By MARTY QUEEN Senior Reporter for THE PAPER
Hurricane Helene churned up an enormous amount of silt and washed mountains of mud into Lake James last fall.
Slowly but surely, the lake and Catawba River in Burke County are losing their ‘chocolate milk’ tint and taking on more of a dark green hue as the water slowly runs itself clear.
The process may get a jump-start soon.
Duke Energy has pushed up the timeline for repairing the two turbines inside the Bridgewater Powerhouse. This means the company will be able to start releasing water from the dam sooner than originally thought.
The increased flow will help both the lake and river get clearer as particulates in the water are washed downstream.
Duke spokesman Ben Williamson said one of the two main turbines, which were damaged when flood waters submerged them during the hurricane, should be operational again by mid-February. Duke initially speculated the repairs would take until the end of March.
Meanwhile, the second large turbine unit should be online again by mid-March, Williamson said. Duke had previously listed June 30 as the completion date for repairs.
Unit 3, a much smaller, minimum-flow unit, was originally expected to be out of service until the end of 2025. However, Williamson said that timetable has been moved up to fall 2025.
Williamson said getting the first turbine back in service would enable Duke to draw the lake down to levels closer to normal for this time of year. Currently, Lake James is at 100.1 feet. The target range for late January is 94.8 feet. Full pond is at 100 feet.
Duke typically pulls lakes down in the winter to account for the rainy weather that often accompanies springtime. During Helene, the lake rose to a record 110 feet. Water rose high enough in the powerhouse to fry the electrical systems that operate the turbines.
Since then, Duke has only been able to discharge water via its minimum-flow valve, which doesn’t have the capacity to release a significant amount of water.
The lake has been at or above full pond all winter. As a result, heavy rain could cause further flooding. Fortunately, the area hasn’t seen a rain event this winter big enough to cause flooding.
Duke’s ability to generate sufficient electricity has not been impacted by the loss of the turbines.
Williamson said Duke’s crews have been diligent in making the repairs, and have been on the job since it was safe to do so in the wake of the destructive storm that devastated areas of western North Carolina.
“Damage assessment and repairs began immediately after the storm and continue at the site,” Williamson said. “Restoring the hydro units at Bridgewater is a high priority for Duke Energy and our team is making good progress on the repairs.”
Duke oversees 11 lakes on the Catawba/Wateree chain. Lake James is the first in the series. Williamson said Duke monitors the entire chain closely.
“While repairs are being made, the river system continues to be monitored and safely operated,” he said. “Our operators are well trained and follow rigorous procedures to ensure water flows and lake levels are carefully managed.”
Duke’s assessment of the damage to the Lake James turbines, released last fall, called for “clean up and wash down, repair/replace cables and other station auxiliary systems, replace auxiliary transformer, rework/replace Unit 1/Unit 2 governor system, hydraulic brake system and controls equipment.”