Contractors for Seattle City Light are now working to remove loose rocks from the hillside above Diablo Lake at the site of a March rockslide. Access to the area is restricted and boaters and kayakers are urged to stay away for their safety. Contractors for Seattle City Light are now working to remove loose rocks from the hillside above Diablo Lake, where a March rockslide destroyed two landing docks used by people heading for Ross Lake.
Access to the work zone is restricted. Kayakers and boaters are urged to stay away from the area for their safety. Granite Construction will be using a variety of methods, including blasting, to remove large rocks and stabilize the slope.
Access is restricted past the entrance to the canyon at the east end of Diablo Lake and below the intersection of the trail from SR20 with the Jeep Road and the road to the top of Ross Dam. The National Park Service has placed signs at boat ramps, boat landings and trailheads to inform visitors of the restrictions.
Rock removal work is expected to continue until sometime in October.
Diablo and Ross lakes are part of the Skagit Hydroelectric Project, which operates within the North Cascades National Park. The project’s three dams use the power of the Skagit River to produce about 17 percent of the electricity for Seattle City Light’s customers.
Seattle City Light is the ninth 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 nearly 1 million Seattle area residents. City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.