Skagit Hydroelectric Project, Newhalem, Wash. – Due to a decline in snow pack and rainfall in the Skagit basin, Seattle City Light is predicting water levels in the Ross reservoir at the utility’s Skagit Hydroelectric Project will be significantly lower than normal during the upcoming summer months. Ross reservoir and… [ Keep reading ]
During an emergency—whether someone has a bump or bruise during a dam tour or is involved in a serious traffic accident on the North Cascades Highway—a team of City Light employees takes action, changing from their daily roles at the utility to act as members of the Newhalem-Diablo Fire Brigade.
A Seattle City Light contractor recently completed a year long project at the Skagit Hydroelectric Project to replace 52 deteriorating, wooden saddles that support the Newhalem Penstock. The old wooden saddles were replaced with new, cast-in-place concrete saddles that will provide structural support so that the penstock will not collapse.
Seattle City Light started evacuating employees Wednesday from the town of Diablo and helped evacuate visitors at the North Cascades Institute’s Environmental Learning Center on Diablo Lake and at the Ross Lake Resort as the Goodell Creek Fire approached facilities at the utility’s Skagit Hydroelectric Project.
Seattle City Light is making repairs to boat landings near the Ross Powerhouse at the utility’s Skagit Hydroelectric Project that will require lowering Diablo Lake.
The return of summer opens new opportunities for exploring the rugged and beautiful North Cascades, including Ross Lake, which is now open for fishing.
Many Chinook salmon eggs laid in the Skagit River system last fall faced grim prospects for survival amid challenging water conditions. But a coordinated effort by Seattle City Light working with state and federal resource agencies and tribes along with an exceptionally wet March and April gave more than 300,000 of them the chance to grow up.
Summer’s return opens a whole host of opportunities for exploring the North Cascades on one of the always popular Skagit Tours at Seattle City Light’s Skagit Hydroelectric project, starting June 21.
Seattle City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco expressed cautious optimism about power production this year. The utility entered April with near-record amounts of snowpack above its hydroelectric dams on the Pend Oreille and Skagit Rivers, promising a healthy supply of electricity this summer.
