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Damming the Pend Oreille

Pend Oreille Lake, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Photo.

    Plans to dam the Pend Oreille River began as early as 1918 when the region's residents debated two different projects for the river.  Initially, the state of Washington wanted to divert water from Idaho to the Columbia Basin.  In 1943, the Bonneville Power Administration proposed building a storage dam at Albeni Falls.  Sandpoint residents quickly mobilized to defeat both of these projects which would have drowned much of the town beneath a large reservoir.  A remarkable flood year in 1948, however, persuaded North Idaho residents that regulation of the Pend Oreille river and lake could be beneficial to them as long as they did not lose their town.  In the 1950s the Army Corps of Engineers built Albeni Falls dam.  

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