Water pours out of the Ouray Hydroelectric Power Plant's ruptured penstock Tuesday morning after rockfall destroyed an 80-foot section of it, along with a Ouray Ice Park 4-inch water line, trestle and catwalk. Photo courtesy Peter O'Neil
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Rockfall knocks out hydro plant
Running one of the oldest power plants in the country comes with its inherent hassles.
The level of difficulty is elevated when that 131-year-old plant is located in Ouray, where snow measured in feet, not inches, and infrastructure clinging to steep canyon walls limits access and highly acidic runoff from mine-dotted Red Mountain constantly eats away at the old pipes.
But in his 29 years of owning the Ouray Hydroelectric Power Plant, Eric Jacobson has yet to face a challenge as daunting as the on...