The White Salmon River

 Tule Fall Chinook Salmon are large, pale colored Salmon. Legend has it that the name White Salmon River is derived from the thousands of salmon carcasses that would stain the riverbanks white after spawning and dying.......thus "White Salmon River". 

Condit Dam was a hydroelectric project located on The White Salmon River in Washington.  The dam, named after its lead engineer, Ben Condit, was built by Northwestern Electric Company between 1911 and 1913.  Condit selected the site, designed the dam, pipeline, powerhouse and transmission lines.  The dam supplied electrical power for the Crown Willamette Paper Company in Camas, WA.  The new transmission line from the Condit powerhouse to Camas was the first to built in the Columbia Gorge.  The facility consisted of Condit Dam and its reservoir, Northwestern Lake; a 14-foot, wood stave pipeline that transported the water to a surge tank and auxiliary spillway; two penstocks and the powerhouse. Two horizontally mounted turbines and generators produced electrical power, and the exhausted water rejoined the river about a mile (2 km) downstream of the dam.  The gravity dam was 125 feet high and had a 15 megawatt (enough to power 7,000 homes for a year) powerhouse.  The dam was purchased by Portland Power and Light (PacifiCorp) in 1947.  Condit's original license started in 1965 and expired in 1993. In Nov 1996, the FERC (Federal Regulatory Energy Commission) required the building of $40 million of fish ladders to comply with salmon and steel head endangered species act and environmental regulations.  FERC also wanted more direct stream flow, thus, reducing the hydroelectric power producing capacity.  This made the dam uneconomical to operate.  The dam was decommissioned and removed from 2011 thru 2012. This process was highlighted by the draining of Northwestern lake on Oct 26, 2011.

Condit Controversies

As with most complex environmental issues, there was a great deal of controvesy over the dam's existence and it's closure.  After the second set of fish ladders were destroyed following the flood of 1918,  the fish migration upriver stopped completely.  Prior to the dam, Chinook Salmon was sustenance and a way of life for the Yakima, Wishram and Cascade Indians.  When Lewis and Clark visited the region in 1805, they noted the presence of the Indians and their village at the mouth of the White Salmon River. One of their favorite places fishing places was Husum Falls. They also had historical campsites and burial grounds here. In the mid 1800's, white settlers displaced the Indians and took up positions along the White Salmon River.  The Indians were placed on reservations further north (such a good deal for them!).  Civilization and Industrialization followed.  The Camas paper mill, Condit dam and the resulting electricity brought new industry to White Salmon. And so it remained until larger dams on the Columbia were built.  Now fast forward 80 years and Condit dam needs to be re-licensed. The dam is obsolete and no longer relevant as before.  Salmon and Steel head are endangered species.  Removal of the dam would restore the salmon and steel head runs allowing them upstream to spawn.  It was the right thing to do for the Indians and for planetary responsibility.  But breaching the dam would remove a lake and devastate a community.  It would destroy an ecosystem that had developed over the  last 100 years.  Wetlands, trout and wildlife were abundant at the man made lake upstream from Condit.  Northwest Lake cabin values prummet from loss of water front properties.  Local wells are lost,  leaving residents without water. Seasonal industries vaporized. And, unbeknownst at the time, a huge dust problem would emerge following the draining of the lake.  A dust problem that continues today. In addition, the demolition of the dam released a massive silt slide thru the lower portion of the river compromising the eco system for many years. 

 In reality, it was a simple business decision. The dam was outdated, inefficient and was needing many upgrades. If Pacificorp had desired, they could have built the fish ladders, upgraded the technology and kept the dam.  And it would still be there today working today (regardless of what the local eco groups were efforting).  Pacificorp, 5 federal government agencies and 2 local Indian Tribes ultimately decided the fate of Condit.


The Blow and Go Deal

 Oct 26, 2011 was the highlight of the entrie Condit drama play. It was like pulling the plug on a big bathtub.  It started with the detonation of 700 hundred pounds of dynamite deep inside the base of the dam.  The blast opened a huge hole in the bottom of the dam allowing water and silt to pass thru.

Within 2 hours, the lake was gone, leaving a bare devastated landscape.

One last thing: it appears that PacifiCorp was able to escape using the cheapest exit strategy for the dam.  They were allowed to do a "blow and go" without cleaning up the built up silt behind the dam prior to the dam being blown.  When the dam was initially released, it sent 2 million cubic yards of silt compromising the lower portion of the river.  The local E groups waived PacifiCorps downstream responsibility of the silt, rather than having them clean up the silt prior to the river release.

Below, the river carves it's path where NW Lake used to be.

Shown below is the Condit powerhouse.  This is where the generators were located and where the hydroelectricity was produced.  This building still stands and will be re-purposed.

Shown below is the large wooden pipeline carrying water to the powerhouse turbines.

Condit Time Line

1913  Condit Dam construction completed and comes on line
1914  Original fish ladder washes out (rebuilt)
1918  Second fish ladder washed out (not rebuilt)
1919  Fish hatchery built to mitigate lost fish ladders
1925  Attempted fish elevator fails

1947  NW Electric Co merges with Pacific Power and Light
1972  Condit upgraded with various reinforcements
1984  PP and L renamed PacifiCorp
1993  Condit's federal operating license expires
1996  FERC madates fish ladders and screens for dam
1999  PacifiCorp agrees to close dam

2011  Dam demolition releases White Salmon River

2011  PacifiCorp offers settlements to NWL cabin owners for dried up wells

2012  Removal of concrete from dam