Okanogan County PUD is exploring the possibility of building a dam on the Similkameen River at Shankers Bend, and plans to submit a preliminary permit application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The dam would store water and produce electricity, according to PUD officials.
Shakers Bend is a hairpin turn in the river about 7.3 miles upstream from its confluence with the Okanogan River.
The Shankers Bend project is proposed for study in coordination with the state's Columbia River water management program. The 2006 Legislature adopted legislation to develop new water supplies and improve water management, and appropriated $216 million.
PUD officials said the Shankers Bend project would meet or exceed the Columbia River water management program's goals by:
- Addressing the needs of all water users.
- Providing supplies for economic development and population growth.
- Preserving biological integrity of watersheds, including fisheries.
- Enhancing recreational activities.
- Providing protection from destructive floods,
It also would provide power generation benefits, according to a PUD announcement.
"The project would provide clean, renewable energy to serve the growing population of Okanogan County," according to the announcement. "The project would be located within the county, eliminating the need for additional transmission associated with new resources outside the county."
Regionally and nationally, concerns for global climate change have turned attention away from some resources that potentially contribute to greenhouse gases, according to PUD officials. Hydropower is a logical choice for reducing those impacts, they said.
Utilities in the Northwest continue to develop wind generation, but it requires supplemental generation sources to provide backup during times of unpredictable or inadequate wind, according to the PUD announcement.
"Hydropower projects like Shankers Bend potentially provide this type of backup to both Okanogan County PUD's Nine Canyon wind project and other regional projects," the announcement continued.
PUD officials plan to study various alternatives, including dam heights ranging from 90 to 260 feet. At 260 feet the dam would be about 1,200 feet long and impound an 18,000-acre reservoir with a storage capacity of 1.7 million acre-feet.
PUD officials also are participating in an international effort to study the possibilities of building one or more dams on the Similkameen and Tulameen rivers in the United States and Canada. The Tulameen is a Canadian tributary of the Similkameen. The dams would be for power generation, flood control, irrigation and other uses.
Other agencies involved include Okanogan County, state Department of Ecology, Okanogan County Electric Cooperative, Colville Confederated Tribes, Oroville-Tonasket Irrigation District, Similkameen-Okanogan Flood Control and Reclamation League and Similkameen Valley Planning Society in British Columbia.
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