The Durango Telegraph
August 19, 2010, Allen Best

Unlike computers, where 10-year-old technology now seems ancient, the technology of small hydro plants has changed little in the last century. Consider the new hydroelectric plant in Ouray. In a shop along the Uncompahgre River, falling water pushes the blades of a generator originally manufactured in 1909. Adjacent to this relic is a linear motor built in 2009 which completes the production of electricity. The electrical production will be relatively small, 22 kilowatts, but enough to power the pumps used to circulate water at the nearby Ouray Hot Springs Pool. It is, in the eyes of Bob Risch, the mayor of Ouray, a start of what he hopes to see more broadly – not just in Ouray, but across the San Juans and beyond. “A bunch of small facilities like this can add up to a significant contribution,” says Risch, an astronomy teacher now retired in Ouray, where he was born and raised. ...

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