Quake Lake Power Plant Proposal Alarms Madison River Anglers

Anglers, environmentalists, and state and federal agencies all want a foot in the door in discussions of a new water diversion and power production facility at the base Quake Lake. “Bozeman-based company Hydrodynamics Inc. aims to build a 50-foot-tall intake structure in Quake Lake and a 3,200 foot enclosed pipe between U.S. Highway 287 and the Madison River to divert water for electricity production, according to an application filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.” Jessica Mayrer in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
According to the Madison River Foundation, a group dedicated to the protection of the Madison River ecosystem, “The project proposes diverting a maximum capacity of 750 cfs, which in some years represents almost the entire flow of the Madison out of Quake Lake in late summer. But in a good water year the engineering could allow for as much as 1,100 cfs. Thus almost the entire river flow would be diverted to the generating facility before being returned to the river channel. “