Wanapum Development

Hydropower annually displaces more than 500 million barrels of oil or 120 million tons of coal required for generating an equivalent amount of energy. Hydropower reduces annual carbon dioxide emissions by 249 million tons. Hydropower also reduces the United States dependence on oil imports.

The Wanapum Development has a rated capacity of 1,038,000 kilowatts.

It is located on the Columbia River, 18 miles north of the Priest Rapids Development and a few miles south of the I-90 bridge crossing at Vantage. Wanapum Dam paints a beautiful foreground for the majestic Saddle Mountain ridge cleaved through by the Columbia which flows south from Wanapum Dam towards Richland and Kennewick.

Wanapum Dam was financed with a June 1959 bond issue of $195 million for 50 years at 4.9 percent interest. Construction began in January 1959 and commercial operation began in September 1963. Along with Priest Rapids Dam, both generating facilities and reservoirs are referred to as the Priest Rapids Project. The project is operated under a 50-year license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The license expired in October 2005. A new operating license is expected in 2007.

Grant County sells power from the Wanapum Development to twelve purchasers who serve customers throughout the Pacific Northwest and other western states.

Learn about Grant County PUD's other Hydro Projects.

Priest Rapids Dam

Potholes East Canal

Quincy Chute