The Unharnessed Potential of Priest Rapids
With federal power legislation stalled, the community of White Bluffs looks toward government intervention to develop the region's massive water resources.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Shields water power bill for the leasing and regulation of water power plants on government streams was defeated in the closing hours of the last congress, when house and senate conferees failed to reach an agreement on its provisions. The fate of the bill was of much interest locally. Had it been enacted into law, the power site at Priest Rapids, the largest undeveloped site in the United States and one of the largest in the world, would no doubt have been developed in the near future. Of all the sites possible of development, this one is the big plum. The failure of the Shields bill to pass will no doubt result in a renewed effort to have the site developed by the government.
“Of all the sites possible of development, this one is the big plum.”
Priest Rapids was eventually developed, but the 1917 debate over federal control versus local utility interests reflects the century-long struggle for control over the Columbia River's vast, transformative power.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.