Rocky Reach Dam is a hydroelectric dam in the U.S. state of Washington owned and operated by Chelan County Public Utility District. It has 11 generators rated in total 1300 MW. The project is on the Columbia River in north central Washington state about seven miles (11 km) upstream from the city of Wenatchee. The dam is 473 miles (761 km) above the mouth of the Columbia. The reservoir impounded by the dam is Lake Entiat. The project provides energy for more than 7 million people throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Rock Island Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Columbia River, in the U.S. state of Washington. Chelan County Public Utility District's Rock Island Dam and Hydro Project was the first dam to span the Columbia, having been built from 1929 to 1933. It is located near the geographical center of Washington, about 12 miles (19 km) downstream from the city of Wenatchee. By river, the dam is 235 miles (378 km) south of the Canada–US border and 453 miles (729 km) above the mouth of the river at Astoria, Oregon. The dam's reservoir is called Rock Island Pool.
Wanapum Dam is a hydroelectric project located on the Columbia River downstream (south) from Vantage, Washington where Interstate 90 crosses the Columbia from Grant County into Kittitas County. It is owned by the Grant County Public Utility District. Its reservoir is named Lake Wanapum.
The Hanford Reach is a free-flowing section of the Columbia River, around 51 miles (82 km) long, in eastern Washington state. It is named after a large northward bend in the river's otherwise southbound course.
The Wanapum tribe of Native Americans formerly lived along the Columbia River from above Priest Rapids down to the mouth of the Snake River in what is now the US state of Washington. About 60 Wanapum still live near the present day site of Priest Rapids Dam. The name "Wanapum" is from the Sahaptin wánapam, meaning "river people", from wána, "river", and -pam, "people". Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.
State Route 24 (SR 24) is a state highway in the south-central region of Washington, in the United States. It travels 79 miles (127 km) from Yakima to Othello, across a portion of the Columbia Plateau. The highway crosses the Columbia River on the Vernita Bridge, located near the Hanford Site. SR 24 terminates to the west at an interchange with Interstate 82 (I-82) in Yakima and to the east at SR 26 in Othello.
Energy Northwest is a public power joint operating agency in the northwest United States, formed 64 years ago in 1957 by Washington state law to produce at-cost power for Northwest utilities. Headquartered in the Tri-Cities at Richland, Washington, the WPPSS became commonly known as "Whoops!," due to over-commitment to nuclear power in the 1970s which brought about financial collapse and the second largest municipal bond default in U.S. history. WPPSS was renamed Energy Northwest in November 1998, and agency membership includes 28 public power utilities, including 23 of the state's 29 public utility districts.
Condit Hydroelectric Project was a development on the White Salmon River in the U.S. state of Washington. It was completed in 1913 to provide electrical power for local industry and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as an engineering and architecture landmark.
Priest Rapids was a narrow, fast-flowing stretch of the Columbia River, located in the central region of the U.S. state of Washington. It was flooded by the construction of the Priest Rapids Dam in the 1950s.
Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County, or Grant County PUD, is a public utility district in north central Washington state. It is owned by its customers and governed by a Board of Commissioners elected by the customer-owners. Though it is not regulated by another governmental unit, a PUD is, by state statute, a nonprofit corporation. PUDs must comply with state regulations for municipal corporations. The local customer-owner of the PUD receives benefits in the form of reduced rates for service. Grant County PUD operates two hydroelectric projects, Priest Rapids Dam and Wanapum Dam. In addition to these, the PUD also operates the Quincy Chute Hydroelectric Project, Potholes East Canal Headworks Project and part of the Nine Canyon Wind Project.
State Route 243 (SR 243) is a state highway in Grant County, Washington. It travels north–south along the Columbia River for 28 miles (45 km), connecting SR 24 at the Vernita Bridge to SR 26 near Vantage. The highway travels through a predominantly rural and desert area, serving two hydroelectric dams and the communities of Desert Aire, Mattawa, and Beverly.
Priest Rapids Lake is a reservoir on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. It was created in 1959 with the construction of Priest Rapids Dam. The reservoir stretches from there upstream to the Wanapum Dam.
Umtanum Ridge is a long anticline mountain ridge in Yakima County and Kittitas County in the U.S. state of Washington. It runs for approximately 55 miles east-southeast from the Cascade Range, through the Yakima Training Center to the edge of the Columbia River at Priest Rapids Dam and Hanford Reach. The eastern end of Umtanum Ridge enters Hanford Reach National Monument and the Hanford Site. Umtanum Ridge is paralleled on the north by Manastash Ridge and on the south by Yakima Ridge. The Yakima River cuts through the ridge at the Umtanum Ridge Water Gap.
Snohomish County Public Utility District is a public utility providing power to over 350,000 customers in Snohomish County and on Camano Island, Washington. It provides water service to over 21,000 customers in the northeast section of the Snohomish County.
The Enloe Dam, also known as the Similkameen Dam, and its powerplant are located on the Similkameen River about 4 miles (6.4 km) west-northwest of Oroville, Washington. Located just above Similkameen (Coyote) Falls, the concrete arch-gravity dam stands about 54 feet (16 m) high, with a crest length of about 290 feet (88 m), built between 1916 and 1923. The dam was named after the president of the Okanogan Valley Power Company, Eugene Enloe. The dam was operated to generate power at its powerplant, located about 850 feet (260 m) downstream from the dam. Lacking fish ladders, Enloe Dam blocks fish passage and completely extirpated anadromous fish migration into the upper reaches of the Similkameen River and its tributaries in Canada.
PUD No. 1 of Jefferson County v. Washington Department of Ecology, 511 U.S. 700 (1994), is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court that interpreted section 401 of the Clean Water Act. The case involved an application by the Jefferson County Public Utility District and Tacoma City Light in northwestern Washington to build a hydropower facility on the Dosewallips River, first proposed in 1982 and known as the "Elkhorn Dam" project. The Washington State Department of Ecology issued a certification to the project in 1986 that imposed minimum water flow requirements to protect species of salmon and steelhead under the federal Clean Water Act. Tacoma City Light argued that the dam project would only need to adhere to minimum flow standards set by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), who license dams. Environmentalist groups argued that the FERC was insensitive to recreation and protection of salmon and steelhead and asked the state to enforce its minimum flow standards.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to infrastructure of the U.S. state of Washington.
