?Serious problem?: 65-foot crack found in Columbia River dam

[Emily]

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023019385_wanapumdamxml.html

Originally published February 28, 2014 at 7:17 PM | Page modified February 28, 2014 at 9:35 PM

?Serious problem?: 65-foot crack found in Columbia River dam

Inspectors found a 65-foot crack in a dam below Vantage on the Columbia River, prompting the Grant County PUD to begin lowering water levels.

By Craig Welch

Seattle Times environment reporter
A massive crack in a major Columbia River dam poses enough of a risk of dam failure that Grant County authorities have activated an emergency-response plan.

Officials said there is no threat to the public from the crack in the Wanapum Dam, which is just down stream from where Interstate 90 crosses the river.

But utility managers are lowering water levels a total of 20 feet because they fear the structure otherwise could endanger inspectors trying to get a better handle on how seriously the dam is damaged.

...

?All these dams coordinate to generate energy on a regional scope,? Stedwick said. ?If Wanapum is impacted, that has impacts on dams up stream as well as below.?

Officials with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) declined to comment on the potential impact to power generation because they did not want to unduly influence energy markets....

 

[Emily]

Re: ?Serious problem?: 65-foot crack found in Columbia River dam

http://kplu.org/post/dam-drawdown-worried-washington-farmers-plead-help-water-fruit-trees

Northwest Farmers
1:12 pm
Fri March 14, 2014
Dam Drawdown: Worried Washington Farmers Plead For Help To Water Fruit Trees

...

It?s not only irrigators, but also rural homeowners who?ve gone dry. Drinking water wells are failing as the water table near the shriveled Columbia River drops.

So far, the owners of Wanapum Dam don?t know when water levels will rise again. A fix to the cracked dam appears a ways off.

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2014/mar/15/a-dams-crack-has-a-root-cause/

A dam?s crack has a ?root cause?
Wenatchee World Editorial Board
March 15, 2014, 3:33 p.m.
More than two weeks into the saga of the great Wanapum Dam spillway crack, and the region is still awestruck by the impact...

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2014/03/post_195.html

By Ted Sickinger
on March 14, 2014 at 5:30 PM, updated March 14, 2014 at 5:38 PM

Drilling in Wanapum Dam to determine cause of fracture; scramble to help fish and irrigators...