Powerdale Hydroelectric Project
Columbia River Basin; Hood River, Hood River County, Oregon
Project Profile
The former Powerdale Hydroelectric Project affected ESA-listed fish by impeding passage, sucking juvenile fish into an intake diversion, reducing stream flow and increasing water temperature in a four-mile reach.
Listed Species
Lower Columbia River steelhead
Licensee
FERC Relicensing Status
Multiple parties agreed to a decommissioning settlement in 2003. NOAA Fisheries completed a biological opinion in 2005, FERC issued a license surrender order in 2005, and PacifiCorp removed the dam in 2010. The company granted the associated land to Hood River County, Columbia Land Trust, and the state of Oregon for conservation and public recreation use. Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) has started the administrative process to convert the project’s hydro water rights to instream water rights, and NOAA Fisheries has protested OWRD’s proposed final order to convert only a small portion of the hydro water right to an instream right.
Resources
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
FERC eLibrary: Docket #P-2659
NOAA Fisheries Biological Opinion
