DESCRIPTION: The Rocky Reach Hydro Project is located in north central Washington state on the Columbia River, about seven miles upstream from the city of Wenatchee. By river, the dam is 215 miles below the Canadian border, and 473 miles above the mouth of the Columbia at Astoria, Ore.
More than 7 million people throughout the Northwest benefit from clean, renewable energy produced at Rocky Reach. The project is also nationally recognized for efforts to protect the environment. A first-of-its-kind juvenile fish bypass system was completed in 2003 to help young salmon and steelhead on their way to the ocean. A major powerhouse upgrade started in 1995 includes new turbines that are more fish friendly. Improvements to turbines and generators are also designed to improve efficiency and reliability.
An innovative juvenile fish bypass system helps move young salmon and steelhead quickly and safely past the Rocky Reach Hydro Project. The bypass includes two main parts. The first is a collector system which relies on 29 large pumps to create a strong current, appealing to the natural instincts of the young fish to attract them to a collector in the dam’s forebay.
Once the fish are in the collector, water moves them into the second part of the system -- a steel tube up to 9 feet in diameter. The tube passes through the dam and extends 4,600 feet around the back side of the powerhouse, across the face of the spillway and about one-third mile down the east side of the Columbia River before the fish are returned to the river. The entire trip will take young fish about six to eight minutes.
The Visitor Center is located at the west end of the forebay wall, on the Chelan County side of the Rocky Reach Hydro Project. The center is easily accessible from Highway 97A and offers ample parking for visitors, including recreational vehicles. Those touring the facility will discover an air-conditioned seasonal gift and food service area, restrooms, and balconies that offer panoramic views of the project, the reservoir (Lake Entiat), and the Columbia River. The Visitor Center's small theater, with a seating capacity of 90, shows movies upon request. Guided tours are available during the summer months or by request. Close to 60,000 visitors annually enjoy the hydro project's visitor facilities.
A highlight of any visit to the Rocky Reach Visitor Center is the opportunity for a closeup view of fish passing through the fishway. The fish viewing room, with five windows located on the west side of the fish ladder, allows visitors to watch salmon, steelhead, trout and other species continue their upstream migration to spawning areas. Salmon and steelhead are seasonal visitors. The best months of the year to see chinook salmon are May and August. Sockeye salmon are most visible during July, and it's September for steelhead. "Look a salmon in the eye" in the fish viewing room, located downstairs in the Visitor Center at Rocky Reach Dam.
After completing a tour of the Visitor Center, guests can walk along the forebay deck to the powerhouse and take an elevator down to the fourth floor where they can enjoy a number of exhibits and observation points. Conveniently arranged self-guided tours take visitors through the Museum of the Columbia, featuring a look back at the rich history of early life along the Columbia River. Other powerhouse displays include a Nez Perce Indian Portrait collection and changing art, craft and floral exhibits. Balconies provide visitors with views of the full length of the powerhouse, the spillway, fish ladder and Columbia River.
Adjacent to the visitor center and powerhouse are 30 acres of award-winning lawns and gardens. Special features include Petunia Island, where 8,000 brilliantly colored annual flowers are planted in a new design every year. A large symbol of the Chelan County Public Utility District is composed of colorful flowers. Another display of bright red, white and blue annual flowers depicts the U.S. flag, and dozens of varieties of dahlias and the wide open space of lawn, clusters of alpine trees, picnic areas and playground equipment await the visitor. A turbine exhibit was constructed on the Rocky Reach grounds in the summer of 1998. The hub and blades of Generating Unit C5 were saved for the exhibit following C5's rehabilitation.
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Source: www.chelanpud.org
The Wells Dam Hatchery is one of two hatcheries in the Columbia Basin dedicated to the enhancement of the important summer Chinook salmon stocks. Adult summer Chinook are collected for broodstock in July and August. They may be seen in the holding ponds at the Wells Hatchery during those months. Juvenile summer Chinook are released from the hatchery in April and June. Approximately 3 million juvenile salmon and steelhead are released annually into the Columbia River and tributaries above Wells Dam.
