SNOHOMISH, Wash. — The Snohomish County Public Utility District is one step closer to building a hydroelectric power plant on one of Washington's last remaining wild rivers.
People who live along the Skykomish River went to a meeting about the project Tuesday night to voice their concern.
The Skykomish River below Mount Index looks like the setting of a movie—natural, powerful, spectacular.
“Virtually everybody who has come up here has said the same thing. This is national park-type property,” said Jeff Smith from his backyard, which is just feet from the river.
But the plot thickens, with Smith and his neighbors playing opposite Snohomish County PUD.
“The project is a 30 megawatt run of the river hydroelectric project, and it’s located above an natural barrier to fish passage,” said Mark Flury, Snohomish County’s principal engineer on the project.
He’s talking about Sunset Falls, a mile down river from Smith's house.
His property would be the location of a tunnel—instead of a dam—used to pull water.
Smith is adamantly against it.
Water levels on the Skykomish River fluctuate; last month the river reached the base of Smith's house.
If the project does go forward there’s a chance the water will never flow at even its lowest capacity again.
And from the popular Lake Serene Trail on the ridge above hikers would see a powerhouse.
The PUD said the location is ideal.
“Why the Skykomish? Well it’s very close to our transmission line, it’s within our own service territory. We conducted a study that looked at 140 various sites and this site was the top of the list,” said Flury.
After years of work, next month they’ll apply for a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Smith and his neighbors hope it’s denied, even though the completed project could still be a decade away.
A power plant is not the way the wild Skykomish’s story is supposed to end.
“This kind of setting, beauty, does more to nurture the human spirit than powering people’s microwaves and toasters,” Smith said.
KIRO
