Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
Wondering why the crack in the Wanapum Dam has officials so concerned? Take a look at the high resolution version of the photograph of the deformation in the dam that the dam’s owner, the Grant County PUD, just published (go the the PUD’s website for the full image). Something moved that shouldn't have moved. If I were living below the dam, I’d be ready to move to higher ground in a heartbeat.
Public confidence in the PUD’s handling of the situation will depend on whether the public believes the PUD is being honest and fully disclosing the facts. So far, the Grant County PUD’s use of its website to report developments on the situation appears to me to be consistent with good crisis management public information practices: just the facts, meaningful context, and no speculation. But if the PUD slips into an evasive, trust us mode that suggests important information is being concealed, confidence in the utility will erode, and erode quickly.
If the PUD’s public relations staff can find the time, it should consider publishing a graph that shows the effect of the lower water level on the dam’s energy output. Reducing the hydraulic head for the turbines from 80 to 60 feet is a 25 percent reduction in head, but because the relationship between the height of the head and turbine power is not linear, the reduction in power, and thus in generating capacity, probably is in the neighborhood of 40–50 percent.