There's little danger of flooding as this is a run-of-the-river dam with minimal storage capacity.
A 65-foot-long crack in a Columbia River dam in central Washington has prompted officials to begin lowering the water level by 20 feet so inspectors can get a better idea of how serious the damage is.
There's no immediate threat to public safety from the crack in the Wanapum Dam, Grant County Public Utility District spokesman Thomas Stredwick said Friday. The dam is located just downstream from where Interstate 90 crosses the river....
The dam can generate more than 1,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power.
PUD officials are working with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to determine how best to repair the cracked pillar.
Repairs could also affect the rest of the Columbia River hydroelectric system.
'All these dams coordinate to generate energy on a regional scope,' Stredwick said. 'If Wanapum is impacted, that has impacts on dams upstream as well as below.'
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