Avista Utilities started drawing down the water level at Lake Spokane (Long Lake Reservoir) on Jan. 6. Operators expect to lower the reservoir up to one foot per day over a two-to three-week period…
People hanging out in Riverfront Park or crossing downtown bridges may have noticed cranes, sandbags and people in the north channel of the Spokane River. What’s going on is Avista conducting an “Upper Falls Aesthetic Spill Pilot Test,” a condition of Avista’s new FERC license for the Spokane River Hydroelectric Project. The Spokane River Forum reports.
Avista announced successfully completing a seven year process to relicense five hydroelectric projects on the Spokane River. The new license sets conditions for Avista operating these projects for the next 50 years. This post connects you to a Spokesman article, Avista press release and other resources about this watershed event.
Avista Utilities and the Sierra Club have worked out an agreement for year-round flows of Spokane Falls. Even after sunset, when most of the tourists have left Riverfront Park, water will spill over a series of descending basalt columns. The Spokesman Review reports.
A memorandum of understanding allows Washinton, Idaho and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe to participate in a monitoring study of Post Falls Dam. The study will be used to determine final conditions that Idaho Department of Environmental Quality will place on summer discharges of water at Post Falls Dam. These conditions are part of Avista’s proposed 50 year license to continue operating Post Falls Dam. The Spokane River Forum reports.