Bonneville Dam turns 75


Hundreds of visitors gathered to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

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Hundreds of visitors gathered to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

The Bonneville Power Administration and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates Bonneville Dam, celebrated the facility and its history with an elaborate event Saturday. The gathering included federal executives, Native American tribal leaders, members of Congress, local officials and hundreds of American-flag-waving visitors. Honored guests arrived in a motorcade of 1930s-era cars. All spoke against the dramatic backdrop of the Columbia River Gorge, just outside a Bonneville Dam visitor center.

BPA administrator Steve Wright, who will retire in January, called Bonneville and other dams an essential part of the Northwest’s identity and history. Life in the region today would be “unrecognizable” without the facilities and the cheap, clean power they provide, he said.

Read more at The Columbian.

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