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Cushman created electricity for region
One of the first major dams in the Pacific Northwest, Tacoma Power's Cushman Dam No. 1 was dedicated in 1926 when President Calvin Coolidge pressed a button in the White House to energize the project. The dam is on the North Fork of the Skokomish River near Hood Canal. It is 275 feet high and 1,111 feet long. Lake Cushman has a 23-mile shoreline.
Just downstream, Cushman Dam No. 2 was completed in 1930, forming the 150-acre Kokanee Lake. This dam measures 235 feet above bedrock and is 575 feet in length.
The powerhouse for Cushman No.2 sits several miles below the dam, overlooking Hood Canal along U.S. Highway 101. The powerhouse attracts hundreds of visitors every year.
Electricity moves from the Cushman Hydro Project to Tacoma on a 40-mile-long transmission line. Free group tours are available for school, civic, business and recreational groups. Call Tacoma Power at 253-502-8759 to make arrangements.
Source: Tacoma Power
The Olympian
Water release will aid salmon
Tacoma Power, Skokomish tribe reach deal on dam
By Chester Allen | The Olympian
The additional water flowing into the southern end of Hood Canal might help in September and October, when southern winds often cause oxygen-poor water to upwell from the bottom of Hood Canal, Bargmann said.
"I can't imagine it will do anything but help," Ereth said.
The new flow into the North Fork cuts about one-sixth of the power generation capacity of the Cushman project, McCarty said.
The new flow is the first step toward restoring the North Fork and rebuilding salmon runs — and Puget Sound, said Brett Swift, deputy director of the Northwest office of American Rivers.
A dry river for years
Tacoma Power did not release any water from Kokanee Reservoir — the second dam in the Cushman project — from 1930 to 1988, except for water that leaked from the dam.
The Skokomish River is the biggest river that flows into lower Hood Canal, but most of the flow hasn't reached the river below the Cushman project since 1930. Most of the flow is caught in Kokanee Reservoir and then routed into a 17-foot-diameter tunnel that takes the water 2.5 miles to a section of three 10.5-foot-diameter pipes that go into Tacoma Power's generator house at Hoodsport.
Tacoma Power started releasing water into the North Fork in 1988, when the utility agreed to send 30 cubic feet per second of water from the dam. In 1998, the flow was increased to 60 cubic feet per second. The 240 cubic feet per second flow started on March 7.
Progress is made
Skokomish tribal members and Tacoma Power said the expanded water flow shows incremental progress in the legal battle, which has held up Cushman's federal relicensing process.
American Rivers has worked for more than 10 years to get more help for the North Fork during the federal dam relicensing process, Swift said.
"This was a long time coming," Swift said.
The Skokomish tribe and Tacoma Power continue to negotiate a deal that would get a new federal license for the Cushman project and improve the rivers and surrounding habitat.
Bringing back a North Fork that is as close to what was lost in 1930 is the goal, Ereth said.
"We're trying to do what is best for the salmon," he added.
Chester Allen is outdoors reporter for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-4226 or callen@theolympian.com.
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