Ross Dam

The Ross Dam ( Ross Dam ) was built from 1937 to 1953 at the Skagit River in the north of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, which consists of three dams: Gorge Dam ( built in 1961 ), Diablo Dam ( built in 1930 ) and Ross Dam. The dams provide Seattle Area with a quarter of their need for power and belonging to the company Seattle City Light. All three dams are located in Whatcom County at Rockport and in the city Newhalem, which lies to the west of North Cascades National Park.

The reservoir, which is called Ross Lake is 39 km long and extends to the Canadian border to British Columbia inside.

The arch dam of Ross Dam was built in three phases, where they were each increased. The first phase ran from 1937 to 1940 and the third phase was completed in 1953, when the dam had reached its final height of 165 meters for the time being. The dam is at the Rip Raps below the Ruby Creek. It was renamed after James Delmage Ross (1872-1939), chief of the Skagit River Project. Originally named Ruby Dam.

The Ross Dam is the highest of the three dams. The dam looks like a checkerboard of five square feet steps. These have the sense that you can easily the dam again may increase by 36 m. Concrete plans in this regard were first welcomed in the 1960s by the Canadians. However, further large wilderness areas had been flooded and the city Hozomeen in Canada would have had to be abandoned. The debate on increasing the dam ran through the 1970s and culminated in a 1984 agreement concluded, according to which Washington can for 80 years to buy Canadian electricity at reasonable prices from British Columbia.

The connected hydropower plant has four turbines for power generation: 112 MW and three 115 MW once together produce 451 MW. Besides producing electricity, the dam also serves to flood protection.

The area around the Ross Lake and its neighboring reservoirs was expelled in 1968 under the name Ross Lake National Recreation Area as a conservation and recreation area of the type of a National Recreation Area and the National Park Service handed over to the administration. It divides the North Cascades National Park in its northern and southern parts. On the Reservoir find diverse forms of water sports and recreation instead of the water. The lakes and their tributaries are excellent fishing areas, hiking and riding trails run along the lake shores and around the Ruby Mountain ( 2258 m). Several campgrounds are on the lake shores.