Power plant 1, waterfall 0

What happened to Snoqualmie Falls, which the Snoqualmie Indians consider a sacred site? Here was the situation in 1994:

Snoqualmie Falls, Sacred SiteAlthough normally reluctant to talk publicly about their spirituality, circumstances have forced tribal members to become outspoken in their opposition to continued operation of Puget Power's Snoqualmie Falls hydroelectric plant and in their support for full restoration of natural flow over Snoqualmie Falls--decommissioning of the Snoqualmie Falls power plant.

Since 1898, Puget Power's Snoqualmie Falls power plant has diverted most of the flows that would pass over the Falls to an electricity generating plant, blasted into the rock behind and beneath the Falls. Diversion of the waters which should flow over Snoqualmie Falls is a desecration of this sacred site, as was the blasting done to create the plant. The Snoqualmie People had no say when this supposed miracle of modern engineering was first built at the end of the last century; they have no say now concerning a federal agency's proposal to allow continued operation of the power plant.Place Of Reverence--Expanding Power Production At Snoqualmie Falls Doesn't Make Best Use Of Sacred SiteSnoqualmie Falls is still a sacred site to the Snoqualmie Tribe, but the waters that rush over it have dwindled. Most of the time, the public sees less than 10 percent of the natural flow at Snoqualmie Falls, the remainder being diverted by Puget Power for electricity production. For nearly 100 years, Puget Power has generated electricity from Snoqualmie Falls--electricity that has benefited many of Puget's ratepayers. It's a gift this region has provided to the people who live here: cheap, plentiful electricity generated by the rushing waters that surround us.

But it comes at a high price. Gone is the ground-shaking rumble, the thundering cascades, the engulfing mists. The public's been deprived of seeing a monumental natural resource flowing as it did for thousands of years--naturally.

Now Puget Power wants to expand its operations at Snoqualmie Falls and divert even more of the water into turbines--at a cost of $144 million. In 1990, the Snoqualmie people alerted the public to its impending loss. Working with the local church community, the Snoqualmie Falls Preservation Project actively seeks to preserve and protect Snoqualmie Falls as a public place: for all people, for all time.

Puget Power is applying for another 40-year license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to operate at Snoqualmie Falls and to expand electricity production. The Snoqualmie Falls Preservation Project doesn't understand why, though. The electricity produced at Snoqualmie Falls accounts for less than 1 percent of Puget Power's total electricity sales. If the expansion were approved and built, production would only increase to 1.7 percent of total sales. This is not the best use of Snoqualmie Falls for the people of Puget Sound.

According to Puget Power's Weatherization Program, the need for the electricity from the falls could be replaced if every home Puget serves replaced four 75-watt bulbs with 15-watt compact fluorescent bulbs--or if one in 11 of Puget's 300,000 customers switched from electric heat to natural gas.In June 2004, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted Puget Sound Energy a new 40-year operating license. Here's what PSE had to agree to do for the license:

Snoqualmie Falls Community Meeting Looks To the FutureThe FERC relicensing process balances the economics of project improvements with the amount of power produced and the resources affected. The new Snoqualmie Falls Project license requires six categories of improvements to create that balance:

1) Replace Project generators to produce more energy with less water.

2) Replace diversion dam above the Falls with a rubber weir to be inflated and deflated during high water events.

3) Increase water flow over the Falls to more closely follow seasonal flows (highest volume in May/June).

4) Enhance fish and wildlife resources by monitoring ramping rate and enhancing river banks for fisheries.

5) Improve public trails and park facilities to encourage more use of the park.

6) Develop recreational amenities, public access and parking to preserve and improve upon the Falls’ surroundings.Comment:  Sounds good, but there was no guarantee of an increased water flow over the falls. That was the tribe's main goal.

To review, the Snoqualmie wanted the power plant decommissioned. Instead they got promises of improving everything in the area except the waterfall itself. I'm guessing they weren't pleased to see their sacred site continue to be exploited and diminished.

And how typically American this outcome is. Anyone who doesn't have clout gets trampled in the name of progress. If the choice is saving a few pennies or protecting a sacred Indian site, we inevitably choose the former.