Introduction
A useful conversion factor tells us that we should expect the turbines to generate 0.87 kwhrs from 1 AF of water with a head of one foot. Working with larger numbers, we would expect a flow of 10 MAF/year through turbines with a head of 100 feet to generate 870 million kwhr/year. If the electric energy were valued at, say, 2 cents/kwhr, the energy would would be worth over $17 million per year. And since the operating costs at hydroelectric facilities arequite low, the contribution to the Idagon Economic Product (IEP) would be close to $17 million per year.

Electric power is often measured in average MW or aMW, where an aMW corresponds to the electric energy from 1 MW of power operating over the entire 8,760 hours in a year. Thus, 1 aMW corresponds to 8.76 million kwhrs. If we measure the power from 10 MAF/year through a head of 100 feet in terms of aMW, we could say that the dam delivers just under 100 aMW.

So, to gauge the approximate power from each of the 4 dams in a MW, keep the simple of thumb in mind:

10 MAF/year with a head of 100 feet generates around 100 aMW.

This rule may be used to estimate the power production at the four dams on the Idagon:

President's Lake (northwest): Over the course of a year, the water flowing out of President's Lake could be around 33 MAF/year. If the head is near the maximum value of 600 feet, we would expect around 1,980 a MW of power (i.e., nearly 2 aGW of power). Most of the hydro-electric production is expected in the spring due to high spring flows in the Canadian River and high spring releases from Canyon Lake.

American Lake (northeast): Over the course of a year, the water flowing out of American Lake will be 10 MAF/year. If the head is near the maximum value of 300 feet, we would expect around 300 aMW of power. Most of the hydro-electric production is expected in the summer irrigation season.

Canyon Lake (southwest): Over the course of a year, the water flowing out of Canyon Lake could be around 13 MAF/year. If the head is near the maximum value of 600 feet, we would expect around 780 aMW of power. Most of the hydro-electric production is expected in the spring, especially if high targets for April/May flows are imposed to aid the Salmon smolts spring migration.

Lake Idagon (south central): Over the course of a year, the water flowing out of Lake Idagon could be around 13 MAF/year. If the head is near the maximum value of 300 feet, we would expect around 390 a MW of power. Most of the hydro-electric production is expected in the summer irrigation season.