History
After the disaster of 1948 Vanport Flood on the lower Columbia River, around Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, the federal government established the Priest Rapids Project under the Flood Control Act of 1950 (Public Law 81-516; May 17, 1950). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided the project would not be a top priority, so the Grant PUD began looking at taking over the project from the USACE in 1952. With the passage of Public Law 83-544 in 1954, Congress gave Grant PUD the right to proceed. Revenue bonds were issued for construction to began in July 1956, first generation occurred in 1959, and the dam was completed in 1961. Its reservoir is named Priest Rapids Lake, and extends 18 miles upstream to spillway of Wanapum Dam. Downriver from Priest Rapids Dam is Hanford Reach, the only free-flowing, non-tidal stretch of the Columbia River in the United States.
The initial license expired in 2005, after which the Grant County PUD operated the dam on yearly license extensions while negotiations for license extension proceeded. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a license extension of 44 years for both this dam and the upstream Wanapum dam on April 17, 2008. The license extension was conditioned upon programs to:
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- modernize the power generation capability of the dam
- monitor water quality
- improve wildlife habitat
- protect nearly 700 Wanapum Tribe archaeological sites in the vicinity
- enhance recreation with new campsites, picnic areas and trails
Read more about this topic: Priest Rapids Dam
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