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Similkameen Appraisal Study
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The Okanogan Public Utility District (PUD) is studying the potential for a storage facility/dam at Shanker’s Bend on the Similkameen River, a site that has been considered for construction of a dam since the 1940s. The proposed site is located a short distance upstream from the existing Enloe Dam. The Shanker’s Bend project is viewed as having at least three possible configurations:
Project inundation maps |
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| These cost estimates were obtained from the original 1948 project documents and converted to 2007 costs using OFM inflation indexes. The 1948 original project estimates were the most detailed, including engineering, land acquisition, and typical other miscellaneous costs. However, the exact scope of costs included in the estimates is not known. Detailed estimates of abandonment of roads and infrastructure currently in place, as well as environmental mitigation costs are not likely to be included in all the pool options. The project appears to be attracting both interest and concern from across the Canadian border. The largest facility option (Elev. 1289) would inundate Canadian lands as well as lands adjacent to Palmer Lake in Washington. | |
| In 2007, Ecology provided $300,000 for the PUD to conduct an appraisal level review of the site, due in 2008. If the appraisal level review shows a basis for further investigation, then a more comprehensive study of environmental and cultural benefits and impacts will be considered. The PUD’s previous FERC application material described this as “a final feasibility study that will incorporate refinements to engineering costs, environmental mitigation, and the exact benefits to Okanogan (PUD) from an operational standpoint”. This would take place under the purview of a federal hydropower license preliminary permit issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). |
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