Condit Dam on the White Salmon River in Washington State.
In 1999, Pacific Power, environmental groups and the Yakama Nation reached a landmark agreement to remove the Condit Dam on the White Salmon River.
More than a decade later, the dam is still there.
The delays are frustrating the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, which recently warned members that time is running out if the dam is going to be removed this year.
And here’s what it says you can do to help.
The group wants people to contact the Washington Department of Ecology and ask the agency to immediately issue a Clean Water (401) permit for dam removal. The Task Force says this is the the last big obstacle to removing the Condit Dam.
If Ecology doesn’t issue the permit this month – as in March – then dam removal will be put off for another year. Pacific Power wants to remove it in October, when low water levels make it easier to do the work. But it also needs about six months worth of prep time.
The math is pretty simple. October minus six months is April. If the Condit Dam is going to be removed in 2010, then all the obstacles have to be removed by April.
The Gifford Pinchot Task Force says the person to contact at the Department of Ecology is Loree (sounds like laur-A) Randall. Her phone number is 360-407-6068 and her email is lora461@ecy.wa.gov.
Please remember that you’re dealing with a real, live human being – not a faceless bureaucrat – so keep your comments polite and civil.
The Condit Dam was built in 1913 and is about three miles upstream from where the White Salmon pours into the Columbia River. It has no passage for fish. When it came time to re-license the dam, Pacific Power realized it would be cheaper to tear it out compared to what it would cost to add fish ladders.
The utility was ready to remove the Condit Dam back in 2006. But the Task Force says the environmental review process is the main reason we’re still waiting.
Have they named a winning contractor to do this work yet???
Ken,
I haven’t heard. Pacific Power is still trying to get all the necessary permits. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have someone lined up to do the job for them.
Dennis
Natural Oregon