[laboheme orchid]

Anyone have updated info on the dam to be removed? As well as any plans to relocate or help restore the runs through the river?

 

[Danny]

They've been talking about removing that dam since I was in High School. In recent years they have been installing a temporary weir to trap the Fall Tule Chinook for transport above the dam, so part of me thinks we are getting close, but the official answer for the last several years has always been "next Fall", which always comes and goes and the dam still stands. I have mixed feelings about the removal of the dam, but do find the amount of water that PP&L diverts to the powerhouse to be a bit disturbing. Often, the section of river between the powerhouse and dam is just a trickle.

 

[smc]

WA DOE issued their "Final Second Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement" for this project on 1/21/10. It states that project removal activities would begin in August 2010 if all necessary permits, easements and contracts have been obtained "sufficiently in advance of that date to practicably begin construction", with the dam being breached in October 2010. If the permits can't be obtained in time, then next year.

The EIS includes comments. Some of these comments seem to hint that the final permitting process may not go as smoothly as one might hope.

You may want to contact PacificCorp (the operator of the dam) @ 503-331-4361 to get an idea of where the permitting process stands.

You can download the EIS here: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0912017.html

 

[Danny]

For what it's worth, I happened to bump into one of the dam operators at Northwestern Lake this afternoon. He said that there's no real chance that it will happen this fall, but that Fall of 2011 is possible.