DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18664, 21 March 1924, Page 6

DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY.

CANADIAN EXPERIENCE.

DRAINING NIAGARA FALLS.

FEARS OF POWER* FAMINE.

STEAM PLANTS FOR PEAK LOAD.

[FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

TORONTO.- Feb. 16.

Niagara Falls, one of the greatest scenic wonders of the world, are in danger of destruction. For 40,000 years Nature's treat cataract, awe inspiring and majestic, was left undisturbed. Then 25 years ago man, emboldened by scientific discovery, and urged on by the rapacity of industry, began to flirt with the idea of turning the marvel of nature to purely utilitarian purposes. Already the beauty of the cataract has been substantially impaired. If the rate of progress of the last 25 years is maintained, men now living will behold the escarpment in the bed of Niagara River as dry as a Sahara sand dune.

It haji already come to —that to see Niagara at its best one must visit it on Sunday. By Tuesday, when the housewives of Ontario and New York State are busy with their electric irons, and industry is roaring, great stretches of rock on the crest of the falls are ivnsubmerged, and the effective waterfall has retruated a considerable distance from the shore line. Even an east wind now plays h;ivoc with the falls. A persistent ca.'it wind sweeping the length of Lake Erie, the great natural millpond for Niagara, piles up the water away from the falls, and contracts the amount flowing into the river. In former days the phenomenon had no appreciable effect on the cataract. Not so now, particularly in a period like the present, when the waterline throughout the whole great lakes system is lower than average. Provisions of Treaty. It was President Roosevelt who, about 15 yearn ago, took alarm and with his imagination and gift for graphic phrase roused the public of both Canada and. the United States to what was going on. As a result, in 1909 some franchises were cancelled and a treaty was negotiated which for the first time set limits to the diversion that would be tolerated. The limit set was 56,000 cubic feet of water per second. It was agreed that no greater quantity could be taken without injury to the falls. It was also agreed, rather it was piously hoped, that a diversion of 56,000 cubic feet would do no harm. But 56,000 cubic feet is one quarter of the total flow over the cataract and the effect of its diversion is apparent. Moreover, the whole 56,000 cubic feet has now been diverted— it is exceeded on occasion. There are additional power units under construction for which the water demand is still unsatisfied. And despite all this development, industry, it is said, will be faced in a year or two with a power famine. Such an insatiable appetite for power has industry developed that the Ontario Hydro-electric Commission, in spite of the fact «that it is bringing in a fresh Niagara plant with a capacity of 500,000 horse power, is urgently pressing for authority, to build great steam plants to meet the emergency which is already so close that even if further diversion at Niagara or elsewhere were possible, the necessary engineering work could not be completed quickly enough. «

I. . Providing for Peak Load. A reversion to steam power plant might seem to be a retrograde step economically, wlien hydro-development is so much cheaper and coal is getting scarcer and dearer. But it is argued that even if later on further hydro-development is authorised the steam plants will still be economically sound in helping; to take the "peak load" of industry. Much more power is needed in the daytime than at night; more power is needed at five o'clock on a dark afternoon than at noon. No niggling can overcome this pronounced variation. But a hydro-power plant will give a constant output during 24 hours of the day, because . 56,000 cubic feet of water will produce exactly the. same amount of power at midnight as at noon. A coal plant is different in being adjustable. And the plan of the Ontario Hydro Commission is to use the maximum diversion possible at Niagara for its minimum daily demand, and to supply demands beyond this minimum— is, the top oi the peak— the auxiliary steam coal plants. If the plan is approved, there will be a corresponding relaxation of pressure for further Niagara diversion.

American Demands. The chief agitation for further diversion from Niagara is coming from the American side, as it is the party to the negotiations which stands to benefit most. The 56,000 cubic feet now being diverted is unequally divided. Canada getting 36,000 feet, and the United States 20,000 feet. United States promoters want the limit raised so that this discrepancy will be removed. Both countries are already exceeding their limit at leant at certain periods of the day. The .United War Department, which has jurisdiction in the matter on the American side." has acquiesced in an interpretation of the treaty which claims that aft long as the diversion per 24 hours does not exceed 20,000 cubic feet per second, on the average, more may be taken during limited periods. And on this interpretation, the American plants have been, authorised to take up to 20 per cent, more than 20,000 feet during the peak load period. It is understood that Canada has never formally agreed to this interpretation. But, while the Canadian Government has never exercised equal vigilance with Washington in measuring the actual diversion, it is . understood that the Canadian plants are also exceeding their limit and that following the American precedent, their diversion reaches 38,600 instead of 36,000 at leak-load periods.

, Other Large Consumers. In addition the Chicago Drainage and Power Canal system has introduced a. new complication. When the 1909 treaty was made, Chicago was extracting from the Great Lakes system 3000 cubic feet, which eventually found its way to the Mississippi rinstead of to its natural outlet in the St. Lawrence. The treaty makers ignored this petty pilfering. But now the unauthorised Chicago system is taking 10,000 cubic feet, and is clamouring for more us well as for official international sanction and maintains that Chicago's health or convenience, or finances, or all three will be jeopardised if its demands are not met.

