Restoring Aesthetics in the Spokane River below the Upper Falls Project

摘要

Avista Corp. restored two channels downstream of its Upper Falls Development on the Spokane River to look much the way it did long ago, before the channels were altered to divert water to numerous flour and lumber mills, as well as for hydropower generation. The channel restoration, using weirs shaped and colored to look like the bedrock throughout the river, spread water more evenly through the two channels and has now functioned successfully through two entire spill seasons. Combined, they produce an aesthetically pleasing flow over the falls that viewers can enjoy throughout the year.