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  • February

    Ice Harbor

    New innovation earns Ice Harbor Lock and Dam recognition

    Ice Harbor Lock and Dam has been honored as the Infrastructure Project of the Year by the American Shotcrete Association, due to a groundbreaking initiative to enhance hydroelectric efficiency and improve fish survival.

  • December

    McNary powerhouse

    Don’t bet on the weather: The role hydropower plays in balancing the grid during extreme circumstances

    The power grid produces as it is consumed. Energy production rises and falls in tandem with human activity, allowing electricity to flow continuously into homes and businesses . However, this flow can be interrupted.

  • October

    A man in a button-up shirt gives a speech to a small crowd from behind a podium at a local museum.

    McNary turns 70!

    As the population grew in the Pacific Northwest, communities formed around the Columbia and Snake rivers. Back then, the currents were temperamental and hard to navigate. However, there was a vision to create a highway, one that would allow barges to carry cargo from the Pacific Ocean to the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, 465 miles inland.

  • July

    Inside Ice Harbor Lock and Dam's Powerhouse in which Units 1-3 will be replaced with improved fish passaged turbines.

    USACE Plans Fish Survival Testing this Fall on the Second Improved Fish Passage Turbine

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District has started the installation process in Unit 1 for another adjustable blade turbine designed for improved fish passage. The Corps has been working diligently to decrease fish injury and improve survival rates through turbines designed for improved fish passage at Ice Harbor Lock and Dam.

  • April

    photo of ice harbor spillway and photo of ice harbor powerhouse

    From water to watts: A history of Ice Harbor Lock and Dam

    Ice Harbor Lock and Dam boasts some of the most cutting-edge hydropower technology in the world. Two advanced technology turbines currently sit in the powerhouse, with a third one on the way. These new turbines were designed to improve fish passage and generate electricity more efficiently.
  • Burbank, WA. Ice Harbor Dam personnel installed an advanced technology turbine, the first of its kind, on June 8, 2018. This fixed blade turbine runner was designed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel and Voith for power efficiency and to optimize the safety of fish navigating through Snake River dams.

    Modernizing hydropower on the Snake River

    Hydropower, a clean, renewable and reliable energy source, just became safer for fish and more efficient at generating electricity, thanks to the new turbines at Ice Harbor Lock and Dam on the Snake River in southeast Washington.

  • March

    Operations Project Manager Jeannette Wilson speaking at the 50th anniversary ceremony for Lower Monumental Lock and Dam in 2019.

    Finding a place at the Corps

    Finding the perfect career isn’t easy, but for Jeannette Wilson, becoming the operations project manager (OPM) at Lower Monumental Lock and Dam was like finding gold at the end of the rainbow.