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Diablo Lake to Be Lowered for Construction Work

To continue construction of a new heavy barge landing dock, Seattle City Light will lower the water level of Diablo Lake at the utility’s Skagit Hydroelectric Project by up to 10 feet. The drawdown will start on Sept. 10 and take up to six days to complete. Low lake levels are scheduled to last until Nov. 5.
Photo of Diablo Lake

Diablo Lake

To continue construction of a new heavy barge landing dock, Seattle City Light will lower the water level of Diablo Lake at the utility’s Skagit Hydroelectric Project by up to 10 feet. The drawdown will start on Sept. 10 and take up to six days to complete. Low lake levels are scheduled to last until Nov. 5.

Photo of construction workers.

Construction workers install a rockery fence above the site for the new barge landing.

With lower water levels, the boat ramp and fishing dock at Colonial Creek Campground will not be usable. Skagit Tours and the Diablo Lake ferry service will operate as scheduled though passengers should be prepared to walk much steeper ramps at the docks.

This $1.5 million project is one of the final phases of work needed to replace facilities destroyed by a 2010 rockslide.  The project must be completed to allow for the delivery of six new transformers to Ross Powerhouse scheduled for 2016.

Artist rendering of barge landing project.Seattle City Light is the 10th largest public electric utility in the United States. It has some of the lowest cost customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and environmentally responsible power to about 750,000 Seattle area residents. City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.