Spokane River
During summer months, Avista bypasses the entire Spokane River into the south channel of Riverfront Park.
This leaves our beautiful downtown falls high and dry.
"These Falls, which have fallen further,
which sit dry and quiet as a graveyard now -
These Falls are that place where ghosts of salmon jump,
where ghosts of women mourn their children
who will never find their way back home."~ Sherman Alexie,
excerpt from “The Place Where Ghosts of Salmon Jump”
Google Earth Spokane River Pilot Project - Center for Justice, October 2008
The Upper Falls were originally a free-flowing river where Native Americans from throughout the region gathered, fished, and traded. While Upper Falls Dam originally provided important electrical power to the city (for industry and streetcars), the dam now represents an insignificant portion of Avista’s power portfolio.
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