The Skagit River Hydroelectric Project is a series of

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

s with

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power-generating stations on the

Skagit River The Skagit River ( ) is a river in southwestern British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington in the United States, approximately 150 mi (240 km) long. The river and its tributaries drain an area of 1.7 million acres (690,000& ...

in northern

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

State. The project is owned and operated by

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light is the public utility providing electricity to Seattle, Washington, in the United States, and parts of its metropolitan area, including all of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park and parts of unincorporated King County, Burien, N ...

to provide electric power for the City of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and surrounding communities. In 2012, hydro-electric dams provided approximately 89.8 percent of the electricity used in Seattle. The Skagit Hydroelectric Project alone accounts for about 20 percent of Seattle City Light's electricity.

History

In 1917, James Delmage Ross, superintendent of lighting for Seattle, obtained approval from the Department of Agriculture to build dams on the

. The city council approved $1.5 million in bonds for construction and appointed Carl F. Uhden as the project superintendent. The construction camp was set up at the mouth of Newhalem Creek, giving the unincorporated community its name. Uhden hired contractors to built a 25-mile rail line to Gorge Creek, allowing

to control access to the area. After the railroad reached the site above Newhalem, a two-mile tunnel was dug between the dam and the powerhouse. Work was frequently delayed by floods, mudslides, and avalanches. The schedule was further delayed by workers leaving to hunt for gold, labor troubles, a forest fire, and a shortage of electricity. Although Ross had estimated that the Skagit River operation would provide electricity to Seattle by 1921, those various delays pushed the date to 1924. The Gorge Dam generators were formally started by President Calvin Coolidge on September 17, 1924. In August 2021 Seattle City Light announced that it will undertake a study of the possibility of removing one or more of the Skagit dams for environmental reasons.

Dams

The three major dams in the Skagit River Project are (from lower to upper) Gorge Dam,

Diablo Dam Diablo Dam is one of three dams along the upper Skagit River in Whatcom County, Washington and part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project that supplies Seattle with some of its power needs. The dam was built in Diablo Canyon, a gorge of solid g ...

, and

Ross Dam Ross Dam is a -high, -long concrete thin arch dam across the Skagit River, forming Ross Lake. The dam is in Washington state, while Ross Lake extends north to British Columbia, Canada. Both dam and reservoir are located in Ross Lake National Re ...

. The dams are located in

Whatcom County Whatcom County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Canadian Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts of British Columbia) to the north, Okanogan ...

above the town of Newhalem, which lies just west of

North Cascades National Park North Cascades National Park is an American national park in the state of Washington. At more than , it is the largest of the three National Park Service units that comprise the North Cascades National Park Complex. North Cascades National Par ...

. Ross Lake, formed by Ross Dam extends into

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, which is 20 miles upriver from the dam.

Ross Lake National Recreation Area Ross Lake National Recreation Area is a US national recreation area in north central Washington just south of the Canada–US border. It is the most accessible part of the North Cascades National Park Complex which also includes North Cascades ...

surrounds the lake. Construction of Gorge Dam began in 1921 and the first power was delivered to Seattle in 1924. The cost of the dam was $13 million ($153,339,181 in 2006 dollars).Dollar worth calculator at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
In 1961 a new Gorge High Dam was completed ( to replace the original Gorge Dam. This dam was featured in Alan Pakula's 1974 thriller ''

The Parallax View ''The Parallax View'' is a 1974 American political thriller film produced and directed by Alan J. Pakula, and starring Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, William Daniels and Paula Prentiss. The screenplay by David Giler and Lorenzo Semple Jr. was base ...

'', starring Warren Beatty. Construction of Diablo Dam was begun in 1927, five miles upstream from Gorge Dam. Diablo Dam was completed in 1930, and at that time was the tallest dam in the world at until

Owyhee Dam Owyhee Dam (National ID # OR00582) is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Owyhee River in Eastern Oregon near Adrian, Oregon, United States. Completed in 1932 during the Great Depression, the dam generates electricity and provides irrigation wate ...

was built. Although the dam was complete, financial problems due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

delayed building the powerhouse, so the dam produced no electricity for Seattle until 1936. Construction of Ruby Dam at the Rip Raps below Ruby Creek began in 1937. This dam was renamed Ross Dam after the death of James Delmage Ross (1872–1939), the superintendent of the Skagit River Project. Construction of Ross Dam was to take place in three stages and the first stage was completed in 1940. The second and third stages were completed in 1953 when the dam was built to its final height of . All three dams are listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The total cost of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project was $250 million over 50 years.

Hydroelectric power capacity

Tourism

From 1928 until the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, City Light offered guided tours of the Skagit Project. From Rockport, visitors rode City Light's steam locomotive 23 miles to Newhalem. Dormitories were provided, as were meals in The Gorge Inn. The next day, visitors boarded another train to Diablo, where they toured the powerhouse and rode an

incline lift An inclined elevator or inclined lift is a form of cable railway that hauls rail cars up a steep gradient. Introduction An inclined elevator consists of one or two inclined tracks on a slope with a single car on each carrying payload. In t ...

to the top of the dam. Next, they rode a barge or tour boat to Ruby Creek, then returned to Rockport. Over 100,000 people visited the Skagit Project by 1941. After the war, shortened tours resumed. Current tours sponsored by City Light include a boat tour, a walking tour, and a combination walking-and-van tour.

References

Sources

Historylink.orgSeattle City Light Skagit Tours
* Larry Kunzle
Historical Record of Dam Building and their Impacts on Floods of the Skagit River: 1924 through 1968Guide to the Seattle City Light Gorge Development Project Photographs and Photograph Albums 1948-1962Guide to the Seattle City Light Skagit Project: Diablo Dam Construction Photograph Albums 1919-1936Guide to the Seattle City Light Ross Dam Photograph Albums 1938-1948Guide to the Seattle City Light Skagit Youth Camp Records 1991-1996Nearby construction era photo, as the Ross Dam was being completed in 1956Tour boat on the lake formed by the Diablo Dam, during the construction eraConstruction photo of what became Ross Dam

External links

Seattle Power and Water Supply Collection, images of Skagit River Hydroelectric Project
- University of Washington Digital Collection *

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HAER) documentation, filed under Newhalem, Whatcom County, WA: ** ** {{Authority control Dams in Washington (state) Historic American Engineering Record in Washington (state) Seattle City Light dams United States power company dams Hydroelectric power plants in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in Whatcom County, Washington Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Energy infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Whatcom County, Washington 1917 establishments in Washington (state)