ROANOKE, Va., July 24, 2006 – Appalachian Power will increase the release of water from its Leesville dam into the Roanoke River for a three-hour period Sunday, July 30.

The increased flow will allow the recording of water velocity information for a Fish Entrainment and Impingement Study—part of the relicensing process of the Smith Mountain power generation project. The short-term change will increase the discharge from the Leesville Dam from its current 650 cubic feet per second (cfs) to approximately 9,000 cfs for a three hour period.  The change in water release is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Sunday and last until approximately 12:30 p.m. 

As a safety precaution, the company will close to the public the fishing area located immediately below the Leesville Dam from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Once the work is completed, the water flow will return to normal. 
A consultant performing the study will move to the Smith Mountain reservoir Monday to complete field work at that location.  Operational changes at Smith Mountain during the field work are not expected to affect downstream flows.

Because of recent rains, Appalachian Power has been able to surcharge the Smith Mountain Project reservoirs in order to allow this field work to be completed.

All flow modifications are contingent upon restrictions or requirements that may be caused by extreme weather or other demands. Changes may be made to the scheduled flow without notice.

Up-to-date water level information for the Smith Mountain Project is available at Appalachian Power’s on-line site: http://www.aep.com/go/hydro/