The Struggle for Priest Rapids Power
As the Milwaukee Railroad pivots to electrification, White Bluffs residents pressure the federal government to break the deadlock on dam development.
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A report from Spokane suggests the Milwaukee Railroad is negotiating with the Washington Water Power Company to electrify its line from Avery, Idaho, to the Columbia River. While the Spokesman could not verify the reports, electrification is considered more economical than steam. It was long presumed the railroad would rely on a power plant at Priest Rapids, but Congressional inaction on private development has stalled the site. The development of Priest Rapids is vital to White Bluffs, not only for railroad tonnage but for the promise of massive irrigation under a 75-foot lift. Locals are growing restless; if private power companies continue to delay, residents intend to petition the government to step in and develop the site, arguing that the region's contribution to the recent presidential election earns them federal attention.
“The solution of the water problem for this valley will never come until the Priest Rapids dam is built, or its building decided upon.”
The quest for irrigation and power at Priest Rapids was the defining economic obsession of early White Bluffs. Today, the geography is irrevocably altered by the Hanford Site and the Priest Rapids Dam, reflecting the century-long transformation of the Columbia River from a frontier waterway into a managed industrial corridor.
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