, recreation and other quality of life benefits should rest assured that the ongoing legal dispute has not yet resulted in operational issues, nor will the Regulating District allow it to.
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Boating Safety Course to be Held at Sacandaga Field Office
The Regulating District is working with its partners at the Great Sacandaga Lake Safe Lake Initiative to offer a New York Safe Boating Course at our Sacandaga Field Office on May 21 & 22, 2024 from 5:30-9:30 each evening. Students successfully completing this course earn a safe boating certificate. In 2024, anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1978, must carry a boating safety certificate while operating a motorized vessel, a requirement that expands to all motorboat operators, regardless of age, beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
To register for the course, visit
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Regulating District Reaches Tentative Agreement With CSEA-Represented Employees
The Regulating District and CSEA have reached a tentative agreement on a new, 3-year contract which would begin July 1, 2024 upon expiration of the existing agreement. The new agreement represents reasonable increases in wages for represented employees, does not include major concessions from management and importantly, is affordable in the context of the Regulating District’s next three-year financial plan.
Chairman Mark Finkle said, “We thank CSEA leadership and, in particular, CSEA Local President Danielle Thorne, for negotiating fairly and effectively on behalf of her members to reach an agreement which is fair and equitable to both management and CSEA-represented employees. Our people are the heart and soul of our organization and it is important to recognize the significant and ongoing contributions they make each and every day to our mission of providing flood protection to residents in the Hudson River and Black River watersheds.”
Executive Director John Callaghan said, “We are pleased that our negotiations have resulted in an agreement which incorporates reasonable increases in health insurance premium contributions for new employees, while also providing modest increases in compensation to our valued team members.”
The Board unanimously approved the new agreement at its meeting on April 9, 2024. The agreement is subject to ratification by represented employees.
If approved by membership, the new agreement will increase health insurance contributions for new employees to 16% and 31% for individual & family coverage, respectively; provide a $3,000 one-time payment not added to base salary; provide annual salary adjustments of 3.0%, 2.75%, & 3.0% over the next 3 years; and increase the work boot reimbursement allowance.
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Regulating District Board Approves Purchase of Hydroelectric Plant at Stillwater Reservoir
The Regulating District Board unanimously approved the purchase of the Stillwater Hydroelectric Plant at Stillwater Reservoir in the Black River Area at its meeting on March 12. A long-standing agreement between the Regulating District and the plant’s owner, Stillwater Associates, had required the Regulating District to purchase the plant if the parties could not agree to terms on a new, long-term lease agreement.
Constructed in 1987, the facility contains a single, 1.8 megawatt Allis Chambers vertical shaft turbine with a rated flow of 760 cubic feet per second. Following approval by the Board, the Regulating District signed an agreement with Stillwater Associates to purchase the facility for $1,263,000, plus its share of an independent appraisal. The contract has been approved as to form by the Attorney General’s office and is pending approval from the Office of State Comptroller.
“We are happy to have reached what we believe is a fair agreement on the purchase of the plant from Stillwater Associates. Stillwater has been an excellent partner for the Regulating District over many years, and has made important contributions to the State’s renewable energy production over nearly four decades,” John Callaghan, HRBRRD Executive Director, said. “Negotiations took time, and were certainly spirited, as we sought comply with applicable provisions of Public Authorities Law and to get the best value for our beneficiaries and for the State. We thank Stillwater Associates for remaining engaged with us in good faith us over the last few years as we attempted to reach resolution on this issue.”
F. Michael Tucker, Principal, Stillwater Associates said, “For close to 40 years, Stillwater Associates and the Regulating District have enjoyed a strong working relationship, marked by a shared commitment to generating sustainable renewable energy at the Stillwater Dam. We value that relationship and are grateful to the Regulating District and its staff for their partnership and collaboration over these many years.”
The Regulating District has issued a RFP to identify a new operator of the plant. It intends to enter into a contract with the successful proposer for a lease anticipated to begin July 1, 2024, subject to the closing date of the plant’s purchase, and extend through June, 2030, with an option for an additional 20- year term to be executed on mutual consent of the parties at terms to be negotiated. The initial six (6) year term will run concurrent with the Regulating District’s July 1, 2024-June 30, 2027 and July 1, 2027-June 30, 2030 financial and assessment cycles, and roughly concurrent with the remaining projected term of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) associated with the Plant.
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Regulating District Preparing New, 3-Year Spending Plan without Brookfield Revenue for use of Great Sacandaga Lake & Conklingville Dam at
E.J. West Hydroelectric Plant
As it continues to seek resumption of payments for the use of Great Sacandaga Lake & Conklingville Dam in its generation and sale of electricity at the E.J. West hydroelectric plant, the Regulating District is nonetheless preparing for a new, three-year spending plan without the approximately $1.5 million it had received annually from Brookfield Renewable, with taxpayers in downstream counties on the hook for the difference, pursuant to statute.
Built by the State of New York as a storage reservoir for purposes of flood protection and flow augmentation, the Great Sacandaga Lake operated slightly differently in its first 70 years of operation than it has over the last two decades. Negotiations with hydroelectric companies over the relicensing of hydroelectric plants like E.J. West began in 1992 and culminated in 2002 with an “offer of settlement” which incorporated the “aggressive use of storage” concept into the operation of Great Sacandaga Lake. This reduced the extent of the “target” winter drawdown by two feet, and also kept water levels higher at other times of year, helping to support hydroelectric power generation at the E. J. West plant, and other downstream facilities. Although beneficial in many respects, this change in operation has resulted in increased erosion and other higher water level-related impacts.
