Shanker's Bend dam proposed in the Okanogan
Oct 27, 2009
A dam on the Similkameen would affect the valley on both sides of the border, in the US in Washington and Canada in BC. Is it worth the loss of homes and habitat?
The Similkameen includes important seasonal range for bighorn sheep. Photo by Caitlin LeBar
It might be the 21st century, with salmon few and far between in large part because of dams, but dams are still in the drawing plans, this one in the Similkameen Valley, shared by the US in Washington State and Canada and the province of BC. The trade-offs, then as now, are hydropower and flood control versus agricultural lands and wildlife habitat.
In August, 100 people from both sides of the border crowded to reason against a proposed dam that would have serious consequences to the upper Okanogan. The proposed dam alternatives at Shanker's Bend on the Similkameen River, just a few miles west of Oroville, involve varying degrees of inundation on the US and BC sides to farm lands, nearby homes, and local wildlife habitat.
The Similkameen River Valley, particularly the habitat north of Palmer Lake, is the most important riparian reach in the US portion of the Okanogan watershed. Flooding the valley would eliminate seasonal bighorn sheep range and mule deer winter and spring range, and drown other habitat for animals from birds to bats to beavers to bears. The river and uplands of the Similkameen are home to one third of the red-listed (threatened and endangered) species in Canada.
