At 05:03 AM 3/5/2008 -0800, you wrote: >One of the questions that I have never heard or read about in the City's >decisionmaking process on Six Mile Creek versus Bolton Point is what could >happen to Six Mile Creek and Six Mile Creek Gorge without the dams, the >lakes and water treatment system tapping the creek.
Dear George and Friends--These are some interesting thoughts and good questions. I agree with Joel's assessment of maximizing the hydropower on Six Mile Creek. Specifically, there is the potential to generate a significant amount of electricity that, in the future energy constrained world we face, would be more than useful for City operations. Hydro-electricity could be supplied to power City operations, especially in an emergency situation--ice storm, terrorist attack on the grid, collapse of the grid (thanks, Ohio!) or other severe power failure. It would be more than really nice if the police, fire department, county 911 operations, the hospital, the high school as an emergency shelter, etc., had electricity. All or most of these operations have emergency generators, but they only can be fueled for a limited period of time and/or they will fail within a certain time framework. In an extended power outage providing power to emergency services is really important. I want 911 and the ambulance service and the fire department, etc., to be fully operational. With a properly installed local hydro power system, owned and operated by the City, this could be a reality that would literally be a life-saver and maintain the integrity of our community in a way that is hard to imagine without electricity. If you have any doubts about this, just ask the folks in Northern New York and Quebec that suffered through up to 6 weeks without electricity a couple of winters ago after the Big Ice Storm. My $.02. Tom Tom Shelley 118 E. Court St. Ithaca, NY 14850 607 342-0864 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.myspace.com/99319958 P I thank you for printing this e-mail only if it is necessary "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The World Commission on Environment and Development, Gro Harlem Brundtland Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, 1987 MY NOTE: Sustainable development does not mean "sustainable growth" as growth per se is not sustainable. And the term "sustainable" has to mean "for a very long time" (A. Bartlett). "The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives." Sioux proverb _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
