new dam proposed for Washington state

On December 18, 2008 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) granted the Public Utility District No. 1 of Okanogan County a preliminary permit for the Shanker’s Bend Hydroelectric Project to investigate the feasibility of a dam to be located on the Similkameen River in Okanogan County, Washington. The PUD immediately commissioned the study with $750,000 of funding from the Washington State Department of Ecology and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Not surprisingly, the PUD that funded and commissioned the study got the answer they wanted. The study shows that all three options for the dam are potentially viable from an engineering standpoint.

Although there are 2 smaller scale options, the permit sought and was granted approval of a dam at is 260 feet high and 1,200 feet long. It will flood an 18,000 acre area including river habitats and pristine wetlands. Half of the flood zone behind Shanker’s Bend would be in British Columbia encroaching on close to 25 kilometres of the Similkameen Valley and flooding 9000 acres west of Osoyoos. On the Washington State side, Palmer Lake would completely disappear under the flood waters, along with all of the homes of local residents around the lake and their private property. Private farmland and ranches would likewise be covered.

The reservoir would flood a delicate ecosystem that is home to 16 federally listed species at risk, including the long-billed curlew, Lewis' woodpecker, tiger salamander, Great Basin spadefoot toad, Umatilla dace, Columbia mottled sculpin, and western rattlesnake. The reservoir also has the potential to affect two B.C. protected areas: the 25,889-hectare Snowy Protected Area and the 9,364-hectare South Okanagan Grasslands Protected Area, as well as flooding aboriginal reserve lands.

In addition, water levels will inundate abandoned mines and a Superfund site. Arsenic and other poisons left as a legacy of mining activity would be released into the water.

The scale and scope of impact this dam will cause is enormous and stands in stark contrast to the communication and visibility of the proposal, which has been almost non-existent. Don Elzer is one voice helping to spread the word with his write up http://www.themonsterguide.com/2007Pages/Features2009/BNewsShankersBendP.... In it, he points out the lack of visibility when Chloe O'Loughlin, executive director of the BC chapter of the 30,000 member Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) happened upon the application by accident, but she knows that many more groups would have protested if they had known about it earlier.

I urge you to join me in the effort to stop the Shanker’s Bend dam. Make your voice heard and spread the word.

References:
Okanogan County PUD project website - http://www.okanoganpud.org/shankers/shankersmain.htm
State of WA Department of Ecology project website - http://www.ecy.wa.gov/PROGRAMS/wr/cwp/cr_shankers_storage.html