Grand Coulee Dam #club100

A little further down the road from Soap Lake is the Grand Coulee Dam. It is pretty impressive considering it is one of the largest concrete structures in the world. It is also the largest hydroelectric producer in the United States. This single hydroelectric dam produces more than 20 billion kilowatt hours per year--or enough for 4.2 million households.

It doesn't really look that big, but it is huge. It contains 12 million cubic yards of concrete! Apparently, that is enough concrete to build a 4 feet wide sidewalk around the equator, or alternatively, a highway that stretches from Seattle to Miami. That is a LOT of concrete.

I hope they keep it in good repair, because if they needed to rebuild it then it would cost more than 8 billion dollars. Yikes!

There is great natural beauty that surrounds the dam. The Columbia River itself is very scenic.

The unfortunate thing about the dam, however, is that it has caused considerable environmental destruction. One problem is that the dam does not have a fish ladder and that means that the structure has cut off the salmon spawning grounds. This has had a negative impact of the Indigenous peoples who have lived in the region for thousands of years.

The flooding caused by damming the Columbia River also caused a great deal of grief to the Indigenous peoples. More than 85 sq kms of Indigenous territory is now covered with water, and this meant that settlements and graveyards had to be moved. Eventually, the government compensated the Indigenous peoples for the loss of their home and fishery. The entire settlement seems to amount to $53 million dollars, paid in installments.

Is it enough?

Here is my truck and camper for scale. Can you imagine the size of the glaciers that once carved through this region?

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