Tumwater Canyon Delays For Dam Repairs

Expect delays Monday August 19th through Tumwater Canyon on US Highway 2 near Tumwater Dam

Crews are planning to install jersey barriers along the highway shoulder to prepare for a Chelan PUD maintenance project scheduled for Tumwater Dam.

According to a PUD news release, Rachel Hansen from Chelan PUD says in late August, crews will begin repairs to reinforce the dam’s apron – a section of concrete downstream of the dam.   New concrete will prevent undercutting of the structure and includes measures to protect fish passage.

The viewing area at Tumwater Dam will be closed on Monday through the end of December.

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The project continues a maintenance plan that started in 2020 with concrete repairs to the fishway. The repairs are required safety standards for dams regulated by the state Department of Ecology.

Chelan PUD uses the dam's fishway to monitor salmon and steelhead populations in the Wenatchee River. The PUD also collects adult fish that are spawned in a hatchery to meet requirements of the Habitat Conservation Plans for the Rocky Reach and Rock Island hydro projects.

Tumwater Dam is also a collection site for Yakama Nation Fisheries and Grant PUD  hatcheries, and a site for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fish studies.

Tumwater Dam was used to generate clean energy for trains travelling through the long tunnel at Stevens Pass. Chelan PUD acquired the dam in the 1950 and reconfigured it in the 1980's