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Enloe Dam

Enloe Dam

Current Status

What Is the Regulatory Status of Enloe Dam?

On August 13, 2019, as affirmed on December 19, 2019, FERC issued an order terminating the Enloe Dam Hydropower License. Upon termination of the FERC license, regulatory authority fell to the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology).

Enloe Dam’s placement on federal property managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) requires the District to have a Grant of Right of Way (ROW) from BLM. The current ROW expires on June 30, 2063.

Why Did the District Decide Not To Continue Pursuing Re-Energization?

On November 19, 2018, the Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a motion to no longer pursue electrification of Enloe Dam and to permit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license to terminate. This decision was based on the complexity, risk, and considerable cost involved in restoring power generation. The Board of Commissioners made this decision in the best interests of the ratepayers, considering the current availability of cheaper sources of power.

Why Is the District Still Spending Money on Enloe Dam?

Since the establishment of the PUD and its acquisition of Enloe Dam, there have always been financial obligations associated with owning and maintaining the structure. The District is at all times committed to fulfilling its obligation to ensure the safety of the structure with the least cost impacts to its ratepayers.

Dam safety investments need to be made now, regardless of the future direction. Any decision on the future of Enloe Dam will require a lengthy, likely decades-long process, and the District cannot in the meantime neglect its duty to ensure public safety.

How Does the District Ensure Dam Safety?

As the owner of Enloe Dam, the Public Utility District No. 1 of Okanogan County (District) is obligated to ensure public safety and to meet all dam safety regulations of both the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) and Bureau of Land Management.

In order to meet these obligations, the District successfully conducted a comprehensive dam safety inspection in September 2022. The main finding from this inspection is that the dam’s appearance remains more or less the same as was observed in 1950, and no emergency measures are needed to ensure safe operations in the near term.

Media Articles

Dam Removal Inquiries

The District is aware of the desire on the part of some stakeholders to remove Enloe Dam. However, there is no requirement to do so. Nevertheless, the District remains open to reviewing comprehensive proposals from interested stakeholders that include, but are not limited to, the following criteria:

  • Independent feasibility assessment that collects and evaluates scientific data, including:
    • Determination if Enloe Dam was built on the second set of falls or a run of falls.
    • How anadromous fish would pass after removal, either naturally or artificially.
    • Would artificial passage be allowed by all interested parties?
    • What agencies will fund and manage the new fish populations?
    • Process for establishing new ESA habitat above Enloe Dam and impacts to private property owners, irrigators, and the Palmer Lake fishery.
    • Delineation of suitable habitat for anadromous fish above Enloe Dam, with current data.
    • Comprehensive sediment analysis of the 2.43 million cubic yards of sediment, behind Enloe Dam, approved by the Washington State Department of Ecology.
    • Process for cultural resource mitigation requirements by removing a structure on the National Register of Historic Places.
    • Dam removal cost estimate based on preliminary engineering designs.
    • Ability to compete for funding with other habitat projects in the Pacific Northwest.
  • Approval from the Canadian government will allow new fish populations to cross the border.
  • Scoping process for the public, upstream and downstream landowners, affected cities, irrigators, and other interested parties.
  • Identification of a partner with the means to fund Dam removal.
  • Identification of a partner who can relieve the District of any future liability.

Feasibility Study Update

The District has been engaged in Enloe Dam removal conversations as far back as the 1960s. Recently, Richard Roos-Collins of the Water and Power Law Group PC, presented the District Board of Commissioners with a memorandum (memo) that describes a feasible pathway to pursue removal of Enloe Dam. The memo analyzes potential liabilities arising from dam removal, along with strategies to avoid and manage such liabilities. On July 25, 2022, the District Board of Commissioners passed Resolution No. 1775 supporting a process to evaluate the potential Enloe Dam removal, as outlined in the memo.

Trout Unlimited (TU) has stepped forward as the Project Manager to lead the comprehensive feasibility analysis, consistent with the memo’s criteria. TU has secured funding, in collaboration with other entities, to conduct this analysis.

Stantec was selected as the firm to conduct the necessary assessments, alternatives analysis, and advance engineering to a point that will provide a high level of confidence in the cost estimate. Other entities are leading additional aspects of the work, such as identification of a Dam Removal Entity and developing a plan of how to address the liability concerns of a potential dam removal project.

TU estimates the feasibility analysis to be concluded in 2026, at which point numerous stakeholder entities will determine which preferred alternative to pursue. The next steps would include advancing the engineering design, local, state, and federal permitting processes, securing all necessary funding for the project, and completing the liability plan.

District staff is participating in this process consistent with Commissioner Resolution No. 1775. On November 24, 2025, the Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a motion to authorize the General Manager to submit comments, as proposed by staff, on the Trout Unlimited Feasibility Study Regarding Removal of Enloe Dam .  On May 18, 2026, the Board of Commissioners approved the following communication points to provide further clarification on where the District is at with Enloe Dam.

Communication Points:

  • Numerous community and District concerns have been raised before and since the March 23, 2026, Board meeting, which have not been addressed.
  • The District’s priority is protecting our community and ratepayers.  Dam removal projects are a long-term undertaking that can only be successful if community and risk concerns are fully understood and addressed.
  • Currently no decision has been made by the District to pursue removal.
  • The District remains concerned that the sediment issues have not been adequately assessed and that additional analysis is necessary.
  • The District has contracted with Tetra Tech Inc. to conduct an independent analysis and review of Trout Unlimited’s study to assist the District in providing technical comments and identifying data gaps.
  • Pending evaluation and satisfactory resolution of the District’s technical review of TU’s study, the District will not proceed with negotiation of a transactional agreement with TU (or DRE), consent to submission of permit applications, or communicate publicly in a way that appears pre-decisional regarding the future of Enloe Dam.
  • The District will continue to engage with TU in meeting the criteria outlined in Board Resolution No. 1775.

Tetra Tech Independent Analysis of the Trout Unlimited Enloe Dam Feasibility Study

Summary Opinion and Next Steps Memorandum(PDF)

Document Review Summary (PDF)

Comment Matrix (PDF)

Additional Documents