Kudos to PUD for sensible solution

Published 1:30 pm Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Regarding the Monday article, “New hydroelectric dam to be first in county since ’80s”:

At last, a postive for PUD ratepayers. It’s about time for common-sense solutions. Water power is cheap and that’s what we need in our economy now. The power in water is also destructive. It costs taxpayers $30 million and up for every flood in Snohomish County alone.

The Skykomish River was classified a state scenic river for its beauty and salmon spawning habitat, but that habitat is gone. Nothing is left of them but waves of gravel (6 feet high) washing toward Port Gardner bay.

We have two rivers, the Snoqualmie and the Skykomish, which are blocked by falls the salmon don’t spawn above. The Sultan River has a dam, and it produces an abundance of fish from its spawning beds.

Good work. Keep it up. Maybe we can get our kilowatt rate down to .03 cents like the PUD in Eastern Washington.

Roger Finley

Sultan