Archives West Finding Aid

The Priest Rapids Dam Project was authorized under the Flood Control Act of 1950 which commissioned flood projection projects in the Columbia River Basin.

In 1951, the United States government established the Defense Electric Power Administration (DEPA), with the intent of mobilizing electric utility companies for production during the Korean War. A letter from DEPA urging utility companies to curtail the consumption of power lead local legislators to advocate expansion of power generation in the area. Consultation with the Hazra Engineering Company let to the decision to construct two low dams, one at Priest Rapids, and one 18 miles upstream called the Wanapum Dam. Although the project had been authorized federally, the Army Corps of Engineers had no immediate plans to begin development in Priest Rapids. Conflicts about who would control the project began emerging between the Grant County Public Utility Department (PUD) and the Washington State Power Commission (WSPC), established in 1949. Both agencies filed applications with the Federal Power Commission. The Grant County PUD obtained a restraining order preventing the WSPC from interfering with planning and construction. WSPC appealed to the Supreme Court, which granted the license to the Grant County PUD. In November 1955, the Priest Rapids Projects was de-authorized as a US Army Corps of Engineers Project, and authorized under the Grant County PUD.

On January 15, 1957, four Wanapum men signed a treaty with the Grant County Public Utility District, which provided cash, lifelong housing in individual homes, electricity and water, a long house, and employment at the dam in exchange for the right to hunt and fish, and the promise that some petroglyphs would be moved from Whale Island in the Columbia River to the Wanapum burial grounds and a recreation area. The Priest Rapids Reservoir eventually washed out a substantial remaining portion of the Wanapum campgrounds.

Construction was completed by the Grant County Public Utility District (PUD) in 1961.

The film was probably made by the Grant County Public Utility Department (PUD).

The film includes three reels spliced together in 1970.

At the beginning of the viewing copy, University of Washington Libraries has inserted titles and timecode. These titles and the timecode were not part of the original material but were created and added to the viewing copy at the time of transfer for clarity and tracking purposes.