Culmback Dam

The Culmback Dam (also known as the George Culmback Dam or the Snoqualmie National Forest Dam) is a large rockfill hydroelectric and water supply dam on the Sultan River, a tributary of the Skykomish River, in Washington. Built in 1965, the dam is 640 feet (200 m) long at the crest and 262 feet (80 m) high. Its reservoir, Spada Lake, provides water for 70 to 75 percent of Snohomish County and feeds the Jackson Hydro Project, providing 112 megawatts of clean energy to Snohomish county. Some critics charge that the dam has strongly impacted the runs of salmon and other migratory fish in the Sultan River by depleting gravel and sediment needed to line the riverbed. The dam's operator counters that Culmback Dam dramatically reduces flooding events, benefiting fish populations and the surrounding communities. The dam was named in honor of George Culmback, a former mayor of Everett. Spada Lake was named after John Spada, Italian immigrant who worked for the U.S. Forest Service and helped found Snohomish County PUD. The Dam is co-owned by the Snohomish County PUD and the City of Everett and is operated by the PUD. Water from Spada Lake is diverted through a pipeline to a powerhouse further downstream on the Sultan River. From the powerhouse, some water is returned to the river, and some is diverted to Lake Chaplain, where the water enters the Everett water supply system.

Dam data from Wikidata (CC0) plus curated additions. Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).