Partially offsetting the Chicago diversion is the Canadian Wclland Canal, which requires 4500 feet, 3000 being used for power purposes. The natural scenic beauty of Niagara is thus jeopardised by the following diversion at peak load periods '. American side, 24,000 cubic feet per second; Canadian side, 38,500; Chicago system, 10,000; Welland Canal, 4500; total, 77,000 cubic feet per second. Thus, instead of diversion being limited to the substantial 25 per cent, contemplated by the 1909 treaty-makers, there is an actual diversion of practicallv one-third of the water fall. No wonder bare rocks are coming to the surface on the crest of the falls. Effect on Various Fall*. The "American Falls," that is, the beautiful snow white, veil-like cascade that lies between Goat Island and the American main land, is particularly vulnerable to any fresh diversion. There is already less water passing over the American falls than is being diverted for Chicago's sewerage system. The cataract is 1000 feet wide, and now the water has an average depth of only one loot, or a total flow of 10,000 feet per second. The Horseshoe Falls, 2600 feet wide, most of which lie in Canadian territory, nave 15 or 20 times the volume of water, but most of the flow is near the centre, that is, at fcho notch of the horseshoe.

so that the water at the edges is comparatively shallow. Thus the beauty of the Horseshoe Falls is also jeopardised. Already on occasion there are wide spaces that look like the Red Sea when the Israelites passed through. And the famous scenic tunnel in the gorge at the base on the Canadian side, which for 800 feet used to lie behind a solid body of water, has had to be extended to preserve more than a spray effect. Besides, the notch in the horseshoe is receding all the time as the rock wears away. The recession of the crest line in 159 years, the period the falls have been under scientific observation, is impressive, and as the notch gels deeper the flow e,f water tends more and more to concentrate at the centre, to the loss of the broad expanse towards the outer edges. Ono theory is to the effect that the notch may recede to a point where the American falls will be dried up altogether, even if there is no further artificial diversion. Capitulation Proposed. Yet, despite all these hazards, engineers are planning a further raid for power purposes of at least 24,000 cubic feet per second. Some are so coldblooded as to suggest that the days of .Niagara as a scenic wonder are numbered, and that as it cannot permanently ward off the demands of industry it may as well succumb—at once. Others take a more humanitarian view, and recommend various surgical operations which will preserve the falls, and at the same time permit further diversion. One scheme is to build at Buffalo a dam which would be a submerged weir, half a mile long, with a series of sluiceways. This could be done at a cost of eight million dollars and would, it is estimated, raise the level of Lake Erie by 2ft., Lake Huron by lft., and bring about an increase of 20 per cent, in the low water flow over the falls.

United States Government engineers favour, this scheme, but would supplement it with a further spectacular operation on the falls themselves. They would excavate the bed of the river at the lower water edges above the falls both on the Canadian and American sides and build a submerged weir, curved in form, 1380 feet long, around the center of the notch in the horseshoe. The effect of this would obviously be to spread the water out to the edges more evenly. They would also build another submerged dyke diagonally across the Canadian side of the river. The effect of this would be to divert more .water to tho American falls. The cost is estimated at 6,000.000 dollars. Artificial Islands. Canadians arc inclined to favour a unique plan, namely, the placing of a series of artificial islands in the river immediately above the falls. These islands, possibly twenty or thirty in number would, it is believed, hold back the water and make the flow more even, so that with a little chipping away of the river-bed near' the sides of the stream, submerged weirs would be unnecessary, although the dam at Buffalo would be a desirable supplement. American engineers have beet! secretly at work testing the idea. They have constructed a large model of the falls and Upper Niagara River, in which the three cascades and the river bed are faithfully reproduced, and are gathering data thereby as to the effect of little islands on the natural flow. Treaty a Century Old. Engineers estimate that with these works, perhaps 50,000 cubic feet more water could be diverted, that is nearly doubling the present power development, and Niagara, though largely a man-made Niagara, would remain as a Mecca for tourists. ■ Of the initial 24,000 additional diversion it is proposed that the United States, should get 20,000 and Canada only 4000 feet, thus equalising the present discrepancy. This would carry out the spirit of the peace Treaty of Ghent, of 110 years ago, which attempted to divide the waters of the Great Lakes System equally between Canada and the United States. But a boundary line has difficulty following the idiosyncracies of the Niagara River. At the falls 95 per cent, of the water flow is on the Canadian side of the boundary, while at Foster's Falls in the gorge below the falls, 80 per cent, is on the American side. One way to reduce pressure on Niagara would be to get on with the St. Lawrence power development. On the Canadian side, such a development would be immediately fed into the general hydrosystem. Toronto would likely be supplied from the St. Lawrence instead of from Niagara. But that issue seems to have got in such a tangle that it may be years before substantial progress is made. Meanwhile Niagara, which already supplies power to an area 150 miles or more in radius, must endure as best it may pressure produced by the pangs of a growing and apparently insatiable appetite for electricity and still more elec tricity. '.• .