“It is almost unthinkable that the Regulating District continues to be bound by provisions of a FERC license that requires water levels to be kept higher so that a major utility company can maximize profits, while that company is no longer paying for the privilege. Unfortunately, the increase to Brookfield’s bottom line will be on the backs of downstream taxpayers who, by law, have to make up the difference,” Mark Finkle, Chairman of the HRBBRD Board, said.
For the better part of a century, Brookfield Renewable and its predecessors had reimbursed the State of New York (through the Regulating District) for its construction of Conklingville Dam and the use of that impoundment, and water from Great Sacandaga Lake, in the generation and sale of electricity at its E.J. West hydroelectric plant. The original 1927 agreement with New York Power & Light conveyed real property to New York State for the construction of Conklingville Dam, reserving 15 feet of the impoundment to New York Power & Light, which its successors (including Erie Boulevard Hydropower, L.P., a subsidiary of Brookfield) have continued to hold and enjoy. These agreements, conveying the necessary rights for Brookfield and its predecessors to utilize the Conklingville Dam and water from Great Sacandaga Lake for the generation and sale of electricity, continued uninterrupted until Brookfield Renewable suspended these payments in July, 2023. In its ruling in response to competing petitions from HRBRRD and Brookfield, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission declined to compel Brookfield to continue its payments, but also rejected Brookfield’s argument that that the payments it had been making until this past were preempted by “headwater benefit” payments required by section 10(f) of the Federal Power Act. This returned the issue to the New York State courts, where the Regulating District is represented by the Attorney General.
Under the agreement which Brookfield walked away from last July, it had been paying the Regulating District approximately $1.5 million annually. By contrast, the energy giant’s earnings from North American hydroelectric power generation alone amounts to an average of $1.5 million per day.
The Regulating District continues to believe that it is inherently unjust for Brookfield to expect that taxpayers and Great Sacandaga Lake permit holders be required to foot the bill for operation, maintenance and repairs at Conklingville Dam, while a company with a reported market capitalization of $20 billion uses the dam and the water from Great Sacandaga Lake essentially for free. As required by law, the Regulating District had commissioned an independent, third-party appraisal of the benefits Brookfield enjoys, arriving at an annualized range of value between $1.242 million to $2.503 million. Though the current FERC license incorporating the “aggressive use of storage” concept that helps generate more electricity runs to 2042, the Regulating District will most likely not elect to relicense, rather seeking to return the reservoir to how it was operated prior to the FERC license, drawing down the elevation more over the winter months.
“Every party that has been asked to pay its ‘fair share’ for use of Conklingville Dam and Great Sacandaga Lake has done so. Permit holders pay their fair share, county taxpayers pay their fair share, the State of New York pays its fair share, and until recently, Brookfield paid its fair share as well,” John Callaghan, Executive Director of the Regulating District, said. “We think this is a basic issue of fairness, the obviousness of which perhaps has eluded Federal regulators, and is eluding Brookfield, but that we expect the courts here in New York State will readily grasp and provide the necessary redress.”
In the meantime, the Regulating District is completing work on a new, three-year spending plan and series of three annual budgets which it will present to the Board in June for its adoption. Though the counties of Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Rensselaer, and Albany had been expecting significant decreases in assessments over the next three years following the shift of the Regulating District’s local property tax obligations to the State, these decreases will be all but wiped out due to the absence of the annual revenue from Brookfield.
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Promotions & New Team Members at HRBRRD!
The Regulating District is pleased to announce the promotion of Assistant Foreman Mike Chase to Foreman, and the promotion of Plant Operator Josh Rice to Principal Plant Operator.
Mr. Chase joined the Regulating District as a Maintenance Specialist in July, 2018 and had served as Assistant Foreman in our Sacandaga Field Office since March 2022. Mr. Chase will lead a team charged with maintenance and operations activities in the Hudson River Area, primarily on and around Great Sacandaga Lake, including shoreline stabilization work.
Mr. Rice joined the Regulating District as a Plant Operator at our Black River Field Office at Stillwater Reservoir in October 2022. Mr. Rice has been an integral member of the team which operates and maintains facilities in the Black River Area such as Stillwater Dam, Hawkinsville Dam, Old Forge Dam, and Sixth Lake Dam.
We are grateful for the dedicated service of Mr. Chase and Mr. Rice in the past and wish them well in their new positions!
The Regulating District also welcomed two new colleagues at the Sacandaga Field Office. Kevin Wilson and Mark Rozniewski have joined the team in recent weeks as Maintenance Specialists. We are excited to have Kevin and Mark on board, and know that they will make a contribution right away!
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NOW HIRING FOR SEASONAL EMPLOYEES
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We are fortunate each year to be able to employ additional staff to assist during our very busy summer season. This year again, we are hiring staff for our Sacandaga Field Office in Mayfield and at Stillwater Reservoir in the Black River Area.
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WHO SHOULD I CONTACT IF....
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I am experiencing or see an emergency on the water or elsewhere?
Call 911
I see a navigational buoy dislodged or its light out?
Buoys are set and maintained by NYS DEC Region 5 team. You should reach out directly to DEC Region 5, or call or email HRBRRD at sacfo@hrbrrd.ny.gov 518-661-5535 and we will notify them.
I have a noise or disturbance complaint?
Contact your local law enforcement agency.
I have questions about my permit area, water elevation, or what projects require a work permit?
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Did you use our Online Access Permit System to renew your permit?
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Yes, I found it easy and convenient
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Yes, but I wish it were easier to use
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No, but I would have if I had more information/instruction
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No, I prefer to mail in my renewal
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I do not have a GSL Access Permit
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Hudson River Black River Regulating District
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